Sardine Shot

A lightweight Windows app that runs openly in the system tray and takes periodic screenshots, saving them to a folder of your choice - including a cloud storage folder (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.) so you can check in from anywhere, for free.

Why I built this

We use Microsoft Family Safety to filter content and get basic activity reports on our kid's computer. It works great, but it doesn't have a "take a screenshot every few minutes" feature. We didn't want to install yet another monitoring app with subscriptions, accounts, or bloatware.

So I built this: a tiny, single-file app that just takes screenshots on a schedule and drops them into a folder. The key insight is simple - point the save folder at your cloud storage folder and the screenshots sync to your phone or any browser automatically. No extra accounts, no servers, no monthly fees.

If the name seems oddly specific: I had a vacation in Moalboal, loved the place, and apparently came back so charmed by the sardines there that even this app ended up named after them.

It is not designed to be stealth software. It sits in the tray, can be paused or quit from the tray menu, and is best used on devices you own or administer with clear notice to the people using them.

Other legitimate uses

Besides parental monitoring on a family computer, there are a few transparent, practical uses for a tool like this:

• Shared family PC check-ins: keep a lightweight visual log on a computer used by multiple family members, especially in common areas.
• Caregiver or elder-tech support: with consent, help a parent or relative who struggles with computers by keeping a simple screenshot trail you can review later.
• Classroom or lab supervision: on school or training machines, keep a visible record of activity when users have been clearly informed.
• Kiosk or reception PCs: verify that a public-facing machine stayed on the expected app or webpage throughout the day.
• Remote troubleshooting: capture “what the screen looked like” during an intermittent issue that is hard to reproduce live.
• Workflow time-lapse / progress log: create a visual history of a long-running task on screen, such as uploads, renders, dashboards, or unattended jobs.
• Personal accountability: keep a record of your own work or study sessions on your own computer without using a cloud monitoring service.
• Small office shared terminals: add a lightweight audit trail on front-desk or shared-use PCs without installing a full device management platform.

Transparency matters

This app makes the most sense when it is used openly:

• on a computer you own, manage, or have permission to administer
• with clear notice to the person using the machine
• as a simple local screenshot tool, not as covert surveillance
• with the tray icon left visible so people know it is running

Features

• Runs in the system tray / systray (notification area) - no main window, no taskbar clutter
• Takes a screenshot every N seconds (configurable)
• Saves screenshots as timestamped .png files
• Automatically deletes old screenshots after a set number of days (keeps disk space tidy)
• Configure save folder, interval, and retention from the built-in Settings window
• Pause / Resume without quitting
• Quit completely from the tray menu when you want to close the app
• Open the screenshots folder directly from the tray icon
• Single .exe - no Python installation required on the target machine

Screenshots

Tray menu

Pause temporarily stops taking screenshots but keeps the app running in the tray. Quit closes the app completely.

Settings window

Setup

Option A - Use the pre-built EXE

1. Download sardine_shot.exe from the Releases page.
2. Place sardine_shot.exe and config.ini in the same folder.
3. Double-click sardine_shot.exe - a camera icon appears in your system tray.
4. Right-click the tray icon and open Settings to choose:

• the save folder
• the screenshot interval in seconds
• how many days to retain screenshots

5. Click Save. The app updates its configuration immediately.

To make it start automatically with Windows, create a shortcut to the .exe and place it in:

shell:startup

(Press Win + R, type shell:startup, press Enter.)

Option B - Run from source

pip install pillow pystray
python sardine_shot.py

Configuration

You normally do not need to edit config.ini by hand anymore. Use the tray icon and open Settings to manage the app's configuration in a small form.

The settings window lets you update:

• save_folder: where screenshots are stored
• interval: how often a screenshot is taken, in seconds
• retain_days: how long screenshots are kept before auto-delete

When you click Save, the app writes those values into config.ini next to the .exe or script and applies them immediately.

If you still prefer manual editing, the file format is:

[Settings]
; Folder where screenshots are saved.
; Point this at your cloud storage folder to sync screenshots automatically.
; Examples:
;   ~/Dropbox/kids-pc
;   ~/Google Drive/My Drive/kids-pc
;   ~/OneDrive/kids-pc
save_folder = ~/Pictures/Screenshots

; Seconds between screenshots (default: 30)
interval = 30

; Days to keep screenshots before auto-deleting (default: 5)
retain_days = 5

Tip for parents: Set save_folder to a subfolder inside your Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive folder on the child's PC. Screenshots will sync to your phone or any browser within seconds - no setup on your end beyond signing in to the cloud storage app.

Building the EXE yourself

Requirements: Python 3.x, pip install pillow pystray pyinstaller

.\build.ps1

The output is a single, self-contained dist\sardine_shot.exe - no Python needed on the target machine.

Project structure

sardine_shot.py         # Main application
config.ini              # User configuration
sardine_shot.spec       # PyInstaller build spec
build.ps1               # Build script (Windows PowerShell)

Dependencies

Package	Purpose
Pillow	Screen capture and image saving
pystray	System tray icon and menu

License

MIT