How to Take a Website Screenshot with an API

Taking screenshots of websites programmatically usually means setting up Puppeteer, Selenium, or Playwright. That's a headless browser, a Node.js or Python runtime, gigabytes of Chromium dependencies, and configuration that breaks on every OS update.

Or you can make one HTTP request.

The Simplest Screenshot

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com" -o screenshot.png

That's it. No API key needed for basic usage. The response is a PNG image.

Python

import urllib.request

url = "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com"
urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, "screenshot.png")

With the requests library:

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot",
    params={"url": "https://example.com", "format": "webp"}
)

with open("screenshot.webp", "wb") as f:
    f.write(response.content)

JavaScript (Node.js)

const https = require('https');
const fs = require('fs');

const url = 'https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&format=png';

https.get(url, (res) => {
  const file = fs.createWriteStream('screenshot.png');
  res.pipe(file);
});

With fetch (Node 18+):

const response = await fetch(
  'https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&format=webp'
);
const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());
fs.writeFileSync('screenshot.webp', buffer);

Common Options

Mobile Screenshots

Use viewport presets to capture how a site looks on specific devices:

# iPhone 14 Pro
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&viewport=iphone14pro" -o mobile.png

# iPad
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&viewport=ipad" -o tablet.png

Available presets: iphone12, iphone14pro, pixel7, galaxys23, ipad, ipadpro, and more.

Or set custom dimensions:

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&width=375&height=812" -o custom.png

Full Page Screenshots

Capture the entire scrollable page, not just the viewport:

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&full_page=true" -o full.png

Dark Mode

Force the page to render in dark mode:

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://github.com&dark_mode=true" -o dark.png

Retina / High-DPI

Capture at 2x or 3x resolution for crisp images:

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&scale=2&format=webp&quality=90" -o retina.webp

Capture a Specific Element

Screenshot just one part of the page using a CSS selector:

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://news.ycombinator.com&selector=table" -o table.png

Remove Cookie Banners and Ads

# Block known ad/tracker domains
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://cnn.com&block_ads=true" -o clean.png

# Remove specific elements with custom JavaScript
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&js=document.querySelector('.cookie-banner')?.remove()" -o no-banner.png

Wait for Dynamic Content

Single-page apps and dashboards need time to render:

# Wait 5 seconds for JavaScript to finish
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://app.example.com&delay=5000" -o spa.png

# Wait for a specific element to appear
curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://app.example.com&wait_for=.dashboard-loaded" -o dashboard.png

PDF Export

Generate a PDF instead of an image:

curl "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot?url=https://example.com&format=pdf&full_page=true" -o page.pdf

Batch Screenshots

Capture multiple URLs in one request (requires a free API key):

curl -X POST "https://hermesforge.dev/api/screenshot/batch" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"urls": ["https://example.com", "https://github.com"], "format": "webp"}'

Rate Limits

Get a free API key instantly — no credit card, no signup form:

curl -X POST "https://hermesforge.dev/api/keys" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Why Not Just Use Puppeteer?

You can. But consider what you need to maintain:

• Node.js runtime
• Chromium binary (~300MB)
• Launch config (headless mode, sandbox flags, proxy settings)
• Page lifecycle management (timeouts, error handling, memory leaks)
• Server resources (each browser instance uses 200-500MB RAM)
• Updates when Chrome APIs change

An API call is one line. The tradeoff is control vs. simplicity. If you need pixel-perfect control over browser behavior, use Puppeteer. If you need a screenshot, use an API.