Formats and quality

Screenshotly supports multiple output formats. Choose the one that best fits your use case.

Supported formats

Format	Best for	Transparency	Compression
PNG	UI screenshots, pixel-perfect captures	Yes	Lossless
JPEG	Photos, large pages, smaller file sizes	No	Lossy
WebP	Web delivery, best size-to-quality ratio	Yes	Both
PDF	Printable documents	N/A	N/A

Setting the format

const screenshot = await client.capture({
  url: 'https://example.com',
  format: 'webp'
});

curl -X POST https://api.screenshotly.dev/v1/capture \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SCREENSHOTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "options": { "format": "webp" }
  }' \
  --output screenshot.webp

The default format is png.

Quality settings

For JPEG, WebP, and PDF formats, use the image_quality parameter to control compression. The value is an integer between 0 and 100 (default: 80):

const screenshot = await client.capture({
  url: 'https://example.com',
  format: 'jpeg',
  image_quality: 85
});

Quality range	File size	Visual quality
90–100	Large	Highest fidelity
70–89	Medium	Good for most uses
50–69	Small	Noticeable artifacts
Below 50	Smallest	Significant quality loss

The image_quality parameter has no effect on PNG format since PNG uses lossless compression.

Transparent backgrounds

For PNG and WebP formats, use omit_background to remove the default white background:

curl -X POST https://api.screenshotly.dev/v1/capture \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SCREENSHOTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "options": {
      "format": "png",
      "omit_background": true
    }
  }' \
  --output screenshot.png

PDF output

Screenshotly supports PDF output by setting format to pdf:

curl -X POST https://api.screenshotly.dev/v1/capture \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SCREENSHOTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "options": { "format": "pdf" }
  }' \
  --output page.pdf

Choosing a format

Use PNG when you need transparency or pixel-perfect accuracy
Use JPEG at quality 75–85 for the best balance of size and quality
Use WebP for web delivery where browser support is available
Use PDF when you need a printable document format

Getting started

Capture options

Advanced

Integrations

Account

Supported formats

Setting the format

Quality settings

Transparent backgrounds

PDF output

Choosing a format

​Supported formats

​Setting the format

​Quality settings

​Transparent backgrounds

​PDF output

​Choosing a format

Supported formats

Setting the format

Quality settings

Transparent backgrounds

PDF output

Choosing a format