Windows Edge Light

A lightweight WPF application that adds a customizable glowing edge light effect around your primary monitor on Windows. Perfect for ambient lighting during video calls, streaming, or just adding a professional touch to your workspace.

Features

• Automatic Updates: Built-in update system checks GitHub Releases for new versions
• Primary Monitor Display: Automatically detects and displays on your primary monitor, even in multi-monitor setups
• DPI Aware: Properly handles high-DPI displays (4K monitors with scaling)
• Fluent Design: Modern UX that fits in with the Windows look and feel
• Click-Through Transparency: Overlay doesn't interfere with your work - all clicks pass through to applications beneath
• Customizable Brightness: Adjust opacity with easy-to-use controls
• Adjustable Color Temperature: Shift the edge light from cooler (blue-ish) to warmer (amber) tones
• Toggle On/Off: Quickly enable or disable the edge light effect
• Hideable Controls: Hide the control toolbar for a cleaner look, restore via tray menu
• Always On Top: Stays visible above all other windows
• Exclude from Screen Capture: Optional setting to hide the edge light from screen sharing (Teams, Zoom) and screenshots
• Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • Ctrl+Shift+L - Toggle light on/off
  • Ctrl+Shift+Up - Increase brightness
  • Ctrl+Shift+Down - Decrease brightness
• Gradient Effect: Beautiful white gradient with subtle blur for a professional look

Screenshots

The application creates a smooth, glowing border around the edges of your primary monitor:

• Adjustable brightness levels (20% to 100% opacity)
• Soft blur effect for a natural glow
• Minimal UI controls that fade in on hover

Installation

Option 1: Download Pre-built Executable

Download the latest WindowsEdgeLight.exe from the Releases page. This is a single-file executable that includes everything you need - no .NET installation required!

Option 2: Build from Source

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 or later
• .NET 10.0 SDK for building

Building from Source

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/shanselman/WindowsEdgeLight.git
   cd WindowsEdgeLight

2. Build the project:

   cd WindowsEdgeLight
   dotnet build

3. Run the application:

   dotnet run

Creating a Single-File Executable

To create a standalone executable:

cd WindowsEdgeLight
dotnet publish -c Release /p:DebugType=None /p:DebugSymbols=false

The executable will be in bin\Release\net10.0-windows\win-x64\publish\WindowsEdgeLight.exe

Note: WPF applications cannot use AOT compilation or aggressive trimming. The single-file executable is self-contained and compressed (~72MB) but includes the full .NET runtime.

Usage

1. Launch WindowsEdgeLight.exe
2. The edge light will appear around your primary monitor
3. Control toolbar appears at the bottom center with these buttons:
   • 🔅 Decrease Brightness - Reduces opacity
   • 🔆 Increase Brightness - Increases opacity
   • 🌡️ Cooler Color - Shifts the glow towards a cooler, blue-ish white
   • 🔥 Warmer Color - Shifts the glow towards a warmer, amber tone
   • 💡 Toggle Light - Turn the effect on/off
   • 🖥️ Switch Monitor - Move to next monitor (if multiple monitors)
   • 🖥️🖥️ All Monitors - Show on all monitors (if multiple monitors)
   • 🎥 Exclude from Capture - Hide from screen sharing and screenshots
   • ✖ Exit - Close the application
4. Hide the control toolbar for a cleaner look using the tray menu (right-click tray icon → "Hide Controls")

Screen Sharing Mode

When sharing your screen on video conferencing apps (Teams, Zoom, etc.), you may want the edge light to be visible to you but invisible to viewers. Enable "Exclude from Screen Capture" via:

• Click the 🎥 button in the control toolbar, or
• Right-click the tray icon → "Exclude from Screen Capture"

Note: When this setting is enabled, the edge light will also be excluded from screenshots taken with Windows Snipping Tool, PrintScreen, or other capture tools.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+Shift+L: Toggle the edge light on/off
• Ctrl+Shift+Up: Increase brightness
• Ctrl+Shift+Down: Decrease brightness
• Taskbar: Right-click the taskbar icon for a menu with toggle, brightness, and color temperature controls

Technical Details

Architecture

• Framework: .NET 10.0 WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation)
• Language: C#
• UI: XAML with transparent window overlay
• Monitor Detection: Windows Forms Screen API for accurate multi-monitor support

Key Features Implementation

• Click-Through: Uses Win32 WS_EX_TRANSPARENT and WS_EX_LAYERED window styles
• DPI Scaling: Converts physical pixels to WPF Device Independent Pixels for proper sizing
• Primary Monitor: Uses Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds with DPI correction
• Gradient Border: Custom Rectangle with LinearGradientBrush and BlurEffect

Multi-Monitor Support

The application specifically targets the primary monitor in your display setup:

• Automatically detects primary monitor position and dimensions
• Correctly handles DPI scaling (e.g., 150%, 200% on 4K displays)
• Works with any monitor arrangement (horizontal, vertical, mixed)
• Does not span across multiple monitors

Development

Project Structure

WindowsEdgeLight/
├── WindowsEdgeLight/
│   ├── App.xaml              # Application entry point
│   ├── App.xaml.cs
│   ├── MainWindow.xaml       # Main UI layout
│   ├── MainWindow.xaml.cs    # Application logic
│   ├── WindowsEdgeLight.csproj
│   └── AssemblyInfo.cs
└── README.md

Building

Requires:

• Visual Studio 2022 or later (with .NET desktop development workload)
• Or .NET 10.0 SDK for command-line builds

Version History

Note: Versions are automatically managed using GitVersion based on Git tags.

v0.6 - Automatic Update System

• Integrated Updatum for automatic updates from GitHub Releases
• Beautiful update dialog with release notes
• Download progress tracking
• One-click install for new versions
• See UPDATUM_INTEGRATION.md for details

v0.3 - Global Hotkeys and Taskbar Support

• Added global hotkeys for brightness control (Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down)
• Fixed taskbar overlap - window now respects taskbar area
• Added taskbar icon for easy right-click close
• Removed conflicting exit hotkey
• Added custom ring light icon
• Added assembly information with author details

v0.2 - Primary Monitor Display Fix

• Fixed window to display on primary monitor only
• Added proper DPI scaling support for high-resolution displays
• Resolved namespace conflicts with Windows Forms integration
• Improved multi-monitor setup compatibility

v0.1 - Initial Release

• Basic edge light overlay functionality
• Customizable brightness controls
• Toggle and keyboard shortcut support
• Click-through transparency

License

This project is provided as-is for personal and educational use.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Submit pull requests

Acknowledgments

Inspired by the need for professional lighting effects during video conferences and streaming setups.

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Note: This application is designed for Windows only and requires the .NET 10.0 runtime.