Windows ~repack~: Copy Screenshot To Clipboard

| Shortcut | Scope | Data Format | Introduced | |----------|-------|-------------|-------------| | | Full screen | Bitmap (CF_BITMAP) | Windows 1.0 | | Alt + PrtScn | Active window only | Bitmap (CF_BITMAP) | Windows 95 | | Win + Shift + S | Selected region | PNG + Bitmap | Windows 10 (1809) | 2.1 Legacy Shortcuts (PrtScn and Alt+PrtScn) When the user presses PrtScn , Windows captures the entire virtual screen (all monitors) and stores it as a device-independent bitmap (DIB) in the clipboard under the CF_BITMAP format. The shortcut Alt+PrtScn captures only the currently active foreground window, excluding the title bar’s shadow if present. These shortcuts do not provide visual feedback or editing capabilities. 2.2 Modern Shortcut (Win+Shift+S) Introduced with the Snipping Tool & Snip & Sketch overhaul, Win+Shift+S launches the modern snipping bar, allowing rectangular, freeform, window, or full-screen snips. Upon selection, the captured image is written to the clipboard in both uncompressed bitmap and PNG formats. A system toast notification confirms the action, and the user can optionally annotate before copying. 3. Clipboard Data Formats for Images The Windows clipboard supports multiple image formats simultaneously. When a screenshot is copied, applications can retrieve the most suitable format.

Note: CF_PNG is not a standard clipboard format but is registered by Windows as "PNG" (CF_PNG = 49797). Modern applications like Microsoft Office and Paint prioritize PNG when available. Developers can interact with screenshot-to-clipboard functionality using the Win32 API. Below is a minimal C++ example to programmatically copy a screenshot of the primary monitor to the clipboard. copy screenshot to clipboard windows

| Method | Steps | Time (sec) | Context switches | |--------|-------|------------|------------------| | Save as file → attach | 5 | 18.4 | 4 | | | 2 | 7.2 | 1 | | Shortcut | Scope | Data Format |

#include <windows.h> #include <wingdi.h> void CaptureScreenToClipboard() HDC hdcScreen = GetDC(NULL); HDC hdcMem = CreateCompatibleDC(hdcScreen); void CaptureScreenToClipboard() HDC hdcScreen = GetDC(NULL)