A URL to PDF API for your own code

PDF options for a URL, with their defaults

Every PDF option is a parameter of the same request. Leave them all out and you get A4 pages, no margin, backgrounds printed and the screen styles of the page. A PDF always covers the whole page, so full_page is not needed.

• selector, clip and the image options have no effect on a PDF; selector and clip are refused with format=pdf.
• With pdf_fit_one_page the width of the sheet follows viewport_width, so a 1280 px window gives a 1280 px wide page.
• With response_type=json, width and height describe one page of the PDF, in pixels at 96 per inch.

A clean PDF of a page you do not control

Your own pages print the way you designed them. Other people's pages arrive with a consent pop-up, a sticky header that repeats at the top of every sheet, and content that loads late. Each has an option.

Many PDFs, or PDFs that take a while

A long page can take several seconds to load and print. Rather than hold a request open, add async=true: the API answers at once with a job, renders in the background, and posts the result to your webhook_url when it is done. The webhook body carries a link to the PDF, signed so your server can check it came from the API.

For a list of pages, a bulk call takes up to 100 at once, each with its own options, on plans that include bulk.

• The webhook arrives once the job is done or has failed. Download the PDF when it arrives: the link in it expires.
• Checking a job's status is free and does not use your quota.

const response = await fetch('https://curlshot.com/api/v1/screenshot', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'X-Access-Key': process.env.SCREENSHOT_ACCESS_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: 'https://example.com/report',
    format: 'pdf',
    pdf_paper_format: 'a4',
    pdf_margin: '15mm',
    async: true,
    webhook_url: 'https://your-app.example/hooks/pdf',
  }),
})
const job = await response.json()
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(job.error_code + ': ' + job.error_message)
console.log('Started', job.job_id)

import os

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://curlshot.com/api/v1/screenshot",
    headers={"X-Access-Key": os.environ["SCREENSHOT_ACCESS_KEY"]},
    params={"url": "https://example.com/report", "format": "pdf", "pdf_paper_format": "a4", "pdf_margin": "15mm"},
    timeout=120,
)
response.raise_for_status()
with open("report.pdf", "wb") as f:
    f.write(response.content)

A "Download as PDF" link on your own site

To let visitors download a PDF of a page, do not put your access key in the page. Make a signed link on your server instead: the request address plus a signature made with your secret key. Nobody can change the page or the options in it, and an expires parameter can give the link a lifetime.

Add cache=true so that a hundred clicks on the same link make one PDF, not a hundred. Cache hits are not counted against your allowance.

• Signing takes a few lines in any language; the docs have the code for six.

<a href="https://curlshot.com/api/v1/screenshot?access_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY&cache=true&format=pdf&media_type=print&url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Finvoice%2F1042&signature=SIGNATURE">
  Download as PDF
</a>

• How to sign a link
• Save a single page as PDF, no code
• PDF from your own HTML instead of a URL