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Save a Web Page as PDF with WebSave: Setup and Use

PDFCrowd WebSave lets website owners add a PDF button. Learn the setup, choose URL or content mode, and fix common conversion problems.
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PDFCrowd WebSave adds a PDF button to a website. To use it, a site owner must install the WebSave JavaScript, add a button with a WebSave key, and choose whether PDFCrowd should fetch a public URL or convert HTML already loaded in the visitor’s browser. If you are a visitor trying to save any page, this is not a general browser command: the site must have configured WebSave.

What WebSave does—and who needs to set it up

PDFCrowd describes WebSave as a JavaScript integration for adding a PDF download button to a website. A site owner or developer installs it; visitors then use the configured button. The integration creates a PDF by rendering page content, not by taking a pixel-perfect screenshot of the visitor’s screen. See the PDFCrowd WebSave documentation for the current guide.

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WebSave is distinct from unrelated products with the same name, including a mobile archiving app and a Chrome extension. This guide covers PDFCrowd’s website integration.

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Install the WebSave button

The documented quick start uses a button class, a required key, an optional configuration object, and the WebSave script. The guide currently shows script version 1.3.0; check the official documentation for the current script version and setup details before deploying.

<button class="pdfcrowd-websave pdfcrowd-websave-style"
        data-key="YOUR_WEBSAVE_KEY"
        data-config="websaveConfig">
  Save as PDF
</button>

<script>
  const websaveConfig = {
    // Add the configuration options you need.
  };
</script>
<script src="https://edge.pdfcrowd.com/websave/1.3.0/websave.min.js"></script>

Use your personal WebSave key in place of YOUR_WEBSAVE_KEY. The required data-key is scoped to a configured domain or subdomain. A demo key is available for testing, but its PDFs are watermarked. The optional pdfcrowd-websave-style class supplies default styling, an icon, and a spinner; leave it off if you want to style the button yourself. The data-config value names the JavaScript configuration object and is optional if you are not using a configuration object.

The reference documents output behavior such as downloading the PDF by default or opening it in the current or a new tab. It also lists filename and PDF settings such as page size and margins. Configure the options needed for your site using the exact names and syntax in the technical reference.

Choose URL mode or content mode

The mode determines what PDFCrowd converts. URL mode is the default and suits public pages. Content mode is for cases where the page already loaded in the visitor’s browser contains the content to convert.

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Consideration URL mode Content mode
What is converted PDFCrowd fetches a fresh copy of the supplied URL. The browser sends the current page’s HTML for conversion.
Login and form values The fetch does not inherit the visitor’s login session or current form entries. Can include values and user-specific content represented in the submitted HTML.
URL parameters Supported. Not available.
Important limitation The page must be publicly reachable by PDFCrowd. Protected assets may need separate handling; state absent from the submitted HTML is not automatically included.

Use URL mode when the same public page should be converted for everyone. Choose content mode for a logged-in page, user-specific material, an edited page, or a form whose current values need to appear. Because content mode submits current page HTML—and may therefore include sensitive or personal values—consider your data-handling requirements before enabling it.

Prepare content and layout for conversion

Dynamic and interactive pages

The PDF is a new rendering of the HTML sent for conversion. Content that was never loaded, records not present in the submitted HTML, and interactive state not represented there will not appear automatically. For delayed JavaScript or AJAX content, the guide recommends considering content mode or the javascript_delay setting. Confirm that the desired content is present in the HTML being converted before expecting it in the PDF.

Responsive layouts

Viewport width can change which responsive breakpoint the converter renders. PDFCrowd’s guide gives common ranges of 375–414px for mobile, 768–834px for tablet, and 1280–1920px for desktop. Choose a width appropriate to the intended document and check the output; those ranges are guidance, not a guarantee of a particular layout.

PDF destination and page settings

Download is the default destination behavior. The reference also documents opening the PDF in the current tab or a new tab, plus filename configuration and PDF settings including page size and margins. Set and verify these options in the current technical reference rather than assuming the browser view’s dimensions will determine the document layout.

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Initialize buttons added by a JavaScript app

If a framework such as React, Vue, Angular, or Svelte inserts the button after the initial page load, initialize it after the element exists. PDFCrowd’s guide documents window.WebSave.initButton(...) for this case. Call it after rendering the button, and pass the element as specified by the current WebSave guide.

Troubleshoot common setup failures

  • The button or conversion does not work on an insecure page: WebSave requires the page to be served over HTTPS. Serve the site securely, then retry.
  • The page uses localhost: A server-side conversion cannot reach your local machine’s localhost. Test with a publicly reachable page instead.
  • The key is rejected: Check that the key is configured for the exact host or subdomain serving the button. A domain mismatch can cause failures, and subdomain coverage depends on the key’s scope.
  • The PDF lacks login-only content or form entries: URL mode makes a fresh fetch without the visitor’s session or current form values. Use content mode when appropriate, taking care with the data it submits.
  • Newly inserted buttons are inert: Initialize the button after it appears with window.WebSave.initButton(...).
  • Delayed content is missing: Ensure the relevant content has been loaded into the HTML being converted; for delayed JavaScript or AJAX, consider content mode or javascript_delay.
  • The layout uses the wrong breakpoint: Adjust the configured viewport width to suit the intended mobile, tablet, or desktop output and check the resulting PDF.

Or skip the browser setup

If you need an image or PDF capture through an API rather than a PDF download button on your own site, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. A basic one-call image capture with cURL is:

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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.webp

See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for setup and options. Cookie banners, popups, and chat widgets are removed before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card, and paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for free.

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