A Complete API Guide to Taking Screenshots in Different Themes Including Dark Mode
Meta Description:
Tired of browser crashes and inconsistent screenshots? Discover how VeryPDF's Screenshot API simplifies dark mode and theme-based web captures.
Ever tried capturing a clean dark mode screenshot... and ended up with a white screen?
Yeah, me too.
I remember trying to automate a bunch of website screenshots for a client portfolio. They had everything designed in both light and dark themes. Seemed simple enough, right? Just run a script, grab a few screenshots, done before lunch.
Wrong.
Every free screenshot tool I tried either:
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Missed the dark mode toggle completely,
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Didn't load the full content (lazy loading images were just blank),
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Or worse, crashed halfway through the batch.
I ended up manually triggering dark mode on each site and taking the screenshots myself. Dozens of pages. Hours wasted. Felt like I was stuck in 2005.
Then I stumbled on VeryPDF Website Screenshot API for Developers, and everything flipped.
What is VeryPDF Website Screenshot API?
In plain English: it's your shortcut to rendering flawless website screenshotsin any theme, on any device, and without the bloat of running browser clusters.
No Selenium nightmares. No Puppeteer setups. No trying to bypass cookie banners with duct tape scripts.
Just one API call.
It's like having a remote-controlled browser that actually listens to you.
Who is this for?
If you:
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Build dashboards or UIs that need theme previews,
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Run a SaaS product where you want clean screenshots for demos,
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Work in QA or documentation and need consistent captures across devices,
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Or just want to stop wasting hours debugging random screenshot bugs...
This API is built for you.
Why it blew my mind (and why I'm still using it)
Let me break it down like this:
1. Dark Mode Done Right
Dark mode used to be the final boss of web screenshots. You'd request the page, and BAMit loads in light theme by default.
But with VeryPDF?
You can force dark mode rendering directly via the API.
Here's what happened in my case:
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I was building product docs for an app with light and dark UIs.
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With one parameter in the API (
--dark-mode
), I got pixel-perfect dark theme captures. No hacks. No toggles. No JS injections.
It picked up the dark theme CSS and rendered it like a real user would see it on an OLED screen.
No other tool I tried (and I tried a lot) did this so consistently.
2. Zero Junk. Pure Content.
Here's a dirty truth: most screenshots are 80% junk.
Cookie banners.
Live chat popups.
GDPR overlays.
Annoying animated headers.
VeryPDF's API blocks all of that.
Automatically. No extra setup.
They've got 50,000+ rules built into their engine to remove banners, ads, chatsyou name it.
What blew me away was how it cleaned up pages that I didn't even realise were cluttered. The end result? Screenshots that look clean, focused, and ready for any report, pitch, or portfolio.
3. Full Page. Lazy Loaded. Retina Ready.
You know those sites that load content only when you scroll?
Most screenshot tools choke on that.
But VeryPDF scrolls the page for you, waits for everything to load (yes, even that fancy JS chart at the bottom), and then captures itall in high-res.
Retina-quality by default. You don't need to set breakpoints or fake scroll events.
Use case?
One of my clients wanted A4 printable PDFs of long sales pages. Normally, I'd need to stitch together multiple screenshots. With VeryPDF?
One call. One clean PDF. Done.
How I integrated it into my stack
I used the API in a Node.js script with Axios.
Super simple:
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Input: list of URLs
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Params: dark mode, custom resolution, full page
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Output: PNGs saved in S3
Here's the kicker: it took less than 30 minutes to set up.
The docs are actually readable (rare), and they've even got pre-built SDKs and no-code tools if you're not the coding type.
Comparing it to the rest
Let's talk alternatives.
Puppeteer powerful, but it's like hiring a full-time developer just to maintain the scripts. You'll spend more time on bugs than screenshots.
BrowserStack/SauceLabs expensive overkill for screenshots. Great for testing, not for scaling clean image exports.
Free Chrome extensions fun for one-offs, completely useless for batch automation.
VeryPDF just hits the sweet spot.
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One API
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Infinite flexibility
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No surprises
And whenever I ran into a rare edge case? Support responded in hours.
Problems it solved for me (so far)
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Theme-specific documentation for clients (dark mode is )
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Sales decks with consistent site previews
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SEO snapshots for web audits
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UI tests for dev environments
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PDF exports of landing pages for offline use
Would I recommend it?
Absolutely.
If you're juggling screenshot automation and tired of clunky setups or inconsistent results, VeryPDF Website Screenshot API is your golden ticket.
It just works.
I use it every weekand if your workflow touches web pages in any way, you probably should too.
Start your free trial here:
https://www.verypdf.com/online/webpage-to-pdf-converter-cloud-api/
Need something custom-built?
VeryPDF isn't just an API providerthey're builders.
They offer tailored solutions across:
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Linux, macOS, Windows environments
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Python, PHP, C/C++, JavaScript, .NET, and more
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Custom printer drivers for generating PDFs, EMF, TIFFs
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Monitoring/intercepting Windows printer and file access APIs
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Barcode tools, OCR, document layout analysis
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Web-based and native document conversion systems
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PDF security, DRM, digital signatures, and font tech
If your business has weird edge cases, legacy systems, or niche file processing needsthey can build exactly what you need.
Talk to them here:
FAQs
1. Can I render websites in both light and dark mode with the same API?
Yes. You can toggle between themes using simple API parameters.
2. Does it work with dynamic content and lazy loading?
Absolutely. The API scrolls and renders all dynamic elements before capturing.
3. Is there a way to block ads or cookie popups automatically?
Yes, with over 50,000 rules, it blocks ads, cookies, chats, and more without any manual setup.
4. Can I generate screenshots in PDF format too?
Yes. It supports PNG, JPG, PDF, MP4, GIFeven full scroll animations.
5. Do I need to run any browser or VM locally?
Nope. Everything is handled in the cloud via API. Just call and receive the file.
Tags/Keywords
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screenshot API dark mode
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automated website screenshot tool
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render theme-based web screenshots
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webpage to PDF API
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clean full-page screenshots
Let me say it again for the people in the back:
If you're tired of janky screenshot tools, this is the one to beat.
Try the API.
Save your sanity.
Impress your clients.