# Creating image file of an entire page?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 4, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927 "2015-01-04T05:33:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/1 "2015-01-04T05:33:46Z")

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In another recent thread, I asked for and received advice about how to take a screen shot and save that to a file.

Here’s another thing I’ve wondered: Suppose I’m looking at a web page that exceeds the size of my screen, so I have a horizontal and/or vertical scroll bar. Is there a way to take a “screen shot” of the entire page (not just that part visible on the actual screen)? I’d like to end up with an image file that includes the entire page.

ETA: I use both Windows and Linux systems. So, if possible, I’d like instructions for both.

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**Author:** ![Gibbs89](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gibbs89/32/3351_2.png) [@Gibbs89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gibbs89)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/2 "2015-01-04T05:58:08Z")

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I use a Firefox plugin called Awesome Screenshot Plus to do this. It’s pretty easy to use. [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/awesome-screenshot-capture-/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/awesome-screenshot-capture-/)

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/3 "2015-01-04T06:26:49Z")

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There’s a free Windows program called CutePDFWriter that lets you print anything, including a web page (text and graphics), to a PDF file, which you can then look at with whatever PDF viewer you want to use.

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**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/4 "2015-01-04T07:44:48Z")

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Here’s a less scary FF add-on

> **[FireShot: Full Web Page Screenshots (♥♥♥♥♥) – Get this Extension for 🦊...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireshot/)**
>
> Download FireShot: Full Web Page Screenshots (♥♥♥♥♥) for Firefox. FireShot makes full page screen captures - http://bit.ly/RlBQMV
> 
> Screenshots are quickly captured and:
> 
> ― Saved as Image / PDF with links and text \*
> ― Sent to clipboard
> ― Printed
> ―...

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/5 "2015-01-04T09:51:25Z")

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I’d probably use a pdf writer if I specifically wanted an “image”, but what I actually use in FF is unMHT, which saves a MHTML.

From Wikipedia

> [@](#):
>
> MIME HTML, is a web page archive format used to combine in a single document the HTML code and its companion resources that are otherwise represented by external links (such as images, Flash animations, Java applets, and audio files). The content of an MHTML file is encoded as if it were an HTML e-mail message, using the MIME type multipart/related.

This has advantages and disadvantages: on the plus side, I’m saving a web page as a web page. It works very well, better, I think, than PDF.  
On the other hand, it saves as a web page: any virus/malware is still part of the page.

Like a PDF, an MHT is a single file.

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/6 "2015-01-04T18:24:03Z")

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Do any of these solutions let you create just an image file, like a .jpg or a .png or similar?

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**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/7 "2015-01-04T19:24:39Z")

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I’m not familiar with any of those but I did have a Firefox extension that took while page image screenshots (jpg, png, etc). So if those don’t, there’s probably one out there that will.

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**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/8 "2015-01-04T19:28:39Z")

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> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> Do any of these solutions let you create just an image file, like a .jpg or a .png or similar?

If you’ve saved your web page as a pdf file, by whatever means (Acrobat can do this, as can the plug-ins and programs described above), Adobe Acrobat can save that pdf file as a jpg, tiff or png file.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/9 "2015-01-05T18:14:22Z")

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> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> Do any of these solutions let you create just an image file, like a .jpg or a .png or similar?

Yeah, Fireshot does. It’ll auto-scroll the page for you, take a pic of each section, automatically recombine them into a single picture, and save it into jpg/png for you.

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**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/10 "2015-01-05T19:35:03Z")

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One should consider whether they really need an image. If your real goal is to save the content, then go to your Filemenu and try “save as a single file”.

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**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/11 "2015-01-07T19:47:44Z")

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> [@Saintly\_Loser](#):
>
> If you’ve saved your web page as a pdf file, by whatever means (Acrobat can do this, as can the plug-ins and programs described above), Adobe Acrobat can save that pdf file as a jpg, tiff or png file.

I believe only the paid version of Acrobat installs the Adobe PDF printer driver to “print” to a PDF.

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**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/12 "2015-01-07T20:03:00Z")

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There are a couple of websites that will convert a page to either an image or a PDF. A couple I have used are listed below. You don’t have to install anything, just plug in the URL and let the site do the work. Some of these might be limited to only doing a certain number of free conversions.

[https://www.url2png.com/](https://www.url2png.com/)  
[http://web-capture.net/](http://web-capture.net/)

> **[Website Screenshot API Generator Tools](https://www.page2images.com/)**
>
> Page2Images provide tool and API to generate website screenshot or thumbnail online, preview webpage, snapshot website.

> **[HTML to PDF Converter - Convert HTML to PDF Online Free](https://www.sodapdf.com/html-to-pdf/)**
>
> Convert HTML web pages into PDF files with ease. Our easy-to-use online converter tool is FREE to use. No installation, download or registration required.

When I want a quick way to look at a site where I think there might be malware, or I don’t want my IP in the site’s logs (and I don’t feel like firing up my Tor box), I use one of these services.

ETA: [Here](https://api.url2png.com/v6/P4DE5D1C99D8EF/b6ecdec367eb9214a65d45e9f63ec462/png/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Fshowthread.php%3Fp%3D18034336%26posted%3D1%23post18034336&max_width=550&viewport=1024x2000&fullpage=1&thumbnail_max_width=550) is an example from [url2png.com](http://url2png.com).

ETAA: Not sure how long they retain the image on their server, so you want to save your images when you create them.

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**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/13 "2015-01-07T20:07:58Z")

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If the page is only slightly bigger than your screen, couldn’t you also just shrink it down a bit using the browser’s zoom and then take the screen shot?

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/14 "2015-01-07T21:43:52Z")

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> [@SmellMyWort](#):
>
> If the page is only slightly bigger than your screen, couldn’t you also just shrink it down a bit using the browser’s zoom and then take the screen shot?

Well, yeah, I do that rather regularly too, in that situation.

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**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/15 "2015-01-07T22:30:10Z")

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I use [Webpage Screenshot](http://www.webpagescreenshot.info/) for Chrome. It gives you the option to do an all-page screenshot.

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**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/16 "2015-01-07T23:05:37Z")

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Although not a solution for large pages, actually this affected me an hour back: after reading up on the **[VOC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company)** and **[WIC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_West_India_Company)**, I looked up the Low Countries and on **[Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Countries)** found this awesome flowchart of the area over history. As it was a template and not an image it couldn’t be saved and was slightly too large for my screen. Zooming out would have made the already tiny print tinier,  
I hit F11 which got rid of the Firefox bars, then as the computer taskbar was also unavailable went into krunner ( ALT + F2 ) and typed ksnapshot with which I could image the chart. Then F11 again to restore Fx.  
So F11 can still help.

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/17 "2015-01-08T07:13:05Z")

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No one’s mentioned my masochistic solution. It works even with sites like Google Maps where there may be no easy alternative. Screengrab the image in multiple segments; then paste them back together using GIMP, or any other general image processing tool. You may need to manually align the segments when pasting to put the seams at exactly the right places. To do this, crop one of the images so that the edge (seam) passes through a distinct feature.

Perhaps revealing this approach “outs” me as a masochistic. But sadists used to charge $100/hour – more if they had a law degree – and prices have doubtless gone up since. Doing masochistic things on your own computer is free!

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-image-file-of-an-entire-page/708927/18 "2015-01-08T08:02:05Z")

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I’ll gladly do that, if I can persuade someone to pay _me_ $100 / hour. 🙂
