Show HN: Color Picker in Plain C

4 hours ago 1

A lightweight and always-on-top color picking utility for Windows, built with SDL2. This application allows you to instantly grab the color under your mouse cursor, display its values in various formats (RGB, HEX, HSV, HSL), and copy them to your clipboard. It also features a minimalist system tray icon for quick access and a color history.

System-wide Color Picking: Easily pick colors from any part of your screen using a simple keyboard shortcut.
Multiple Color Formats: View the picked color in RGB, HEX, HSV, and HSL formats.
Clipboard Integration: Copy the color values directly to your clipboard for quick use in other applications.
Always-on-Top Window: The main application window and a small follow-up window (for precise picking) stay visible above other applications.
System Tray Icon: Minimize the application to the system tray for unobtrusive background operation and quick access.

This project is written in C and uses SDL2, SDL2_ttf, and a custom tray.h library.

MinGW-w64 (or a compatible C compiler like MSVC)
SDL2 Development Libraries: You'll need the SDL2.dll, SDL2.lib, and the include folder.
SDL2_ttf Development Libraries: You'll need SDL2_ttf.dll, SDL2_ttf.lib, and its include folder.
A TrueType Font (.ttf) file. The code specifies "assets/fonts/LB.ttf". Make sure this path is correct or update fontLoc in the source.

gcc main.c -o stagod.exe -lSDL2 -lSDL2_ttf -lgdi32 -lole32 -lcomdlg32 -loleaut32 -luser32 -lShell32 -mwindows -fopenmp

Run the Application: Execute stagod.exe. It will likely appear in your system tray by default.
Access Main Window: Click on the system tray icon and select "CPICK" to bring up the main application window.
Pick a Color:
- Click the "Select Color" button in the main window.
- Move your mouse cursor over the desired color on your screen.
- Single click will pick a color.
Copy Color Values: Click on the displayed HEX or RGB values to copy them to your clipboard.