diff --git a/imagecatalog/ImageCatalog 2.csproj b/imagecatalog/ImageCatalog 2.csproj
index 079d003..e0acb4f 100644
--- a/imagecatalog/ImageCatalog 2.csproj	
+++ b/imagecatalog/ImageCatalog 2.csproj	
@@ -49,6 +49,17 @@
       <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
     </PackageReference>
   </ItemGroup>
+
+  <!-- If GitVersion ran and produced values, prefer them for assembly/file/informational version
+       so the built assembly exposes FullSemVer for runtime and the publish rename uses the same value. -->
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <!-- AssemblyVersion uses AssemblySemVer when available (three-part) -->
+    <AssemblyVersion Condition="'$(GitVersion_AssemblySemVer)' != ''">$(GitVersion_AssemblySemVer)</AssemblyVersion>
+    <!-- FileVersion uses GitVersion FileVersion when available -->
+    <FileVersion Condition="'$(GitVersion_FileVersion)' != ''">$(GitVersion_FileVersion)</FileVersion>
+    <!-- Prefer FullSemVer for informational version -->
+    <InformationalVersion Condition="'$(GitVersion_FullSemVer)' != ''">$(GitVersion_FullSemVer)</InformationalVersion>
+  </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Update="Properties\Settings.Designer.cs">
       <DesignTimeSharedInput>True</DesignTimeSharedInput>
@@ -63,19 +74,32 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <PropertyGroup />
 
+  <!-- When building inside Visual Studio (which runs .NET Framework MSBuild), the GitVersion.MsBuild
+       task (net8.0) may fail. Run the GitVersion CLI as a fallback to produce obj/gitversion.json so
+       subsequent targets can consume the same values. Developers should install the global tool:
+         dotnet tool install __global GitVersion.Tool __version 6.5.1
+  -->
+  <Target Name="RunGitVersionCliForVisualStudio" BeforeTargets="GenerateAssemblyInfo" Condition="'$(BuildingInsideVisualStudio)' == 'true'">
+    <Message Text="Building inside Visual Studio: attempting to run GitVersion CLI to generate obj\gitversion.json (if `dotnet-gitversion` is installed)." Importance="High" />
+    <!-- Try the typical global tool command. ContinueOnError=true so VS build doesn't fail if CLI is not installed. -->
+    <Exec Command="dotnet-gitversion -output file -outputfile &quot;$(ProjectDir)obj\gitversion.json&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
+    <!-- Also try 'dotnet tool run' in case a local tool manifest is used. -->
+    <Exec Command="dotnet tool run GitVersion.Tool -- -output file -outputfile &quot;$(ProjectDir)obj\gitversion.json&quot;" ContinueOnError="true" />
+  </Target>
+
   <!-- After publish, rename the produced executable to ImageCatalog.<year>.<major>.<minor>.<build>.<revision>.<ext>
        The destination extension is taken from the actual produced file (exe or dll).
   -->
   <Target Name="RenamePublishedExeWithYearAndVersion" AfterTargets="Publish" Condition="'$(PublishDir)' != ''">
     <PropertyGroup>
       <_PublishYear>$([System.DateTime]::Now.ToString("yyyy"))</_PublishYear>
-      <!-- Prefer FileVersion (four-part) then AssemblyVersion -->
-      <_Ver>$(FileVersion)</_Ver>
+      <!-- Prefer GitVersion FullSemVer, then FileVersion, then AssemblyVersion -->
+      <_Ver Condition="'$(GitVersion_FullSemVer)' != ''">$(GitVersion_FullSemVer)</_Ver>
+      <_Ver Condition="'$(GitVersion_FullSemVer)' == ''">$(FileVersion)</_Ver>
       <_Ver Condition="'$(_Ver)' == ''">$(AssemblyVersion)</_Ver>
 
-      <!-- Normalize to avoid plus signs and spaces -->
+      <!-- Normalize to avoid spaces but keep plus signs for pre-release build metadata; replace spaces with underscore -->
       <_VerSanitized>$([System.String]::Copy('$(_Ver)'))</_VerSanitized>
-      <_VerSanitized>$([System.String]::Copy('$(_VerSanitized)').Replace('+', '.'))</_VerSanitized>
       <_VerSanitized>$([System.String]::Copy('$(_VerSanitized)').Replace(' ', '_'))</_VerSanitized>
 
       <_NewExeNameBase>ImageCatalog.$(_PublishYear).$(_VerSanitized)</_NewExeNameBase>