Use Playwright’s Python API to open a webpage in Chromium and save it as a PDF with page.pdf(). The method uses print CSS media by default, so the result may differ from what you see in a browser window. To use screen styling instead, call page.emulate_media(media="screen") before creating the PDF.
Install Playwright and its browser binaries
Install the Python package, then download the browser binaries Playwright needs. The official setup guide’s commands install binaries for Chromium, Firefox and WebKit; this PDF workflow uses Chromium.
pip install playwrightplaywright install
See the Playwright Python getting started guide for installation details.
Generate a PDF from a webpage
This short synchronous script navigates to a fully qualified URL and writes an A4 PDF with background graphics included:
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from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
with sync_playwright() as p:
browser = p.chromium.launch()
page = browser.new_page()
page.goto("https://example.com")
page.pdf(path="page.pdf", format="A4", print_background=True)
browser.close()Replace https://example.com with the page you want to capture. Supplying path saves the PDF there; without it, page.pdf() returns PDF bytes. The method and its options are documented in the Playwright Python Page API.
Use screen styling instead of print styling
By default, page.pdf() renders with print CSS media. If the page’s print stylesheet hides or rearranges content you need, emulate screen media before calling the PDF method:
page.emulate_media(media="screen")
page.pdf(path="page.pdf", format="A4", print_background=True)Manage browser, context and page lifetimes
browser.new_page() is convenient for a short, single-page script. For reusable or longer-running code, create a browser context and page explicitly so their lifetimes are managed separately:
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
with sync_playwright() as p:
browser = p.chromium.launch()
context = browser.new_context()
page = context.new_page()
try:
page.goto("https://example.com")
page.pdf(path="page.pdf", format="A4", print_background=True)
finally:
context.close()
browser.close()Playwright recommends explicit context and page creation for production code and test frameworks; its convenience page creation is intended for one-page scenarios and short snippets. See the Browser API guidance.
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Set only the options that match the page and the output you need. The Page API documents these choices:
- Paper:
formataccepts a named size such as"A4"or"Letter". The documented default is Letter. If you supplyformat, it takes priority overwidthandheight. - Dimensions and margins:
width,heightand margin values accept units such aspx,in,cmandmm; values without units are treated as pixels. Margins default to none. - Orientation: set
landscape=Truefor landscape output. - Page range: use
page_rangesto include selected pages, for example"1-3". - Backgrounds: set
print_background=Trueto include background graphics; this is off by default. - CSS page size: set
prefer_css_page_size=Trueif the page’s@pageCSS should control the paper size instead of the API paper settings. This option defaults to false. - Scaling:
scaledefaults to 1 and accepts values from 0.1 to 2. - Headers and footers:
display_header_footer=Trueenables them; useheader_templateandfooter_templateto provide templates. Scripts in these templates do not run, and page styles are not visible inside them. - Tagged PDF:
tagged=Truerequests tagged output. That setting alone does not establish that a PDF meets accessibility requirements.
For example, use CSS-defined page dimensions and a selected page range like this:
page.pdf(
path="selected-pages.pdf",
prefer_css_page_size=True,
page_ranges="1-3",
print_background=True,
)Check navigation and handle common problems
The URL is missing a scheme
page.goto() requires a URL scheme. Use a complete URL such as https://example.com, not just example.com.
The PDF is missing content or looks different
Playwright uses print CSS by default. Try page.emulate_media(media="screen") before generating the PDF if you want screen styling. If the missing content is a background graphic, enable print_background=True.
The saved page shows an error response
A valid HTTP status such as 404 or 500 does not, by itself, make page.goto() throw an exception. If success matters, inspect the response returned by navigation and decide whether to save the page:
response = page.goto("https://example.com")
if response is not None and response.status >= 400:
raise RuntimeError(f"Page returned HTTP {response.status}")
page.pdf(path="page.pdf", format="A4")This check treats HTTP error statuses as failures for this script; adjust the policy if you intentionally need to save an error page.
Navigation targets an existing PDF
Generating a PDF from a webpage with page.pdf() is different from navigating to an existing PDF document. Playwright’s documentation notes that headless mode does not support navigation to an existing PDF; that restriction is not a limitation on generating a PDF from a webpage.
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for the request and available options. ScreenshotNeo accepts cookie and consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed, and the response identifies the page verdict and billing status in headers. An MCP server lets AI agents use take_screenshot, get_page_info and capture_pdf. The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month without a card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Playwright’s PDF method return bytes or save a file?
It returns PDF bytes; passing path saves the output to that location.
Can I use Firefox or WebKit for this PDF workflow?
The setup guide installs Chromium, Firefox and WebKit binaries, but the PDF guidance for this workflow is documented for Chromium. Do not assume identical PDF behavior across browser engines.
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