How to Take Screenshots with PHP: Browsershot, Puppeteer, and API

Capture website screenshots in PHP using Spatie Browsershot, Puppeteer, or ScreenshotAPI. Working examples for Laravel and vanilla PHP.

Last updated: 2026-03-25

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Taking a website screenshot with PHP is common in content management systems, link directories, and monitoring tools. This guide covers three approaches: Spatie Browsershot (the community standard), raw Puppeteer via shell commands, and ScreenshotAPI (cloud-based).

The Hard Way: Spatie Browsershot

Browsershot is a PHP wrapper around Puppeteer with over 5 million downloads. It provides a fluent API but requires both Node.js and Chrome.

Install


bash
composer require spatie/browsershot
npm install puppeteer

Basic screenshot


php
use Spatie\Browsershot\Browsershot;

Browsershot::url('https://example.com')
    ->windowSize(1440, 900)
    ->save('screenshot.png');

Full-page screenshot


php
Browsershot::url('https://example.com')
    ->windowSize(1440, 900)
    ->fullPage()
    ->save('full_page.png');

Wait for content


php
Browsershot::url('https://example.com')
    ->waitForFunction('document.querySelector("#main-content") !== null')
    ->save('screenshot.png');

Custom user agent


php
Browsershot::url('https://example.com')
    ->userAgent('MyApp/1.0')
    ->save('screenshot.png');

Browsershot problems

Requires Node.js installed alongside PHP
Puppeteer downloads a ~300 MB Chromium binary
Shared hosting and most managed PHP platforms do not support it
Docker images balloon in size with Chrome dependencies
Process communication between PHP and Node.js can fail silently

The Alternative Hard Way: Direct Puppeteer via Shell

If you prefer not to use Browsershot, you can write a Node.js script and call it from PHP.

Node.js script (screenshot.js)


javascript
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
const [,, url, output] = process.argv;

(async () => {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({ headless: true });
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.setViewport({ width: 1440, height: 900 });
  await page.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'networkidle0' });
  await page.screenshot({ path: output });
  await browser.close();
})();

PHP caller


php
$url = 'https://example.com';
$output = '/tmp/screenshot.png';

exec("node screenshot.js " . escapeshellarg($url) . " " . escapeshellarg($output), $out, $code);

if ($code !== 0) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Screenshot failed with exit code $code");
}

This approach has the same infrastructure requirements as Browsershot with less polish.

The Easy Way: ScreenshotAPI

ScreenshotAPI requires only PHP's built-in cURL extension. No Node.js, no Chrome, no Composer packages.

Using cURL (vanilla PHP)


php
$params = http_build_query([
    'url' => 'https://example.com',
    'width' => 1440,
    'height' => 900,
    'type' => 'png',
]);

$ch = curl_init("https://screenshotapi.to/api/v1/screenshot?{$params}");
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'x-api-key: sk_live_your_api_key',
    ],
]);

$image = curl_exec($ch);
$httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($ch);

if ($httpCode === 200) {
    file_put_contents('screenshot.png', $image);
}

Full-page screenshot


php
$params = http_build_query([
    'url' => 'https://example.com',
    'width' => 1440,
    'fullPage' => 'true',
    'type' => 'png',
]);

Dark mode with JPEG output


php
$params = http_build_query([
    'url' => 'https://example.com',
    'width' => 1440,
    'height' => 900,
    'colorScheme' => 'dark',
    'type' => 'jpeg',
    'quality' => 85,
]);

Laravel HTTP client


php
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;

$response = Http::withHeaders([
    'x-api-key' => config('services.screenshot.key'),
])->get('https://screenshotapi.to/api/v1/screenshot', [
    'url' => 'https://example.com',
    'width' => 1440,
    'height' => 900,
    'type' => 'png',
]);

if ($response->successful()) {
    Storage::put('screenshots/example.png', $response->body());
}

