For an in-page “screenshot a div,” select the element and pass the underlying DOM node to html2canvas. It returns a canvas you can download as PNG. This is a DOM redraw, not a pixel-for-pixel browser screenshot, so unsupported CSS, cross-origin images, and embedded frames can differ or disappear. If you need pixels from a real display stream, use getDisplayMedia() with the browser’s permission and surface-selection flow.
Capture one element with html2canvas
Load html2canvas, find the element, render it, then export the canvas. The example below is complete HTML and downloads #capture as a PNG.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Element capture</title>
<script src="https://html2canvas.hertzen.com/dist/html2canvas.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<article id="capture">
<h1>Invoice preview</h1>
<p>This card is the area that will be rendered.</p>
</article>
<button id="save" type="button">Download image</button>
<script>
document.querySelector('#save').addEventListener('click', async () => {
const element = document.querySelector('#capture');
if (!element) throw new Error('No #capture element found');
const canvas = await html2canvas(element, {
scale: window.devicePixelRatio
});
const link = document.createElement('a');
link.download = 'capture.png';
link.href = canvas.toDataURL('image/png');
link.click();
});
</script>
</body>
</html>Call html2canvas after the content, fonts, and images you need have loaded. Its promise resolves to a canvas. Use toDataURL('image/png') for a data URL, or toBlob() when you want a file object without building a large base64 string.
Use jQuery to select the element
jQuery returns a collection, while html2canvas expects a native HTMLElement. Pass the first item:
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$('#save').on('click', function () {
const element = $('#capture')[0];
if (!element) return;
html2canvas(element, { scale: window.devicePixelRatio }).then(function (canvas) {
const link = document.createElement('a');
link.download = 'capture.png';
link.href = canvas.toDataURL('image/png');
link.click();
});
});Using $('#capture') directly is a common mistake; use $('#capture')[0] or document.querySelector('#capture').
Control crop, size, and sharpness
Capture a defined rectangle
When you need a rectangle rather than an element’s complete box, provide x, y, width, and height in html2canvas options:
html2canvas(document.body, {
x: 100,
y: 200,
width: 640,
height: 360,
scale: window.devicePixelRatio
}).then(canvas => {
canvas.toBlob(blob => {
const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
const link = document.createElement('a');
link.href = url;
link.download = 'crop.png';
link.click();
URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
}, 'image/png');
});Crop coordinates must be checked against the layout and scroll position used by your capture. Test responsive breakpoints separately; a coordinate that is correct on a desktop viewport may select a different area on mobile.
Choose output resolution
scale: window.devicePixelRatio gives a sharper image on high-density displays, but increases canvas dimensions and memory use. For predictable server-side or automated output, set an explicit scale such as 1 or 2, and keep the target element’s dimensions reasonable. Very large full-page canvases can exceed browser canvas limits or trigger out-of-memory failures.
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Exclude controls and overlays
Add data-html2canvas-ignore to nodes that should not appear:
<button data-html2canvas-ignore>Delete</button>The library skips that node while rebuilding the rest of the element.
What html2canvas can and cannot reproduce
html2canvas walks the DOM and reconstructs supported styles; it does not ask the browser for a finished bitmap. The project documentation describes it as building a representation from information available on the page. Effects or CSS features outside its supported set can be missing or look different. Validate important captures against the browser versions and layouts you actually support.
Images, canvas, and CORS
Images must be same-origin or served with suitable CORS headers. useCORS: true only attempts CORS-enabled loading; it does not bypass the same-origin policy:
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html2canvas(element, {
useCORS: true,
scale: window.devicePixelRatio
});If an image or another canvas is loaded without permission, the resulting canvas can become tainted and calls such as toDataURL() or toBlob() will fail. Fix the asset server’s Access-Control-Allow-Origin response, serve the asset from your own origin, or use an authorized proxy. Do not attempt to disable browser security.
Cross-origin iframes
html2canvas cannot inspect the document inside a cross-origin iframe. You can capture the iframe’s visible box as part of a native screen capture, or arrange cooperation from the framed origin; you cannot read its DOM from the parent page.
Dynamic content and timing
Wait for data, web fonts, images, and animations before rendering. Pause animations or add a class that fixes an animation state when deterministic output matters. If content changes while html2canvas walks the DOM, the image can contain a mixed state.
Native screen capture when you need real pixels
navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia() captures a display, window, or tab selected by the user and returns a MediaStream. It requires a transient user activation (for example, a button click), explicit permission, and a chooser; permission cannot be silently retained for later captures.
