Getting Started

ScreenshotAPI is a simple API that allows you to take programmatic screenshots of any website with ease. Screenshots can be saved as JPEG, PNG, WebP, and even PDF! We provide plenty of options.

Render a Screenshot (GET)

GET https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=URL&[OPTIONS]

The following options for the API call are:

TOKEN: The TOKEN or your API key should be replaced by your real ScreenshotAPI API, you can find your API key after you Sign Up or Log In to the service via the Dashboard page.

Note: If for any reason you need to get a new API key, simply click "Roll API Key" in the "Settings" card on the Dashboard. This will issue you a fresh API key and revoke access from the previous key.

URL: Website URL for the site you would like to render for the screenshot. We support a wide variety of websites types, such as single page apps, very long-content, and sites that require lazy loading or delays ensuring accurate and complete screenshots of these unique sites.

OPTIONS: Options indicates the different URL parameters keys and values that can be used to render your "perfect" screenshot. All the options for screenshots will be detailed below.

Note: Default options for the screenshot will be shown in the Options table below.

Example:

GET https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https://apple.com

This will render the following png image output when you paste in the above string into your browsers URL bar (replacing TOKEN with your API key):

Cached & Fresh screenshot

When you take a screenshot, it automatically get cached on our backend, so when you make a get request to the same URL this will return the same screenshot that got cached, but if you want to take a newer screenshot of the URL provided, you may want to use our fresh screenshot functionality.

Example:

Get https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2F&fresh=true&[OPTIONS]

In the following video, you will see an example of how the "Fresh Screenshot" functionality is used. First, we demonstrate how a regular request to a specific URL is made for the first time, which typically takes a few seconds since it's the initial request. Then, the same request is made a second time, which is much faster because it retrieves the cached screenshot. However, if you want to capture a completely new screenshot without using the cached one, you should click the checkbox labeled 'Fresh screenshot' as shown in the example during the third request in the video.

Remove elements from a page

You can select elements by class name, ID, or other CSS selectors and then add the display: none attribute to hide them on the inject CSS feature.

Example:

Get https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2F&output=image&file_type=png&wait_for_event=load&css=.module-content%7Bdisplay%3A%20none%7D%0A

In the following video, you'll find a more illustrative example of how to use the 'Inject CSS' functionality to remove an element from a page. In the first request, you'll see a standard screenshot to observe the page's initial state. Then, in the second request, we demonstrate how to achieve this by utilizing the 'Inject CSS' feature to remove the desired element.

Scrolling screenshots

You can access the 'Scrolling Screenshot' functionality, which allows you to capture a video (in webm, gif, or mp4 format) of a web page with various customizable options. These options include the ability to scroll backward, adjust scrolling speed, set the duration, and start recording instantly

Example:

Get https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com&output=json&file_type=gif&wait_for_event=load&scrolling_screenshot=true

In the following video, you'll find a more illustrative example of how to utilize the 'Scrolling Screenshot' functionality. When you click the 'Take Screenshot' button, it will take a few seconds to capture the video and provide you with JSON containing the video information.

Here is the recorded video demonstrating the example.

Multiple Scrolling screenshots

In addition to the 'Scrolling Screenshot' functionality, our application offers the feature of 'Multiple Scrolling Screenshots.' With this feature, you can capture multiple scrolling screenshots of web pages, each with different sizes in terms of width and height. This means you have the flexibility to customize the dimensions of the screenshots according to your specific requirements.

Example:

In the parameters of the endpoint, we will pass an array of objects with different sizes. To achieve this, we need some code to pass this array in the 'sizes' parameter.

let sizesArr = [
    { id: 1, width: 1920, height: 1080 },
    { id: 2, width: 1280, height: 720 },
    { id: 3, width: 800, height: 450 }
];

let SIZES = JSON.stringify(sizesArr);

Get https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2F&output=json&file_type=gif&wait_for_event=load&scrolling_screenshot=true&multiple_scrolling=true&sizes=SIZES

In the following video, you'll find a more illustrative example of how to utilize the 'Multiple Scrolling Screenshot' functionality. When you click the 'Take Screenshot' button, it will take a few seconds to capture the video and provide you with JSON containing the video information.

