Webpage Screenshots

Capture any public webpage as a high-quality image.

Overview

The HTML/CSS to Image API can capture screenshots of any publicly accessible URL. Pass a URL to the API, and get back a pixel-perfect screenshot rendered in a real instance of Google Chrome.

Basic usage

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://stripe.com"

Screenshot of stripe.com auto generated with the API

Common use cases

Website archival

Capture and preserve webpage snapshots for compliance, legal, or historical purposes.

Link previews

Generate preview images for links shared in your application, similar to how Slack or Twitter shows link previews.

Competitive monitoring

Automatically capture competitor websites to track design changes over time.

Documentation

Generate up-to-date screenshots for product documentation and tutorials.

Testing and QA

Capture screenshots during automated testing to verify UI changes.

Capture specific elements

Use the selector parameter to capture just a portion of a page:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://stripe.com" \
  --data-urlencode selector="section#complete-toolkit"

Use a CSS selector to crop an image

Full-page screenshots

Capture the entire scrollable length of a page:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://example.com/long-page" \
  --data full_screen=true

Learn more about full_screen

Many websites display consent popups. Use block_consent_banners to hide them:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://example.com" \
  --data block_consent_banners=true

Learn more about blocking cookie banners

High-resolution screenshots

Set device_scale to 2 for retina-quality images:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://example.com" \
  --data device_scale=2

Control the viewport

Set a specific viewport size for your screenshots:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://example.com" \
  --data viewport_width=1920 \
  --data viewport_height=1080

Wait for JavaScript

If the page needs time to fully render (e.g., charts, animations), add a delay:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://example.com" \
  --data ms_delay=1000

Inject custom CSS

Modify the appearance of the page before capturing:

curl -X POST https://hcti.io/v1/image -u 'UserID:APIKey' \
  --data-urlencode url="https://example.com" \
  --data-urlencode css=".banner { display: none; } body { background: white; }"

We have dedicated guides for capturing content from popular platforms:

Limitations

The URL must be publicly accessible (no login-required pages)
Private or authenticated content cannot be captured
Some sites may block automated access

Need help?

Talk to a human. Please email us support@htmlcsstoimage.com with any questions and we’ll gladly help you get started.