Automatic paste and save to MS Paint in background

Question

I am trying to automate (Microsoft) Paint to paste and save with AutoHotKey while Paint is open behind a full screen program every time I press the PrtScn key. This is the sequence of events that I want to happen when I press PrtScn: I want Paint to

• Create a new image (workspace) (as if Ctrl+N had been typed),
• Paste (as if Ctrl+V had been typed), and
• Save As JPEG. (I have created Alt+4 as a keyboard shortcut for this in Paint.)

The tricky part is to enter consecutive numbers after each run. For example, if the last JPEG save I had was numbered 151, the next time I press PrtScn, I want to run that sequence and enter 152, 153, etc. And I want to keep Paint in the background.

Is this possible?

Answer 1

As You mention , you want to automate the whole process then i recommend you to use GreenShot
this automatically save image by PrtScn to clipboard and also at your favourite location too.

also you are allowed to capture the screen wanted..

if you are going to capture only on browser then i recommend you to use SAVE PICTURE AS script which is available on autohotkey.

Answer 2

Well, this is a partial answer: if you can get everything else working with AutoHotKey and Paint, set it up to save to the same filename every time.  Then write another program to run in the background.  (This can be a batch file, a PowerShell script, a shell script if you have Cygwin or something like it, or maybe even something like a Java program –– all depending on what tools you have available and what you’re comfortable with.)  Have that program monitor your directory for the creation of the file (e.g., my_snapshot.jpg) and rename it to a name with the unique number (e.g., my_snapshot_153.jpg).

If you hit PrtScn too quickly (or, equivalently, if your background program gets bogged down), there is a risk that Paint will overwrite a file before your script renames it.  I suggest that you investigate setting a fancy ACL on the directory that allows you to create (and write) new files, and rename files, but not open files for writing.  I’m not sure this is possible, but I suspect that it might be.