Render a Screenshot (POST)

POST https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot

POST mode accepts the exact same parameters in the request body, but you need to use a JSON.

Request Options for Screenshots

Request Options

GET https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https://apple.com

Path Parameters

Name	Type	Description
file_type	string	for the file (If output is not set to json), the options include PNG, JPG, WebP, and PDF. The default is PNG
omit_background	boolean	Omit background (If using PNG as the file_type only) removes the background from websites with a basic white background and makes it transparent. Default is false.
destroy_screenshot	boolean	If true, the screenshot will not be stored on our server after render. The resulting screenshot (or PDF) must be deleted (destroyed) when it's rendered as it will not be available again. Default is false
fail_on_error	boolean	If fail on error is set to true, then the API will return an error if the render encounters a 4xx or 5xx status code. Default is false
longitude	number	The longitude to use with the browser's Geolocation API. Default is null
latitude	number	The latitude to use with the browser's Geolocation API. Default is null
proxy	string	Use an address for a proxy server for the request. Example: address:port or username:password@address:port. Default: ''
no_cookie_banners	string	Block or hide cookie banners on websites as the request loads before render. Default is false
block_ads	boolean	Block ad requests from common and popular ad-networks from loading the request before the render. Default is false
headers	string	Sets the header or headers when the request is being loaded before the render. This works for single or multiple headers. Example: X-HEADER: value; X-OTHER_HEADERL otherValue;. Default is ''
cookies	string	Sets the cookie or cookies when the request is being loaded before the render. This works for single or multiple cookies. Example: cookie=value;otherCookie=otherValue;. Default is ''
scroll_to_element	string	Target a specific element for the browser to scroll to before the render. This is useful if a given element is only loaded in the viewport. Default is ''
selector	string	Specify the target for the render based on a element with a matching selector. If the element is not found, a render of the results is still returned. Example: div > .main-navigation > .logo. Default is ''
css	string	CSS code injected into the render. Default is ''
css_url	string	URL for CSS code injected into the render. Default is ''
ttl	integer	TTL (Time to Live) sets the number of seconds to keep a rendered screenshot (or PDF) in the cache. Default is 30 days or 2592000 seconds
user_agent	string	Sets the User-Agent string for the render for a particular request. Default is ''
accept_languages	string	Sets the Accept-Language header on the request for the specified URL rendered. Default isen-US,en;q=0.8
delay	integer	Time delay in milliseconds (ms) before the screenshot is rendered from the browser instance (this includes PDFs). Default is 0
thumbnail_width	integer	The width in pixels of the thumbnail generated from the render. If not set, the fallback behavior is the outputted screenshot. Default is null
output	string	Set the output of the results from the render. The output can be either JSON or the raw image captured. Default is image
fresh	string	Take a fresh screenshot or render (or PDF) vs. getting the version cached version within the app's storage. Default is false
lazy_load	boolean	If lazy load is set to true, the browser will cross down the entire page to ensure all content is loaded in the render. Default is false
full_page	boolean	Capture the full page of a website vs. the scrollable area that is visible in the viewport upon render. Default is false
retina	boolean	Retina or a high definition equivalent for a device that sets the pixel ratio to 2X. This option will cause the screenshot processing time to go up due to processing of the larger images. Default is false
height	integer	Viewport height in pixels of the browser render. Default is 867
width	integer	Viewport width in pixels of the browser render. Default is 1680
custom_html	string	Provide custom HTML that should be rendered. This will override the URL option and take a screenshot of the following HTML output. Default is ''
url	string	The URL of the website for the screenshot / render
token	string	Your API key for Screenshot API

200: OK If output is set to json the following response will be given. Otherwise, output is set to image, the rendered image data will be returned.

{
    // Response
}

Request Options for Scrolling Screenshots

Request Options

GET https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=TOKEN&url=https://apple.com&scrolling_screenshot=true

Path Parameters

Name	Type	Description
file_type	string	for the file the options include WEBM, MP4 and GIF. The default is WEBM
scroll_speed	string	this field stands for the scrolling speed, the options are fast normal and slow. The default is normal
duration	integer	this field controls the scrolling duration, which in turn affects the video duration in seconds. You can enter a value between 0 and 100.
scroll_back	boolean	if this field is set to true, the scrolling will go to the end of the page, and once it's done, it will return to the start of the page.

