Full-Page Screenshot API: Capture Entire Web Pages Beyond the Viewport

What Is a Full-Page Screenshot?

A standard screenshot captures the visible viewport — what you see on screen when the page first loads. A full-page screenshot captures the entire scrollable length of the page, including all content below the fold.

This matters whenever the content you need lives below the initial viewport:

• Long landing pages, blog posts, documentation
• E-commerce product pages with many images
• Data-heavy dashboards with scrollable tables
• News articles and long-form content

How to Enable Full-Page Capture

Pass full_page=true as a query parameter:

curl -H "x-api-key: sk_your_key" \
  "https://api.webcaptureapi.com/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&full_page=true" \
  --output full.png

The API renders the page, measures the total document height, expands the viewport to fit the full content, then captures the result as a single image.

JavaScript Example

const params = new URLSearchParams({
  url: 'https://example.com',
  format: 'png',
  width: '1440',
  full_page: 'true',
})

const response = await fetch(
  https://api.webcaptureapi.com/api/screenshot?${params},
  { headers: { 'x-api-key': process.env.WEBCAPTURE_API_KEY } }
)

const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer())
await fs.writeFile('full-page.png', buffer)

Python Example

import requests, os

response = requests.get(
    'https://api.webcaptureapi.com/api/screenshot',
    params={
        'url': 'https://example.com',
        'format': 'png',
        'width': 1440,
        'full_page': 'true',
    },
    headers={'x-api-key': os.environ['WEBCAPTURE_API_KEY']},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()

with open('full-page.png', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Combining Full-Page with Other Parameters

Full-page capture works alongside all other parameters:

Example: Full-page JPEG at 1440px wide

curl -H "x-api-key: sk_your_key" \
  "https://api.webcaptureapi.com/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&full_page=true&width=1440&format=jpeg&quality=85" \
  --output full.jpg

Handling Lazy-Loaded Content

Many modern pages use lazy loading — images and content only load when scrolled into view. Full-page capture measures the document height but doesn't simulate scrolling by default.

If your target page has lazy-loaded content below the fold, use the delay parameter to give the page time after initial load:

# Wait 3 seconds after load before capturing
curl -H "x-api-key: sk_your_key" \
  "https://api.webcaptureapi.com/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&full_page=true&delay=3000"

This works for most cases. For very complex pages, increase the delay up to the maximum of 10,000ms (10 seconds).

Use Cases

Visual Regression Testing

Capture a full-page screenshot before and after a deployment. Compare pixel-by-pixel to catch unintended layout changes anywhere on the page — not just above the fold.

Website Archiving

Preserve the full visual state of a page at a point in time. Useful for competitive research, legal documentation, and historical records.

Thumbnail Generation

Generate full-page thumbnails for link previews, website galleries, or design portfolio tools. Scale down the full-page capture for display.

Design Review

Send a client or stakeholder a single image showing the entire page design without needing them to scroll. Combine with a scheduled job to send weekly progress snapshots.

Content Monitoring

Schedule a recurring full-page screenshot of a page and get it delivered to your inbox. Spot changes to any part of the page — not just what's above the fold.

File Size Considerations

Full-page screenshots of long pages can produce large files. A 10,000px tall PNG at 1440px wide is typically 2–5 MB. Tips to manage size:

• Use format=jpeg with quality=80 for a significant size reduction with minimal quality loss
• Reduce width if the exact horizontal resolution isn't critical
• For thumbnails, consider resizing the image after capture in your application

Next Steps

• Getting started with the screenshot API — basic requests, parameters, and error handling
• Node.js integration guide — full-page captures in JavaScript
• Python integration guide — full-page captures in Python
• API reference — complete parameter documentation