How to Capture a Webpage as PDF — Free Tool, No Software Install
How to Capture a Webpage as PDF — Free Tool, No Software Install
The browser's built-in print-to-PDF is awkward. It strips background images, reformats the layout, and cuts content off at page breaks in ways the original designer never intended. Adobe Acrobat costs money. And most "web to PDF" services either watermark the result or require an account.
Here's a cleaner approach: use a headless Chromium renderer to capture the page exactly as it appears in a browser, then export it as a proper vector PDF — backgrounds, colours, and all.
How It Works
The free screenshot tool uses Playwright (Chromium) to open the URL, render it fully, then export it using Chromium's print-to-PDF engine. The result is:
- A proper vector PDF (text is selectable and searchable)
- Background images and colours preserved
- Full-page capture from top to bottom
- No watermark
- No account required
Step by Step
- Go to /screenshot
- Paste the URL of the page you want to export
- Select Format: PDF
- Optionally enable Full page to capture beyond the visible viewport
- Click Take Screenshot
- Download the PDF
That's it. The PDF opens in any standard viewer.
Useful Options
Delay: If the page loads content dynamically (lazy-loaded images, charts, dashboards), add a delay of 2000–5000ms to give JavaScript time to finish before capture.
Dark mode: Set dark mode on for pages that support it — the PDF will reflect the dark theme.
Width: The default 1280px width works for most pages. Narrow it to 768px for a more compact PDF suited to mobile-friendly layouts.
Ad blocking: Enable to remove cookie banners and ad slots before capture, giving a cleaner document.
Common Use Cases
Archiving articles: Save news articles, blog posts, or documentation as PDFs before they go behind a paywall or get deleted.
Client reports: Take a screenshot of a live dashboard, analytics view, or status page as a PDF to include in a report or send by email.
Legal and compliance: Capture a webpage as a timestamped PDF for evidence purposes (note: this tool does not add a timestamp to the PDF itself — do that separately if needed).
E-commerce: Capture product pages, pricing pages, or competitor listings as PDFs for analysis.
Academic research: Archive web sources as PDFs for citation and future reference.
API Access
For automated PDF generation, the same engine is available as an API:
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&format=pdf&full_page=true" \
-o page.pdf
No API key required for basic use. Add &delay=3000 for JavaScript-heavy pages.
For higher volume, the RapidAPI listing includes paid tiers with higher rate limits.
Try It
Select PDF format. Free, no account, no watermark.