Errors

In rare circumstances the API may encounter an "Error 524" from Cloudflare. This is due to a timeout between the ScreenshotAPI API and our servers due to auto-scaling. If you see this error please just try your request again.

You may also receive an error if you select the no_cookies_banner as TRUE and try to export as a PDF. There are some limitations that do not allow these two settings to happen at the same time.

Quota

With each API call the following quota headers are sent.

X-Quota-Limit

The total number of screenshots you can take per month

X-Quota-Remaining

The number of screenshots you can still make this month

X-Quota-Reset-At

A unix timestamp of when the quota resets (the first of each month)

Query Builder

Use our Query Builder to explore our API. (If you are logged in your API key is automatically added). To easily view all the screenshot options in an interactive builder to ensure you have your ideal screenshot dialed in.

You can check out the Query Builder here: https://app.screenshotapi.net.

Inject JavaScript

Inject Javascript field is a javascript code that the browser can execute before taking the screenshot.

For example: Try taking a screenshot of https://xo.capital/ and paste this code in the "Inject JS code" input of the query builder:

document.getElementsByClassName('display-heading')[0].innerHTML = 'This is a test to help the customer'

Page Range

We added a new option recently specifically for the PDF output. You can select the range that you want to select. Sometimes if the screenshot has unnecessary details that bleed into another page and you want to remove that from the screenshot, you can customize the page range that gets outputted directly from the Query Builder.

Page Range option added to the PDF option

pdf_options%5Bpage_range%5D)=1-1

Extract HTML or Text

This option on the query builder allows you to store the HTML and the text of the site. You currently need to set the output as json to grab the URLs. If you are using the img output, for example, we will extract the information but there is no way to grab the URLs.

Code Examples

Below is sample code for the following languages: Node.JS, PHP, Go, Java, Python, and Ruby.

If you need assistance integrating into our API with a given language please contact us.

NodeJS

var fs = require("fs");
var request = require("request");

// @param {String} token - String containing your API Key
// @param {String} url - Encoded URI string container the URI you're targeting
// @param {String} output - String specifying the output format, "image" or "json"
// @param {String} file_type - String specifying the output type
var token = "Your API Key";
var url = encodeURIComponent("https://google.com");
var output = "image";
var file_type = "png";

// Construct the query params and URL
var query = "https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot";
query += `?token=${token}&url=${url}&output=${output}&file_type=${file_type}`;