Laravel queued job


php
namespace App\Jobs;

use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
use Illuminate\Queue\InteractsWithQueue;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;

class CaptureScreenshot implements ShouldQueue
{
    use Dispatchable, InteractsWithQueue, Queueable;

    public function __construct(
        private string $url,
        private string $storagePath
    ) {}

    public function handle(): void
    {
        $response = Http::withHeaders([
            'x-api-key' => config('services.screenshot.key'),
        ])->get('https://screenshotapi.to/api/v1/screenshot', [
            'url' => $this->url,
            'width' => 1440,
            'height' => 900,
            'type' => 'png',
        ]);

        if ($response->successful()) {
            Storage::put($this->storagePath, $response->body());
        }
    }
}

Reusable PHP class


php
class ScreenshotClient
{
    private string $apiKey;
    private string $baseUrl = 'https://screenshotapi.to/api/v1/screenshot';

    public function __construct(string $apiKey)
    {
        $this->apiKey = $apiKey;
    }

    public function capture(string $url, array $options = []): string
    {
        $params = array_merge([
            'url' => $url,
            'width' => 1440,
            'height' => 900,
            'type' => 'png',
        ], $options);

        $ch = curl_init($this->baseUrl . '?' . http_build_query($params));
        curl_setopt_array($ch, [
            CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
            CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ["x-api-key: {$this->apiKey}"],
        ]);

        $response = curl_exec($ch);
        $code = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
        curl_close($ch);

        if ($code !== 200) {
            throw new \RuntimeException("Screenshot API returned HTTP {$code}");
        }

        return $response;
    }
}

// Usage
$client = new ScreenshotClient('sk_live_your_api_key');
$image = $client->capture('https://example.com', ['colorScheme' => 'dark']);
file_put_contents('dark_screenshot.png', $image);

Comparison Table

Feature	Browsershot	Shell Puppeteer	ScreenshotAPI
Requires Node.js	Yes	Yes	No
Requires Chrome	Yes	Yes	No
Shared hosting	Not supported	Not supported	Works everywhere
Full-page	Native	Manual	Native
Dark mode	Manual CSS	Manual CSS	Query parameter
Laravel integration	Good	Manual	Excellent
Docker image size	~1.5 GB	~1.5 GB	Base PHP image

When to Use Each

Choose Browsershot if you have full control over your server environment and already have Node.js installed alongside PHP.

Choose ScreenshotAPI for production applications, shared hosting, or any environment where installing Chrome is not feasible. It works with vanilla PHP, Laravel, WordPress, and every other PHP framework. View pricing for credit-based plans.

Next Steps

Read the API documentation for all available parameters
Learn how to build link previews with PHP
See how to generate OG images from URLs

Frequently asked questions

What is the best PHP library for taking screenshots?

Spatie Browsershot is the most popular option with over 5 million downloads. It wraps Puppeteer in a clean PHP API. For hosting environments without Node.js, a screenshot API is the only practical option.

Can I take screenshots on shared hosting with PHP?

Not with Browsershot or Puppeteer, which require Node.js and Chrome. ScreenshotAPI works on any hosting environment because it only needs PHP's cURL extension, which is available everywhere.

How do I capture screenshots in Laravel?

Use ScreenshotAPI with Laravel's HTTP client. Call Http::withHeaders(['x-api-key' => config('services.screenshot.key')])->get() and save the response body as an image file.

Does Browsershot work with PHP 8.3?

Yes, Browsershot supports PHP 8.1 and above. However, it still requires Node.js 18+ and Puppeteer to be installed separately.

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How to Take Screenshots with PHP: Browsershot, Puppeteer, and API

The Hard Way: Spatie Browsershot

Install

Basic screenshot

Full-page screenshot

Wait for content

Custom user agent

Browsershot problems

The Alternative Hard Way: Direct Puppeteer via Shell

Node.js script (screenshot.js)

PHP caller

The Easy Way: ScreenshotAPI

Using cURL (vanilla PHP)

Full-page screenshot

Dark mode with JPEG output

Laravel HTTP client

Laravel queued job

Reusable PHP class

Comparison Table

When to Use Each

Next Steps

Frequently asked questions

What is the best PHP library for taking screenshots?

Can I take screenshots on shared hosting with PHP?

How do I capture screenshots in Laravel?

Does Browsershot work with PHP 8.3?

Related resources

How to Take Screenshots with JavaScript

PHP SDK Documentation

How to Add Website Thumbnails to Your App

Start capturing screenshots today