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How to Add a ScreenshotMachine Preview Image to a Website Link Card

Put a ScreenshotMachine screenshot URL in the shared page’s og:image metadata—not just in a visible image—to use it in a link card.
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Generate a screenshot URL with ScreenshotMachine, then put that URL in the shared page’s og:image metadata in its HTML <head>. A screenshot in a visible <img> element is not a substitute: link-preview services read page metadata to identify the card image.

1. Generate a ScreenshotMachine image URL

Use the URL of the page people will share as the screenshot target, along with your ScreenshotMachine customer key. The API uses HTTP GET; its documentation recommends percent-encoding the target URL parameter. See ScreenshotMachine’s API documentation for the current request details.

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The API documents these image settings:

  • Dimension: Written as [width]x[height]. The documented default is 120x90; documented widths range from 100 to 1920 and heights from 100 to 9999. Use full for full-page height.
  • Format: The listed formats are jpg, png, and gif.
  • Other options: device, cacheLimit, delay, and zoom are also documented.

Choose an image size and format that suit your site and sharing destinations, then verify that the resulting URL returns an image. The documentation cited here does not establish one image size as mandatory for every platform.

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Keep API credentials out of public source

ScreenshotMachine’s API uses a customer key. Its documentation describes a hash calculated from the URL and a secret phrase using MD5, and recommends this safeguard when calling the API directly from public HTML. Do not expose the secret phrase in source code. If your implementation must make a browser-visible request, follow the vendor’s documented hash approach; otherwise, generate the image URL server-side and keep credentials on the server. The vendor’s Node.js example is an implementation reference.

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2. Put the image URL in the page’s Open Graph metadata

Add the tags to the HTML head of the page whose link will be shared. Replace the example page URL, title, description, and image URL with the real values.

<head>
  <title>Example page title</title>
  <meta property="og:title" content="Example page title">
  <meta property="og:type" content="website">
  <meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/page">
  <meta property="og:image" content="PASTE_THE_SCREENSHOTMACHINE_IMAGE_URL_HERE">
  <meta property="og:description" content="A short description of this page.">
  <meta property="og:image:alt" content="Description of the screenshot image">
</head>

The Open Graph specification identifies og:title, og:type, og:image, and og:url as the basic required properties. The og:url value is the canonical URL for the shared page; og:image points to the image representing it. The description and image alt text are optional. Alt text should describe what is in the image, not serve as a caption. See the Open Graph Protocol specification.

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3. Publish and check the card metadata

  1. Publish the page with the metadata in its rendered HTML head.
  2. Inspect the rendered source or DOM and confirm that og:image has the generated, accessible ScreenshotMachine image URL in its content attribute.
  3. Open the image URL directly and confirm it returns the intended screenshot in the chosen format.
  4. Use the sharing destination’s preview or debugging tool if one is available. Services may cache previews or consume metadata differently; the sources cited here do not establish current refresh steps for individual platforms.

If a CMS or framework manages page metadata, set its Open Graph image field or metadata template so the published HTML contains the required tag. The important check is the final rendered head, not only the value saved in the editor.

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Visible screenshot versus link-card image

Implementation What it does
ScreenshotMachine URL in an HTML <img> Displays the screenshot in the visible page content.
ScreenshotMachine URL in <meta property="og:image"> Tells Open Graph consumers which image represents the page in a shared link card.

You can use both if you want the image visible on the page and available to link-preview consumers. Only the metadata addresses the link-card image.

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Or skip the browser setup

ScreenshotNeo offers a one-request alternative. It removes cookie and consent banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. It also provides an MCP server so AI agents can take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. See the ScreenshotNeo website and API documentation.

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com/page -o shot.webp

This returns a screenshot file; to use it in a link card, make the image accessible to the sharing service and set its URL as the page’s og:image value. Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month with no card.

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Troubleshooting

  • The card still shows an old or different image: Check the published HTML head and confirm the right page has the expected og:image. The sharing service may be using a cached preview; use its preview/debug tool if available.
  • The screenshot URL appears as a broken image: Open it directly, verify the API request’s target URL and key, and confirm the response is an image in the selected format.
  • The screenshot is the wrong size or crop: Review the API’s dimension, zoom, and device settings, then regenerate and verify the resulting image URL.
  • The target page is captured before it is ready: Adjust the documented delay setting and check the resulting capture.
  • A direct browser request exposes a secret: Remove the raw secret phrase from public code. Use the vendor’s documented URL-and-secret hash safeguard for public HTML calls, or generate the image URL server-side.

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