BoulevardWalker/ShotStudio

Convert, annotate, and privately blur screenshots in one app
_{Windows desktop app . Local-first . No account required}

1. What ShotStudio is
2. Why it exists
3. Feature tour
4. Interface
5. Install
6. First run
7. How it works
8. Keyboard shortcuts
9. Configuration
10. Troubleshooting
11. FAQ
12. Roadmap
13. Build from source
14. Privacy
15. Contributing
16. License

ShotStudio is a Windows desktop app that handles media: convert, annotate, and privately blur screenshots in one app. It runs entirely on your machine, stores its data in a plain local file, and does not require an account, a browser extension, or an internet connection to do its job.

The core idea is small on purpose. ShotStudio does one thing well instead of ten things in a menu you never open.

Most tools in this space are a web upload with a login, or a bundled suite that ships five features you did not ask for. ShotStudio started as a side project because the existing options wanted an account for a job that should take two clicks and no internet connection.

The design brief was short: open the app, do the thing, close the app. Everything in ShotStudio should fit in that loop.

1. Open PNG , JPG, HEIC, WebP, BMP, GIF, and multi-frame screenshots side by side
2. Annotate with arrows , rectangles, text, numbered steps, and freehand strokes; everything is editable later
3. Face and text blur with a face detector and an OCR mask so you can one -click redact names and emails
4. Smart crop and auto-straighten for phone screenshots and photographed slides
5. Batch convert and compress with per-format presets (WebP for the web , JPEG for Teams, PNG for docs)
6. Watermark text or image stamp with per-corner anchoring and opacity
7. Clipboard-first workflow : paste a screenshot, annotate, hit copy, back to work
8. Non-destructive editing; the original file is only overwritten when you explicitly save over it

The main window is organized around the one workflow you came for. Everything optional is one click or one hotkey away; nothing is buried four menus deep.

The quickest path is the signed .zip from the download link:

Download the latest release (.zip)

1. Download the .zip from the link above.
2. Extract it anywhere; a user folder is fine, admin rights are not required.
3. Run the executable inside the extracted folder.
4. Pin it to the Start menu or add it to startup from the Settings tab if you want it running in the background.

The archive is self-contained: it does not touch the registry on first launch and it does not install a service without your explicit consent. To remove ShotStudio completely, delete the folder you extracted to and the data folder at %LOCALAPPDATA%/shotstudio.

On the first launch, ShotStudio walks through four short steps:

1. Pick a workspace location. This is where the local database lives. The default is %LOCALAPPDATA%/shotstudio; a portable path next to the executable is a one-click option if you prefer a USB-friendly setup.
2. Choose default options. Sensible defaults are preselected; the wizard explains each toggle in one line so you can keep moving.
3. Grant the permissions ShotStudio needs. Only the ones required for the feature set you turn on; nothing is prompted that you did not opt into.
4. Open the main window. You are done; the welcome screen points at the two or three actions people usually try first.

If something looks off, every choice is reversible from Settings.

Under the hood, ShotStudio is built on C++ engine with libvips, Qt 6 QML UI, ONNX face detector for the blur mask, and libwebp and libheif via vcpkg.

1. Capture the signal. The app watches the one input stream it cares about, nothing else.
2. Process locally. Work happens in a worker on your machine; the UI thread stays responsive even on big batches.
3. Store without surprises. Results land in a local SQLite database and plain files you can inspect.
4. Expose through the UI. The main window and the tray share one source of truth; no "reload to see changes" dialogs.

The data model is deliberately boring: a local SQLite database for structured state, plain files on disk for everything that would be awkward inside a row, and a journal of every action so an undo is always a few keystrokes away.

Every shortcut is remappable from the Settings tab under Shortcuts.

Configuration lives in %LOCALAPPDATA%/shotstudio/config.toml and is a plain text file. The UI covers the common knobs; the file covers everything else.

[general]
workspace = "%LOCALAPPDATA%/shotstudio"
start_minimized = false
check_for_updates = true

[ui]
theme = "system"           # system | light | dark
accent = "#f43f5e"
font_size = 14

[logging]
level = "info"             # trace | debug | info | warn | error
retain_days = 14

Changes made from the UI are written atomically. Changes made by hand are picked up on the next launch; the running app ignores external edits to the config file to avoid half-applied state.

ShotStudio will not start. Check %LOCALAPPDATA%/shotstudio/logs/latest.log; the most common cause is a corrupted workspace file after an unclean shutdown. Rename the workspace folder and relaunch; a fresh workspace is created on the spot and your old data is left untouched for you to recover from.

A feature says "permission required". The permission wizard can be re-opened from Settings > Permissions. Each permission is scoped to one feature and can be revoked without affecting the rest of the app.

The window opens off-screen on a multi-monitor setup. Right-click the tray icon and pick Reset window position. The next launch will center on the primary monitor.

Antivirus flags the download. The .zip contains an unsigned development build only when you grab it from a fork; the official download is signed by the maintainer's EV certificate. Compare the SHA-256 of your download against the hash listed on the release page before running the executable.

Does ShotStudio send data anywhere? No. The app does not include telemetry, analytics, or a crash reporter that transmits over the network. The only outbound connection it ever makes is the optional update check, which you can disable in Settings.

Is there a portable mode? Yes. On the first run, pick a folder next to the executable as your workspace. The config file is written in the same folder, and nothing is written to the registry.

Does ShotStudio work on Windows 10? Yes, Windows 10 version 1809 and later. Windows 11 is the primary development target but Windows 10 is tested on every release.

Can I run two instances side by side? Yes. Pass --workspace <path> on the command line and ShotStudio will treat that folder as an independent workspace.

Is a Linux or macOS version coming? Not planned for the first year. The core engine is portable, but the Windows integration is the main selling point and spreading focus would weaken it.

Short-term:

• Command palette fuzzy match tuning
• Scriptable export pipeline
• Localized UI for the ten most-requested languages

Medium-term:

• Plugin API for the one or two integrations that keep coming up
• An optional CLI companion for scripting the main workflows
• Signed MSIX package in addition to the .zip

Longer-term plans are discussed in the issue tracker; the shortlist here is what is actually being worked on.

Requirements:

• Windows 10 1809 or later, 64-bit
• Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the Desktop C++ workload
• Qt 6.6 or later

Steps:

git clone https://github.com/<your-fork>/shotstudio.git
cd shotstudio
./scripts/dev.ps1          # restores dependencies, generates stubs
./scripts/build.ps1 Release
./dist/shotstudio.exe          # run the fresh build

The build is reproducible on a clean machine. Any deviation is a bug worth filing.

ShotStudio does not ship with telemetry. The only network call the app can make is the update check, which:

• fetches a signed manifest from the project's release server,
• compares it to the current version,
• shows a notification if a new build is available.

The check can be disabled in Settings and the app continues to work without it. Logs stay on disk, inside %LOCALAPPDATA%/shotstudio/logs, and roll over on their own.

Patches, bug reports, and feature discussion are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md and please keep an eye on the Code of Conduct.

ShotStudio is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md for the full text.