[ShareX](https://getsharex.com/) is a free, open source screen capture tool with GIF recording and customizable workflow systems. I use ShareX to automatically upload screenshots and GIFs to a cloud hosting service for use in [[Markdown]] documents and websites. ShareX also has a screen color picker which is helpful to quickly get color hex codes and other tools. ## Installation - Download the Setup file from the home page. - Follow the dialog boxes to set up the software. - When prompted, select the additional tasks including (these can be changed later in **Application settings > Integration**): - Show "Upload with ShareX" botton in Windows Explorer context menu - Create a sent to shortcut - Run ShareX when Windows starts - Disable Print Screen key for Snipping Tool - Click Install ## Hotkeys ShareX automatically sets up hotkeys for easy screen capture. You can customize these in **Hotkey settings**. I recommend the following hotkeys: - `Ctrl + Print Screen`: Capture region - `Alt + Print Screen`: Capture active window - `Shift + Print Screen`: Start/Stop screen recoding using active window - `Ctrl + Shift + Print Screen`: Start/stop screen recording (GIF) using active window - `Ctrl + Shift + 8`: Screen color picker ## Upload to cloud hosting services I upload images and recordings to a cloud hosting service. To set up your own, first set up a cloud hosting location. (I use Google's [[Cloud Storage]], but many options are available). In **Destinations > Destination settings**, select the cloud hosting solution of your choice, log in (if needed) and configure the settings. My settings look like this (yours will be different):  Finally, in **Destinations**, set the **Image uploader** to **File Uploader>** and select the hosting solution you just configured. ## After capture tasks Customize what happens after you capture an image or recording in **After capture tasks**. For my workflow, I have the following tasks selected: - Copy image to clipboard - Show Before Upload window If I decline to upload the screen capture (maybe I don't need to publish it), I can paste it into the location I want it in. I do not save screenshots or recordings to my local file storage. ## After upload tasks To more easily include the hosted image in my Markdown file or website, I select the following task in **After upload tasks**: - Copy URL to clipboard ## Saving files locally ShareX will by default create a new directory `ShareX` in your `Documents` directory and store screenshots in the `Screenshots/` folder. You can change this in **Application Settings > Paths**. ## Recording Gifs ShareX does not have a GIF editor, so I use [[Screen2GIF]]. Once a GIF is saved, use the context menu to save the GIF to Google Cloud.