// Call the API and save the screenshot
request.get({ url: query, encoding: "binary" }, (err, response, body) => {
  fs.writeFile("screenshot.png", body, "binary", (err) => {
    if (err) {
      console.log(err);
    } else {
      console.log("The file was saved!");
    }
  });
});
```

PHP

// @param {String} $token - String containing your API Key 
// @param {String} $url - Encoded URI string container the URI you're targeting 
// @param {String} output - String specifying the output format, "image" or "json"
// @param {String} file_type - String specifying the output type
$token = 'Your API Key';
$url = urlencode('https://google.com');
$output = 'image';
$file_type = 'png';

// Construct the query params and URL
$query = "https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot";
$query .= "?token=$token&url=$url&output=$output&file_type=$file_type";

// Call the API
$image = file_get_contents($query);

// Save the screenshot
file_put_contents('./screenshot.png', $image);

Go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "io/ioutil"
    "net/http"
    url2 "net/url"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    // @param {String} token - String containing your API Key 
    // @param {String} url - Encoded URI string container the URI you're targeting 
    // @param {String} output - String specifying the output format, "image" or "json"
    // @param {String} file_type - String specifying the output type    
    token := "Your API Key"
    url := url2.QueryEscape("https://google.com")
    output := "image"
    file_type := "png"
    // Construct the query params and URL
    query := "https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot"
    query += fmt.Sprintf("?token=%s&url=%s&output=%s&file_type=%s",
        token, url, output, file_type)

    // Call the API
    resp, err := http.Get(query)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    // Raise error if call was unsucessfull
    if resp.StatusCode != 200 {
        errorBody, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
        panic(fmt.Errorf("error while calling api %s", errorBody))
    }

    // Save the screenshot
    file, err := os.Create("./screenshot.png")
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer file.Close()

    _, err = io.Copy(file, resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
}

Java

package main;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLEncoder;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            // @param {String} $token - String containing your API Key 
            // @param {String} $url - Encoded URI string container the URI you're targeting 
            // @param {String} $output - String specifying the output format, "image" or "json"
            // @param {String} file_type - String specifying the output type
            String token = "Your API Key";
            String url = URLEncoder.encode("https://google.com");
            String output = "image";
            String file_type = "png";

            // Construct the query params and URL
            String query = "https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot";
            query += String.format("?token=%s&url=%s&output=%s&file_type=%s",
                    token, url, output, file_type);
            URL apiUrl = new URL(query);

            // Call the API and save the screenshot
            InputStream inputStream = apiUrl.openStream();
            OutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream("./screenshot.png");
            inputStream.transferTo(outputStream);

            inputStream.close();
            outputStream.close();
        } catch(Exception ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Python

import urllib.parse
import urllib.request
import ssl

ssl._create_default_https_context = ssl._create_unverified_context

# @param {String} $token - String containing your API Key 
# @param {String} $url - Encoded URI string container the URI you're targeting 
# @param {String} $output - String specifying the output format, "image" or "json"
# @param {String} file_type - String specifying the output type
token = "Your API Key"
url = urllib.parse.quote_plus("https://google.com")
output = "image"
file_type = "png"

# Construct the query params and URL
query = "https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot"
query += "?token=%s&url=%s&output=%s&file_type=%s" % (token, url, output, file_type)

# Call the API
urllib.request.urlretrieve(query, "./screenshot.png")

Ruby

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

# Define your API Key, URL, output type, and file type
token = 'Your API key'
url = URI.encode('https://google.com')
output = 'image'
file_type = 'png'

# Construct the query URL
query = "https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot"
query += "?token=#{token}&url=#{url}&output=#{output}&file_type=#{file_type}"

# Send a GET request to the API
uri = URI.parse(query)
response = Net::HTTP.get_response(uri)

# Check if the response was successful
if response.code == '200'
  # Save the screenshot as a binary file
  File.open("screenshot.png", "wb") do |file|
    file.write(response.body)
  end
  puts "The file was saved!"
else
  puts "Error: #{response.code} - #{response.message}"
end

App Script (Google Sheets)

/**
 * Takes a website URL as input and returns a screenshot of the website using the ScreenshotAPI service.
 * @param {string} websiteUrl - The URL of the website to take a screenshot of.
 * @return {string} screenshotUrl - The URL of the screenshot image.
 * @customfunction
 */
async function SCREENSHOT(websiteUrl) {
  const YOUR_API_KEY = "XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX"; // Your ScreenshotAPI API key
  const query = `https://shot.screenshotapi.net/screenshot?token=${YOUR_API_KEY}&url=${websiteUrl}&output=image&file_type=png`; // Construct the query params and URL
  const options = {
  'method' : 'get',
  'contentType': 'application/json',
  'followRedirects':false
  }; // The options for the fetch request
  const response = await UrlFetchApp.fetch(query,options); // Make the fetch request to ScreenshotAPI
  const screenshotUrl = response.getHeaders()['Location']; // Get the URL of the screenshot from the response headers
  return screenshotUrl; // Return the URL of the screenshot
}

Proxy

We have a free proxy you can use if you need one: http://xo:llksoigsgrewvc@137.184.64.168:3128

Support

At ScreenshotAPI we are there for you. We are developers ourselves and strive to ensure you have a great screenshot experience.

If the ScreenshotAPI.net API is unavailable to all for more than three consecutive hours in any one calendar day, beginning at 12:00:01 AM PST and ending at 11:59:59 PM PST time of the same day, an outage will be deemed to have occurred. If there are more than three outages within any one calendar week, beginning at 12:00:01 AM PST on a Monday and ending at 11:59:59 PM PST on a Sunday, then You may terminate this Agreement, without liability, by providing written notice to ScreenshotAPI.net of Your intention to do so within one calendar week of the third outage. Upon such termination being accepted by ScreenshotAPI.net, You shall be entitled to a refund equal to the amount You have paid for the latest term.

If you need help at any point please contact us at [e-mail] or go to help.screenshotapi.net