When a PNG does not appear in an HTML <img>, the file extension is only a clue. The browser must resolve the exact URL, receive a successful response with image data, accept the response’s MIME type, choose the intended responsive-image candidate, pass any cross-origin checks, and decode a valid PNG. Work through those layers in that order; the first failing layer usually identifies the fix.
1. Verify the URL, filename, and deployed file
Start with the simplest possible element:
<img src="images/photo.png" alt="Description of the image">Check every part of the path against the files actually served by your site.
- Filename: Correct spelling, punctuation, and extension.
photo.pngandPhoto.pngare different paths on case-sensitive servers. - Directory: A relative URL is resolved from the page URL, not necessarily from your project root. If the page is
/gallery/index.html,images/photo.pngnormally means/gallery/images/photo.png. - Deployment: Confirm that the image was uploaded or copied into the directory your web server publishes. A file that exists on your laptop but not in the deployed build cannot load in production.
- URL syntax: Encode spaces and special characters, or use a filename without them. Check that your build system has not rewritten the asset path.
Open the exact image URL in a new browser tab. If it returns a 404, an application error, a login page, or a blank response, fix hosting, routing, or deployment before changing the HTML. A visible .png suffix does not prove that the response contains PNG bytes.
Absolute and root-relative paths
Use a path that matches your deployment layout:
<!-- Relative to the current page URL -->
<img src="images/photo.png" alt="Product photo">
<!-- From the site origin's root -->
<img src="/images/photo.png" alt="Product photo">
<!-- A complete remote URL -->
<img src="https://cdn.example.com/photo.png" alt="Product photo">Do not use a filesystem path such as C:siteimagesphoto.png or /Users/name/site/images/photo.png; browsers request web URLs, not your local disk.
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2. Inspect the actual image request
Developer tools reveal what the browser requested rather than what you intended to request.
- Open the browser’s developer tools and select Network.
- Reload the page. Enable “preserve log” if navigation removes the request.
- Filter by Img (or search for the filename).
- Open the image request and verify the requested URL, status, response headers, and response preview or body.
A 200 status means the server completed the HTTP request; it does not guarantee that the body is a decodable image. A 304 indicates that the browser is using a validated cached copy. A 404 points to a missing or misrouted resource, while a 403 commonly indicates permission or hotlink protection. Redirects, authentication pages, server errors, and network failures can also return something other than an image.
Copy the requested URL from Network and open it directly. Compare the response body with the asset you expect. If the request is never present, inspect the element, CSS, JavaScript, or content-security policy that may prevent the browser from creating it.
3. Confirm the response MIME type
For a PNG, the response should include:
Content-Type: image/pngBrowsers use media-type information and the returned bytes, not merely the filename extension, when deciding how to decode a resource. A server that returns text/html may actually be sending a 404 page or an application shell at a URL ending in .png. A generic binary type can also indicate incomplete server configuration.
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Inspect Response Headers in Network. Correct the web server, CDN, object-storage metadata, or application route that serves the file. The exact configuration depends on your hosting platform, but the goal is the same: the URL must return the PNG itself with image/png.
Do not “fix” this by changing only the extension in HTML. If the bytes are HTML, renaming the URL cannot turn them into an image.
4. Check srcset and sizes before debugging the fallback
Responsive images can make the visible request differ from the URL in src:
<img
src="images/photo.png"
srcset="images/photo-480.png 480w, images/photo-1200.png 1200w"
sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"
alt="Product photo">When width descriptors such as 480w and 1200w are present, supporting browsers choose a candidate using srcset and sizes; they do not necessarily display src. Inspect the request that actually failed or is displayed. A stale generated filename, wrong case, missing upload, or incorrect CDN path in one candidate can break the image even though the fallback looks correct.
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Practical responsive-image checks
- Test at several viewport widths and device-pixel ratios.
- Verify every URL listed in
srcset, not just the first one. - Ensure each width descriptor matches the intrinsic width of its file closely enough for your intended selection.
- Use Network’s “initiator” or the element inspector to identify the selected candidate.
- Temporarily remove
srcsetandsizesto isolate a candidate-selection problem; restore them after correcting the URLs.
