The Tool Desk
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What a PDF archive does—and does not—preserve
A PDF made with either library is a rendered document, not automatically a complete, replayable web archive. The documented PDF calls do not establish that the output preserves the original HTML, every linked asset, response headers, metadata, or the browser environment needed to reproduce the page later. If you need those things, define them as separate archival requirements and verify them independently.
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How the PDF workflows compare
| Decision | Puppeteer | Playwright |
|---|---|---|
| Default rendering media | Print CSS | Print CSS |
| Requesting a screen-style PDF | Emulate screen media before calling page.pdf(). |
Emulate screen media before calling page.pdf(). |
| Saving to disk | The guide demonstrates path, such as hn.pdf; the API also returns a Uint8Array. |
Pass path to save the PDF; without it, the PDF is returned as a buffer rather than saved to disk. |
| PDF options covered in the cited documentation | The cited guide demonstrates the basic save flow; it does not provide a full option-by-option comparison. | Documents paper formats or dimensions, margins, CSS page sizing, background graphics, scale, and page ranges. |
| Browser choices relevant to the wider project | The cited PDF material does not establish a cross-browser comparison. | Documents Chromium, WebKit, Firefox, and branded Chrome and Edge channels. |
| Comparative speed or PDF fidelity | No comparative result established. | No comparative result established. |
Sources: Puppeteer PDF generation guide, Playwright Page API, and Playwright browser documentation. The option coverage above reflects these cited pages; it does not establish that a feature is exclusive to one library.
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Save a webpage as a PDF with Puppeteer
The Puppeteer guide’s basic pattern is to launch a browser, navigate to a page, save the PDF with the path option, and close the browser. This runnable Node.js example follows that flow:
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const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
(async () => {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
try {
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com', { waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
await page.pdf({ path: 'page.pdf' });
} finally {
await browser.close();
}
})();Replace the URL with the page you need to render. The guide says Page.pdf() waits for fonts to load by default. Navigation completion and font readiness are separate concerns: choose an appropriate waitUntil condition for the page, and account for any application-specific content that appears after navigation.
Save a webpage as a PDF with Playwright
Playwright’s API accepts a path for a file and documents additional layout controls. This runnable Node.js example uses Chromium and saves the page to disk:
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const { chromium } = require('playwright');
(async () => {
const browser = await chromium.launch();
try {
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com', { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
await page.pdf({ path: 'page.pdf', format: 'A4', printBackground: true });
} finally {
await browser.close();
}
})();To use screen CSS rather than print CSS, emulate screen media before calling page.pdf():
await page.emulateMedia({ media: 'screen' });
await page.pdf({ path: 'page.pdf' });The API also documents explicit width and height, margins, preferCSSPageSize, scale, and pageRanges. For example, a print-background and margin configuration can be applied like this:
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await page.pdf({
path: 'page.pdf',
format: 'A4',
printBackground: true,
margin: { top: '12mm', right: '12mm', bottom: '12mm', left: '12mm' },
pageRanges: '1-3'
});Use the current API reference for accepted values and behavior when configuring a production workflow.
Print CSS, colors, and layout choices
Print media is the default
Both libraries generate PDFs using print CSS by default. Print styles can change visibility, layout, and other page presentation compared with what a visitor sees on screen. If you want the screen stylesheet, set the page’s emulated media to screen before PDF generation. The PDF is still generated through the documented PDF method; changing emulation changes which media rules apply.
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Preserve intended colors when needed
Print rendering may modify colors. When exact color rendering matters, the documentation points to the CSS property -webkit-print-color-adjust. Apply it in the page’s CSS where appropriate, then inspect the generated PDF in the browsers and viewers relevant to your workflow.
Choose page dimensions and pagination deliberately
With Playwright, you can set a standard paper format or explicit dimensions, configure margins, honor CSS @page size with preferCSSPageSize, include background graphics with printBackground, adjust scale, and limit output with pageRanges. These options help control document layout, but do not guarantee identical rendering across browser engines or sites. Validate pages with long tables, fixed-position elements, page breaks, and unusually wide content.
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Which library should you choose?
Choose Puppeteer when
- Your project already uses Puppeteer and its documented PDF workflow meets your output needs.
- You want the concise navigation-and-save pattern shown in the Puppeteer PDF guide.
Choose Playwright when
- Your wider automation project benefits from its documented Chromium, WebKit, and Firefox support, or branded Chrome and Edge channels.
- You want to use the PDF controls documented in its API, such as ranges, scale, margins, and CSS page sizing.
Those are feature-based considerations, not a speed or fidelity verdict. The cited official material does not provide a controlled comparison of generation speed or output accuracy, and browser-engine support alone does not establish that PDFs will look the same across engines.
Or skip the browser setup
If you need a screenshot rather than a PDF archive, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. Its one-request API returns an image or PDF; this cURL example requests a PDF of a page:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com -d format=pdf -o page.pdfSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request parameters. Cookie banners are accepted and removed before capture, along with supported newsletter popups and chat widgets; those steps can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, failed loads, timeouts, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers report the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server gives AI agents tools for screenshots, page information, and PDF capture. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for the free plan.
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Troubleshooting PDF output
- The PDF looks like a printout, not the screen. That is the default print-media behavior. In Playwright, call
page.emulateMedia({ media: 'screen' })beforepage.pdf(); use the equivalent media-emulation API in your Puppeteer workflow. - Colors or backgrounds are missing or changed. Print output may alter colors. Use
-webkit-print-color-adjustin CSS when exact colors matter; in Playwright, enableprintBackgroundif background graphics should be included. - The PDF is not on disk. In Playwright, provide a
pathif you want a file saved. Without one, the API returns PDF bytes. Puppeteer’s guide likewise demonstrates saving by passing apath. - Content is missing or incomplete. Navigation may finish before an application-specific element is ready. Wait for the relevant condition or selector before generating the PDF, and confirm that the required content is present in the rendered page.
- Fonts appear different. Puppeteer’s guide says PDF generation waits for fonts by default. If a font still differs, check whether the page loaded the intended font before capture and inspect the rendered output.
- Pages break in unexpected places. Check print CSS, page dimensions, margins, and page-break rules. Use Playwright’s page-size and margin options or CSS
@pagesizing as appropriate, then test representative pages.
Performance, reliability, and cost considerations
The cited documentation does not establish which library generates PDFs faster, nor does it publish a comparative reliability or fidelity test. Performance and failure rates depend on the page, browser configuration, and execution environment; measure them against your own representative pages before choosing on those grounds. Both examples launch and close a browser for a single capture. For a production service, decide separately how browser processes, concurrency, retries, timeouts, and storage should be managed. The cited sources do not establish hosting costs or a complete archival system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does either library save the original webpage as well as a PDF?
The documented calls produce a PDF rendering; they do not establish that the original HTML, linked assets, or a replayable browsing environment are saved too.
Can I use Playwright’s PDF API with Firefox or WebKit?
Playwright documents those browser engines, but the cited material does not establish cross-engine PDF parity. Verify behavior in the engine and version you plan to use.
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