Issue with Greenshot screen capture software and PowerToys

[PitbullRaven]

Environment

Windows build number: Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.1039]
PowerToys version: 0.18.2
PowerToy module for which you are reporting the bug (if applicable):
Unsure

Steps to reproduce

Video available at https://youtu.be/tnYiMYnK3_I

When both PowerToys and Greenshot are installed, triggering Greenshot screen capture causes the entire screen to "shift" right. You can still see the original image to the left, with what appears to be a completely new screen overlayed and shifted to the right. If you mouse off to the left, it almost seems as if the mouse stops interacting with the "virtual" overlaid screen. You will also notice there is a mismatch between mouse position and Greenshot crosshairs.

Expected behavior

As per video, expect the screen to not shift. This is only possible if I exit powerToys. When I restart PowerToys the first capture works fine. Then the second capture causes the issue to resurface.

Actual behavior

The screen is shifting whenever I try to screen grab anything.

Screenshots

https://youtu.be/tnYiMYnK3_I

[saahmedm]

hi @PitbullRaven, thanks for the issue and video! I downloaded Greenshot and tried to repro this and couldn't. Is this happening every time (after the first capture works)?

[PitbullRaven]

Yes. Every single time.

[enricogior]

@PitbullRaven
do you use a shortcut key to start Greenshot ?
Can you try to turn OFF just FancyZones instead of quitting PowerToys and verify if the problem still occurs?

[PitbullRaven]

Enrico, you are correct. On both counts. I use Fn+Print Screen to trigger the screen capture. And when I toggle FancyZones off, it works. As soon as I turn FancyZones on, it fails again. Best regards Pitbull Raven

[enricogior]

@PitbullRaven
in the video you posted, it looks like a new copy of Word is created, I guess that is not actually what happens. As soon as you close the capturing tool, things go back to normal right?

[PitbullRaven]

Exactly. It seems to create a capture of the screen and superimposed it onto the real image, then shifts right. After capture, everything is peaches.

[golden-spiral]

This problem goes away for me if I disable the FancyZones feature "Move newly created windows to the current active monitor". I also noticed that this shift does not happen on my primary monitor, just if I capture with Greenshot on the secondary monitor.

[enricogior]

@golden-spiral
thank you for the information.

[schumatt-msft]

If it's helpful, I had a similar issue with Greenshot recently, where it seems FZ is trying to move the capture overlay (which I assume is a "window" as far as FZ is concerned) into one of the zones. I worked around it by adding greenshot to the list of excluded apps for FZ. I'm wondering if there's some characteristic/property of this special "window" that FZ could identify and ignore by default.

Here you can see the Greenshot capture overlay (which should be positioned directly above the Notepad window) is actually moved to the monitor on the right, positioned within a defined zone on that screen.

[enricogior]

@PitbullRaven @schumatt-msft @golden-spiral
can you try adding Greenshot to the excluded app list in the FancyZones Settings?
You need to add the name of the Greenshot executable as it appears in the Task Manager Details tab.
Thanks.

[schumatt-msft]

@enricogior - Yes, adding greenshot to the excluded app list does resolve this.

[enricogior]

@schumatt-msft
thanks!
Info added to the wiki https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/wiki/Application-Compatibility

[PitbullRaven]

I can't confirm or deny as after I had the issue I installed a newer version of Greenshot and the problem went away, so I have been using without issue for a while now.

[enricogior]

@PitbullRaven
thanks for the info. Closing the issue.

[Lakritzator]

Just to be clear, I still get reports of issues which are clear due to FancyZones.

I don't know why someone, more specifically @PitbullRaven, said "the problem went away in a recent version". The current version which is out, still has the issue, and Greenshot should be in the excluded list.

As the Greenshot Windows developer, I know what I am talking about... Greenshot doesn't like it when it's capture window is suddenly repositioned, there is no fix for that. (Maybe a workaround, but I rather have that FancyZones behaves itself)

[Lakritzator]

@enricogior can you please change the workaround for Greenshot back to "Add Greenshot to the FancyZones excluded apps"?

P.S.
If you are unsure who to listen too, you can see that I'm the main dev for Greenshot in my profile.

[crutkas]

Hey, on PowerToys, we're a friendly community and love a good conversation. I'm betting this could be a few reasons why it is getting triggered

[PitbullRaven]

@crutkas I apologize to you and the community for the inconvenience and I swear I don't normally go that far. Bad day, today. Though I am not trying to make that an excuse for anything. It just rubbed me the wrong way getting singled out like that for something that was nothing if not true. I respect the community and PowerToys in particular. I think you guys are doing an awesome job.

Now, so that this doesn't go further off-topic from my end, all I can say is what I previously stated. I don't remember with what version it happened, but one of the updates after I posted this topic either fixed the incompatibility for me, or something happened / changed around the same time. Since I keep my machine relatively unchanged for the most part for stability reasons, I can assume with some certainty the not much changed other than the version of PowerToys which I am sure I updated to a more recent version as soon as it came out, and Greenshot which as I stated, I downloaded and installed again at the time, noting only it was a more recent version than what I had on my machine at the time of posting. And since then, as per the video I posted in my admittedly disruptive reply, I haven't had the issue, neither have I had to add Greenshot to the exclusion list.

Now I am no developer, as previously established, so I can't go as far as to venture a guess at what is going on. However, in my experience, in the IT world and especially with software, it isn't easy to deal in absolutes. Either one of the PowerToys updates or the (re)installation of a more recent version of Greenshot solved the matter somehow. I don't assume to know the reason.

As previously stated: I can't confirm or deny as after I had the issue I installed a newer version of Greenshot and the problem went away, so I have been using it without issue for a while now.

Maybe Lakritzator is right. Maybe that is the expected or intended behavior as he reported. How the hell should I know? But I have zero to gain from lying. To this day I use both pieces of software, in harmony now. And that is all I can say about that, for what it's worth.

Again, sorry for the previous comment and for wasting your time.

Edit: Unsure if this could have anything to do with it, nonetheless it just dawned on me that roughly around the same time this happened, I also changed my setup. I went from an ultrawide monitor / laptop combo to an even wider and higher resolution monitor. The new resolution on the ultrawide where I use Fancy is 3440x1440, while the previous monitor had a resolution of 2560x1080 if I recall correctly. The laptop remains unchanged at 1920x1080.

[Lakritzator]

@PitbullRaven No worries, and I never wanted to say you are a liar. I think you read more in my comment than I ment.

I just wanted to point out, as the responsible developer for Greenshot, I like to have a say in what the information about my application says. I still get reports of issues, so I prefer it when the documentation mentions the workaround to exclude Greenshot and not that it's solved in a later version.