Screen Capture using C#

This code demonstrates how to get a screen shot of the entire desktop, or a particular window, using .NET (and a few API functions).

Using the class is simple – there are four methods

* public Image CaptureScreen()
Creates an Image object containing a screen shot of the entire desktop
* public Image CaptureWindow(IntPtr handle)
Creates an Image object containing a screen shot of a specific window
* public void CaptureWindowToFile(IntPtr handle, string filename, ImageFormat format)
Captures a screen shot of a specific window, and saves it to a file
* public void CaptureScreenToFile(string filename, ImageFormat format)
Captures a screen shot of the entire desktop, and saves it to a file

A quick demonstration of how to use it...
ScreenCapture sc = new ScreenCapture();
// capture entire screen, and save it to a file
Image img = sc.CaptureScreen();
// display image in a Picture control named imageDisplay
this.imageDisplay.Image = img;
// capture this window, and save it
sc.CaptureWindowToFile(this.Handle,"C:\\temp2.gif",ImageFormat.Gif);

And here's the code to the class we're using
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
namespace ScreenShotDemo
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Provides functions to capture the entire screen, or a particular window, and save it to a file.
    /// </summary>
    public class ScreenCapture
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Creates an Image object containing a screen shot of the entire desktop
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public Image CaptureScreen()
        {
            return CaptureWindow( User32.GetDesktopWindow() );
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Creates an Image object containing a screen shot of a specific window
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="handle">The handle to the window. (In windows forms, this is obtained by the Handle property)</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public Image CaptureWindow(IntPtr handle)
        {
            // get te hDC of the target window
            IntPtr hdcSrc = User32.GetWindowDC(handle);
            // get the size
            User32.RECT windowRect = new User32.RECT();
            User32.GetWindowRect(handle,ref windowRect);
            int width = windowRect.right - windowRect.left;
            int height = windowRect.bottom - windowRect.top;
            // create a device context we can copy to
            IntPtr hdcDest = GDI32.CreateCompatibleDC(hdcSrc);
            // create a bitmap we can copy it to,
            // using GetDeviceCaps to get the width/height
            IntPtr hBitmap = GDI32.CreateCompatibleBitmap(hdcSrc,width,height);
            // select the bitmap object
            IntPtr hOld = GDI32.SelectObject(hdcDest,hBitmap);
            // bitblt over
            GDI32.BitBlt(hdcDest,0,0,width,height,hdcSrc,0,0,GDI32.SRCCOPY);
            // restore selection
            GDI32.SelectObject(hdcDest,hOld);
            // clean up
            GDI32.DeleteDC(hdcDest);
            User32.ReleaseDC(handle,hdcSrc);
            // get a .NET image object for it
            Image img = Image.FromHbitmap(hBitmap);
            // free up the Bitmap object
            GDI32.DeleteObject(hBitmap);
            return img;
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Captures a screen shot of a specific window, and saves it to a file
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="handle"></param>
        /// <param name="filename"></param>
        /// <param name="format"></param>
        public void CaptureWindowToFile(IntPtr handle, string filename, ImageFormat format)
        {
            Image img = CaptureWindow(handle);
            img.Save(filename,format);
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Captures a screen shot of the entire desktop, and saves it to a file
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="filename"></param>
        /// <param name="format"></param>
        public void CaptureScreenToFile(string filename, ImageFormat format)
        {
            Image img = CaptureScreen();
            img.Save(filename,format);
        }
     
        /// <summary>
        /// Helper class containing Gdi32 API functions
        /// </summary>
        private class GDI32
        {
           
            public const int SRCCOPY = 0x00CC0020; // BitBlt dwRop parameter
            [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
            public static extern bool BitBlt(IntPtr hObject,int nXDest,int nYDest,
                int nWidth,int nHeight,IntPtr hObjectSource,
                int nXSrc,int nYSrc,int dwRop);
            [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr CreateCompatibleBitmap(IntPtr hDC,int nWidth,
                int nHeight);
            [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr CreateCompatibleDC(IntPtr hDC);
            [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
            public static extern bool DeleteDC(IntPtr hDC);
            [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
            public static extern bool DeleteObject(IntPtr hObject);
            [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr SelectObject(IntPtr hDC,IntPtr hObject);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Helper class containing User32 API functions
        /// </summary>
        private class User32
        {
            [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
            public struct RECT
            {
                public int left;
                public int top;
                public int right;
                public int bottom;
            }
            [DllImport("user32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr GetDesktopWindow();
            [DllImport("user32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr GetWindowDC(IntPtr hWnd);
            [DllImport("user32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr ReleaseDC(IntPtr hWnd,IntPtr hDC);
            [DllImport("user32.dll")]
            public static extern IntPtr GetWindowRect(IntPtr hWnd,ref RECT rect);
        }
    }
}