5. Diagnose cross-origin and crossorigin behavior
An image hosted on another origin can normally be displayed, but adding a crossorigin attribute changes the request into a CORS request. The remote server must then grant permission to your page’s origin.
<img src="https://cdn.example.com/photo.png" alt="Product photo" crossorigin="anonymous">If the server does not return an appropriate Access-Control-Allow-Origin response, the browser reports a CORS error and blocks the request for that use. Check the Console and the image request’s response headers.
Remove crossorigin when you do not need to reuse the pixels in canvas or another API that requires a non-tainted image. If you do need it, configure the image host to allow the requesting origin (or an appropriate allowed-origin policy) and ensure any credentials mode matches the server’s CORS configuration. Adding the attribute casually is a common way to turn a displayable remote image into a blocked request.
6. Validate that the file is really a PNG
A damaged file or a file renamed with a .png extension cannot be decoded reliably. Replace or re-export the asset if an image viewer, editor, or trusted image utility cannot open it.
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PNG files begin with the signature bytes 89 50 4E 47. You rarely need to inspect bytes manually, but the signature explains why a suffix is not proof of format. Check that:
- The downloaded response is the expected file, not an HTML error document.
- The file opens in an image viewer and can be re-saved as PNG.
- The upload or build process did not truncate, compress incorrectly, or substitute another format.
- The server is not applying a transformation that produces invalid output.
If replacing the file fixes the problem, preserve the corrected asset and investigate the upload, optimization, or deployment step that damaged the original.
7. Use meaningful alternative text while you debug
Write alternative text that conveys the image’s information:
<img src="images/chart.png" alt="Bar chart showing sales rising from January through June">For a purely decorative image, use alt="". Empty alternative text tells assistive technology to ignore the image, but it can also make a failed decorative image less obvious visually in some browsers. Do not leave out alt: loading failures should not remove essential information from users who cannot see the image.
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8. A complete diagnostic decision path
| Evidence | Likely layer | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| No image request in Network | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or policy | Inspect the rendered element, computed attributes, and console errors. |
| 404 or wrong requested URL | Path, spelling, case, routing, or deployment | Correct the URL and publish the file at that exact location. |
| 200/304 but response is HTML | Server route, authentication, or error handling | Fix the route and verify the body is image data. |
Wrong Content-Type |
Server, CDN, or object metadata | Serve the PNG as image/png. |
Request differs from src |
srcset/sizes |
Fix the selected candidate URL or its deployment. |
| Console reports CORS | Cross-origin request | Remove unnecessary crossorigin or configure the remote origin. |
| Correct URL and headers, decode failure | Corrupt or mislabeled asset | Replace or re-export a valid PNG. |
9. Or skip the browser setup
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Use the API key from your account and replace the example URL with the page you need to inspect. Full parameter details are in the ScreenshotNeo documentation.
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(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
const data = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());
await import('node:fs/promises').then(fs => fs.writeFile('shot.webp', data));The service includes full-page captures with lazy images loaded, CSS-selector element capture, custom CSS and JavaScript, waits for selectors, delays, or network idle, request and resource blocking, custom headers and cookies, viewport and device presets, retina scale, dark mode, PDF output, caching with a chosen TTL, signed links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API, and an OpenAPI specification. Parameters commonly used by other screenshot APIs also work, which can simplify migration.
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10. Prevent the same failure in future deployments
- Keep asset names lowercase and avoid spaces.
- Run a link or asset check against the production build, not only the source tree.
- Inspect representative image requests after each CDN, routing, or optimization change.
- Test responsive candidates at mobile and desktop widths.
- Record the expected MIME type and verify it in deployment checks.
- Keep original image files so a damaged optimized derivative can be regenerated.
- Use descriptive
alttext as part of the component contract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does changing .jpg to .png repair a broken image?
No. The response must contain valid PNG data and normally be served as image/png; changing the URL suffix does not convert the bytes.
Why does the image work locally but not after publishing?
The deployed site may be missing the file, using different capitalization or directory paths, or serving a different response. Check the production URL and its Network request.
Is CORS required for every remote image?
No. Displaying a remote image usually does not require the crossorigin attribute. That attribute is needed only for specific cross-origin uses and requires permission from the image server.
What should I check when src is correct but the wrong image appears?
Inspect srcset and sizes. A browser may have selected another candidate URL.
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