Web Profiles

Media type and format

What the capture produces. One of three media types, a file format within it, and optionally a machine-readable copy of the page's source alongside.

Image, video or PDF

These settings are in the Output section of the Web Profile form. Media type decides which formats the Format list offers.

ValueMeaning
ImageA still capture of the page. The default, and the right answer for archiving, monitoring and evidence.
VideoA recording of the page scrolling from top to bottom. Shows animation, lazy-loaded content and sticky behaviour that a still cannot. Video is included in the Business and Business Plus plans.
PDFA document version of the page. The natural choice when the capture is going into a report or a bundle of evidence.

How long a video runs

A video starts once the page has loaded and records the browser scrolling down it, half a screen at a time with a pause after each step. It stops when the bottom of the page is reached or after 30 seconds, whichever comes first, so a short page gives a short video.

ValueMeaning
LengthUp to 30 seconds. The recording ends at the bottom of the page, so most pages give a shorter video.
Frame rate24 frames a second for MP4, WebM and MOV; 10 for a GIF.
PaceEach step scrolls half a screen, then pauses for half the profile's Scrolling delay - one second at the default of 2,000 ms.

A long page does not fit in 30 seconds

The recording stops at 30 seconds even if the bottom has not been reached. To fit more of the page in: lower the Scrolling delay so each step pauses for less time, or zoom the page out (Zoom, 50 to 100%, desktop video only) so each step covers more of it. For a record of the whole page, capture it as an image or a PDF and keep the video for the part that moves.

File format

The Format list changes with the media type. A new profile starts with no format chosen, so pick one before you save.

ValueMeaning
PngImage. Lossless, so text and thin lines stay sharp. Larger files. The right choice for evidence.
JpgImage. Much smaller, at the cost of some sharpness around text. Sensible for high-frequency schedules where storage adds up. JPG stops at 65,500 pixels tall (32,750 at device scale factor 2, 21,833 at 3).
WebPImage. Smaller than JPG at the same sharpness, and lossless-friendly on text. Every current browser shows it; a few older desktop tools do not. WebP cannot be taller than 16383 pixels, so a full-page WebP capture stops there (8191 at device scale factor 2, 5461 at 3) - pick PNG or TIFF for very long pages, which go up to 100,000 pixels.
TiffImage. Lossless and LZW-compressed, the format print and archival workflows ask for. Browsers cannot display it, so the app shows the thumbnail and offers the file as a download.
Mp4Video. Plays anywhere without conversion.
WebMVideo. VP9 in the open WebM container, the format browsers and most web players prefer; smaller than MP4 at the same quality.
MovVideo. H.264 in a QuickTime container for Final Cut, iMovie and other Apple tooling. Plays in the app too.
GifVideo, as an animated GIF at 10 frames per second and the full capture size. Drops into a chat, a ticket or a slide with no player at all; expect much larger files than MP4.
Image BasedPDF. The page rendered as a picture inside a PDF. It looks exactly like the screenshot; the text is not selectable.
Document BasedPDF. The page laid out as a real document, so text can be selected, searched and copied. Layout can differ slightly from the screen.

The two PDF modes answer different questions

Image Based proves what the page looked like. Document Based lets someone search the text afterwards. If the PDF is going to a lawyer, image based; if it is going into a knowledge base, document based.

HTML capture

Switching on Also capture the page source saves the rendered page’s source alongside the image, video or PDF — one run, two files. Pick its format in the list beside the switch. That gives you something a picture cannot: content you can search, compare and parse.

ValueMeaning
Raw HtmlThe markup as it stood after the page finished rendering, tags and all.
JsonA structured representation, easier to walk in code than raw markup.
TextJust the readable text, with the markup stripped. The simplest thing to diff between two captures.
MarkdownThe page’s readable main content as Markdown — headings, lists, links and tables kept; navigation, footers and cookie banners left out. Saved as a .md file.

The page source counts as a capture

Each one counts as one extra capture against your plan, from the same allowance as images and PDFs. A daily schedule with the page source on uses two captures a day, not one.

The schedule list counts the two separately: the four counters on each schedule are images, videos, PDFs and page source.

Not with “Do not keep after delivery”

The page source is not delivered to cloud storage, so a profile that keeps nothing after delivery cannot capture it. Switch one of the two off.

Which to choose

  • Daily archive of a page you may need to prove later — Image, PNG. Add the page source as Text if you also want to compare the wording.
  • Watching a competitor’s pricing — Image, JPG for the eye, with change detection on so a capture that changed is marked, plus the page source as Text so a changed number is findable without opening every screenshot.
  • Evidence bundle for a client or regulator — PDF, Image Based, with the timestamp watermark switched on.
  • Showing a page behaves correctly — Video. A still cannot show a carousel, a sticky header or content that only appears on scroll.

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