Website Screenshot Generator

Take clean, reliable screenshots of any website with one Apify Actor.

Website Screenshot Generator is built for pages that are hard to capture well:

• lazy-loaded content
• cookie and consent banners
• sticky headers and floating widgets
• animated UI states
• element-level screenshots for specific sections

Use it to create screenshots for product pages, research, QA, documentation, monitoring, and content workflows.

This README is written for the Apify listing, so it focuses on what users can do with the Actor and what they get back.

What can Website Screenshot Generator do?

Website Screenshot Generator is designed to make website screenshots look clean and usable on the first try.

It can:

• capture a full page or just the visible viewport
• screenshot a specific element with a CSS selector
• attempt to dismiss cookie banners automatically
• scroll through the page to trigger lazy-loaded images and content
• hide sticky or fixed-position elements that often ruin full-page captures
• disable animations before capture for a more stable result
• save the screenshot as a PNG in the default Apify Key-Value Store
• publish run metadata to the dataset for easy automation

This makes it a practical choice when a basic browser screenshot is not enough.

Typical Apify use cases:

• saving screenshots for internal review
• generating visual evidence for monitoring
• capturing pages for documentation or research
• pulling screenshots into automation or AI workflows

How to use Website Screenshot Generator

1. Open the Actor in Apify.
2. Paste or import the target website URLs.
3. Choose your screenshot settings:
   • viewport width and height
   • full-page or viewport screenshot
   • optional element selector
   • cookie banner dismissal
   • sticky header hiding
   • post-load delay
4. Run the Actor.
5. Download the PNG from the Key-Value Store or use the API response in your workflow.

Recommended settings:

• Use fullPage: true for landing pages, docs, and article pages.
• Use elementSelector when you only need a specific card, section, or widget.
• Keep closeCookieBanners and hideStickyHeaders enabled for the cleanest results.

Example input:

{
  "urls": [
    { "url": "https://example.com" },
    { "url": "https://example.com/about" }
  ],
  "viewportWidth": 1920,
  "viewportHeight": 1080,
  "fullPage": true,
  "hideStickyHeaders": true,
  "closeCookieBanners": true,
  "delayMs": 2000,
  "screenshotFormat": "png",
  "scrollToBottom": true,
  "scrollDelayMs": 2500,
  "waitForNetworkIdleAfterScroll": false,
  "networkIdleTimeoutMs": 30000,
  "navigationTimeoutMs": 30000
}

If you want a screenshot of just one section:

{
  "urls": [{ "url": "https://example.com/pricing" }],
  "elementSelector": "#pricing",
  "viewportWidth": 1440,
  "viewportHeight": 900
}

Input

Required:

• urls: One or more page URLs you want to screenshot.

Optional:

• viewportWidth: Browser width in pixels. Default: 1920
• viewportHeight: Browser height in pixels. Default: 1080
• fullPage: Capture the whole scrollable page. Default: false
• elementSelector: CSS selector for a specific element to capture
• hideStickyHeaders: Hide fixed and sticky elements before capture. Default: true
• closeCookieBanners: Try to close consent banners automatically. Default: true
• delayMs: Extra wait time before capture. Default: 2000
• screenshotFormat: Image format (png or jpeg). Default: png
• scrollToBottom: Scroll page to bottom to trigger lazy load. Default: false
• scrollDelayMs: Delay after scrolling down. Default: 2500
• waitForNetworkIdleAfterScroll: Wait for network connections to idle after a scroll. Default: false
• networkIdleTimeoutMs: Maximum time to wait for idle network connections post-scroll. Default: 30000
• navigationTimeoutMs: Maximum wait time for page navigation. Default: 30000

Best practice:

• Use a larger viewport for modern landing pages.
• Use elementSelector only when the page structure is stable.
• Increase delayMs for highly animated sites.

Output

The Actor produces two outputs:

• PNG or JPEG screenshots saved in the default Key-Value Store with sequential prefixes (e.g. OUTPUT_SCREENSHOT_XYZ).
• A dataset item per URL containing the screenshot format URL, capturing configuration, and metadata.

Returned metadata includes:

• source URL
• viewport size
• whether the screenshot was full-page

Example result:

{
  "screenshotUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/<store-id>/records/OUTPUT_SCREENSHOT_m6f2g",
  "sourceUrl": "https://example.com",
  "viewportWidth": 1920,
  "viewportHeight": 1080,
  "fullPage": true
}

How much will using Website Screenshot Generator cost you?

The cost depends on:

• the Apify plan you are on
• how many pages you screenshot
• how long each run takes
• whether the site is slow, heavily scripted, or blocked

In practice, the biggest cost drivers are browser time and retries.

To keep costs down:

• screenshot only the pages you need
• use a smaller viewport when appropriate
• avoid very large full-page captures unless necessary
• set a realistic timeout so blocked pages do not burn runtime

If you are running this at scale, the most efficient workflow is usually:

• one run per page
• targeted element screenshots where possible
• lightweight settings first, then increase quality only when needed

Frequently asked questions

Can I use integrations with Website Screenshot Generator?

Yes. You can connect this Actor to automations and external tools through Apify integrations, webhooks, or your own workflow orchestration.

Can I use Website Screenshot Generator with the Apify API?

Yes. You can trigger the Actor, pass input, and read the screenshot result through the Apify API.

Can I use Website Screenshot Generator through an MCP Server?

Yes, if your MCP setup can call Apify Actors or Apify API endpoints, you can use this Actor as part of that workflow.

Is it legal to take website screenshots?

Usually yes, but it depends on the website, your use case, and local laws.

Things to consider:

• website terms of service
• copyright and trademark concerns
• privacy and personal data
• robots and access restrictions
• permission requirements for internal or commercial use

This README is not legal advice. If you plan to use screenshots commercially, for sensitive data, or at scale, review the terms and consult legal counsel where appropriate.

Your feedback

If you use Website Screenshot Generator, your feedback is welcome.

Tell us:

• which sites it works well on
• where cookie handling fails
• which banner patterns are missing
• what would make the output easier to automate

Feedback helps improve capture quality and makes the Actor more useful for everyone.

If you want this listing to be shorter and more conversion-focused for Apify, I can trim it down further and make the first screen of the listing more sales-oriented.