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Capture a frame from the selected tab or window
<button id="grab">Choose a surface</button>
<script>
document.querySelector('#grab').addEventListener('click', async () => {
let stream;
try {
stream = await navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia({
video: true,
audio: false
});
const track = stream.getVideoTracks()[0];
const video = document.createElement('video');
video.srcObject = stream;
await video.play();
const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
canvas.width = video.videoWidth;
canvas.height = video.videoHeight;
canvas.getContext('2d').drawImage(video, 0, 0);
canvas.toBlob(blob => {
if (!blob) return;
const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
const link = document.createElement('a');
link.href = url;
link.download = 'screen-frame.png';
link.click();
URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
}, 'image/png');
track.stop();
} catch (error) {
console.error('Screen capture failed:', error);
} finally {
stream?.getTracks().forEach(track => track.stop());
}
});
</script>The screen-capture API has limited browser availability; check the current compatibility information on MDN’s Screen Capture API reference and the getDisplayMedia() reference for the browser versions you target.
Element Capture and Region Capture
After a stream is authorized, newer APIs can target an element. Element Capture restricts the stream to the target DOM tree and descendants:
const target = await RestrictionTarget.fromElement(document.querySelector('#capture'));
await track.restrictTo(target);Region Capture crops the tab to an element’s bounding rectangle:
const crop = await CropTarget.fromElement(document.querySelector('#capture'));
await track.cropTo(crop);Region Capture is geometric, so overlapping content can remain visible. Element Capture has additional CSS eligibility conditions and excludes content outside the target tree. These interfaces are separate from html2canvas and remain browser/version dependent; see MDN’s Element Capture and Region Capture guide.
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Which method should you choose?
| Requirement | html2canvas | Screen Capture APIs |
|---|---|---|
| Typical use | Render an app-controlled DOM element | Capture pixels from a selected display surface |
| Visual fidelity | Redraw of supported DOM and CSS; not guaranteed pixel identical | Based on the authorized video stream |
| User interaction | No capture permission for same-page DOM | Click, chooser, and permission required |
| Cross-origin iframe | Cannot inspect its document | Can appear if it is on the selected surface |
| Automation | Straightforward in page code | Chooser and browser support complicate unattended use |
Use html2canvas for reports, previews, and UI export where you control the DOM. Use native capture when the requirement is what a user actually sees, including content that DOM reconstruction cannot access.
Troubleshooting checklist
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Blank or incomplete image | Capture ran before data, fonts, or images finished | Await application data and document.fonts.ready; wait for image loading before calling html2canvas. |
| CSS looks different | Unsupported or differently reconstructed styles | Simplify the capture CSS, freeze animations, and test the exact browser/layout combination. |
SecurityError from toDataURL() |
Tainted canvas from an image or canvas without CORS | Serve the asset with CORS headers, move it same-origin, or use an authorized proxy; useCORS alone is insufficient. |
| Cross-origin iframe is missing | Browser origin isolation | Capture the visible surface natively or add cooperation from the framed origin. |
| Image is soft | Low canvas scale | Use scale: window.devicePixelRatio or an explicit scale of 2, while watching memory. |
NotAllowedError from getDisplayMedia |
No user activation, permission denied, or chooser canceled | Call it directly from a click/tap handler and handle cancellation; explain why the surface is needed. |
| Native API is undefined | Browser or context lacks support | Check current MDN compatibility data and provide html2canvas as a fallback when DOM redraw is acceptable. |
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. One request returns a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF, with options for full pages, a CSS-selected element, device presets, retina scale, custom CSS and JavaScript, clicks, waits, hidden selectors, blocked resources, headers, cookies, user agents, timezone, geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, caching, signed links, asynchronous webhooks, bulk capture, and usage reporting. It accepts the parameter names used by other screenshot APIs, which can simplify migration.
Before capture it accepts cookie or consent banners like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each cleanup step can be disabled. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing status.
cURL
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpPython
import requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"}, timeout=90)
r.raise_for_status()
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js
const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
const fs = await import('node:fs/promises');
await fs.writeFile('shot.webp', Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer()));See the ScreenshotNeo documentation for element selectors and the other capture options. The MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.
The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card. Paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots; Growth is $15 for 15,000, Pro $39 for 60,000, Scale $99 for 250,000, and Business $249 for 1,000,000. Yearly billing gives two months free, and every feature is included on every plan. Create a free ScreenshotNeo account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I screenshot a jQuery selector directly?
No. Convert the jQuery collection to its first DOM element with $('#capture')[0] before passing it to html2canvas.
Does html2canvas capture a cross-origin iframe?
No. Browser origin rules prevent it from inspecting a cross-origin iframe document; use a native display capture or cooperation from the framed origin.
Why does native screen capture show a chooser?
getDisplayMedia is designed around explicit user selection and permission. A transient user gesture is required, and permission cannot be silently persisted for later captures.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
