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Automating Visual Content Creation with Screenshot API
Automation

Automating Visual Content Creation with Screenshot API

April 13, 2025
6 min read

Creating visual content for marketing, documentation, and social media can be time-consuming. Our Screenshot API offers a powerful solution to automate this process, saving hours of manual work while ensuring consistent, high-quality visuals.

The Challenge of Visual Content Creation

Content marketers and documentation teams face several challenges:

  • Keeping product screenshots up-to-date as interfaces change
  • Creating consistent visuals across multiple platforms
  • Generating custom images for different social media dimensions
  • Maintaining visual consistency in documentation

Automating Marketing Visuals

Social Media Preview Cards

Generate custom social media preview cards that include website screenshots:

javascript
01const sharp = require('sharp');
02const fetch = require('node-fetch');
03

04async function createSocialPreviewCard(websiteUrl, title, description) {
05  // Capture website screenshot
06  const response = await fetch('https://api.screenshotapi.com/capture', {
07    method: 'POST',
08    headers: {
09      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
10      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.SCREENSHOT_API_KEY}`
11    },
12    body: JSON.stringify({
13      url: websiteUrl,
14      width: 1200,
15      height: 630,
16      format: 'png'
17    })
18  });
19  
20  const data = await response.json();
21  
22  // Download the screenshot
23  const imageResponse = await fetch(data.screenshotUrl);
24  const imageBuffer = await imageResponse.buffer();
25  
26  // Create a template with branding
27  const template = await sharp({
28    create: {
29      width: 1200,
30      height: 630,
31      channels: 4,
32      background: { r: 255, g: 255, b: 255, alpha: 1 }
33    }
34  })
35  .composite([
36    {
37      input: imageBuffer,
38      top: 0,
39      left: 0
40    },
41    {
42      input: {
43        text: {
44          text: title,
45          font: 'Arial',
46          fontSize: 48,
47          rgba: true
48        }
49      },
50      top: 480,
51      left: 50
52    },
53    {
54      input: {
55        text: {
56          text: description,
57          font: 'Arial',
58          fontSize: 24,
59          rgba: true
60        }
61      },
62      top: 550,
63      left: 50
64    }
65  ])
66  .toBuffer();
67  
68  return template;
69}

Product Feature Highlights

Automatically generate feature highlight images for product marketing:

javascript
01async function createFeatureHighlight(url, selector, highlightText) {
02  // Capture screenshot with specific element highlighted
03  const response = await fetch('https://api.screenshotapi.com/capture', {
04    method: 'POST',
05    headers: {
06      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
07      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.SCREENSHOT_API_KEY}`
08    },
09    body: JSON.stringify({
10      url,
11      selector, // CSS selector for the feature to highlight
12      highlight: true,
13      highlightColor: 'rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.3)',
14      format: 'png'
15    })
16  });
17  
18  // Process and add text overlay
19  // ...
20}

Automating Documentation Visuals

API Documentation Examples

Keep your API documentation visually current with automated examples:

javascript
01async function generateApiExampleImage(apiEndpoint, requestBody, responseExample) {
02  // Create a temporary HTML page showing the API request and response
03  const htmlContent = `
04    <!DOCTYPE html>
05    <html>
06    <head>
07      <title>API Example</title>
08      <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/highlight.js/11.2.0/styles/github.min.css">
09      <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/highlight.js/11.2.0/highlight.min.js"></script>
10      <script>hljs.highlightAll();</script>
11      <style>
12        body { font-family: system-ui, sans-serif; padding: 2rem; max-width: 800px; margin: 0 auto; }
13        pre { border-radius: 8px; }
14        .endpoint { background: #f0f0f0; padding: 1rem; border-radius: 8px; font-family: monospace; }
15      </style>
16    </head>
17    <body>
18      <h2>API Endpoint</h2>
19      <div class="endpoint">${apiEndpoint}</div>
20      
21      <h2>Request</h2>
22      <pre><code class="language-json">${JSON.stringify(requestBody, null, 2)}</code></pre>
23      
24      <h2>Response</h2>
25      <pre><code class="language-json">${JSON.stringify(responseExample, null, 2)}</code></pre>
26    </body>
27    </html>
28  `;
29  
30  // Save HTML to a temporary file or use a service like GitHub Gist
31  
32  // Capture screenshot of the HTML
33  const response = await fetch('https://api.screenshotapi.com/capture', {
34    method: 'POST',
35    headers: {
36      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
37      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.SCREENSHOT_API_KEY}`
38    },
39    body: JSON.stringify({
40      url: 'https://gist.github.com/yourusername/your-gist-id',
41      width: 800,
42      height: 600,
43      fullPage: true,
44      format: 'png'
45    })
46  });
47  
48  // Return the screenshot URL
49  const data = await response.json();
50  return data.screenshotUrl;
51}

Step-by-Step Tutorials

Automate the creation of tutorial images:

javascript
01async function generateTutorialSteps(baseUrl, steps) {
02  const results = [];
03  
04  for (const step of steps) {
05    // Capture screenshot of this step
06    const response = await fetch('https://api.screenshotapi.com/capture', {
07      method: 'POST',
08      headers: {
09        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
10        'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.SCREENSHOT_API_KEY}`
11      },
12      body: JSON.stringify({
13        url: `${baseUrl}${step.path}`,
14        selector: step.selector,
15        highlight: true,
16        executeBeforeScreenshot: step.preActions || '',
17        format: 'png'
18      })
19    });
20    
21    const data = await response.json();
22    
23    results.push({
24      stepNumber: step.number,
25      title: step.title,
26      description: step.description,
27      screenshotUrl: data.screenshotUrl
28    });
29  }
30  
31  return results;
32}

Automating Social Media Content

Blog Post Featured Images

Generate featured images for blog posts:

javascript
01async function createBlogFeaturedImage(title, category, backgroundImageUrl) {
02  // Capture a screenshot of a template with dynamic content
03  const response = await fetch('https://api.screenshotapi.com/capture', {
04    method: 'POST',
05    headers: {
06      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
07      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.SCREENSHOT_API_KEY}`
08    },
09    body: JSON.stringify({
10      html: `
11        <!DOCTYPE html>
12        <html>
13        <head>
14          <style>
15            body {
16              margin: 0;
17              padding: 0;
18              width: 1200px;
19              height: 630px;
20              display: flex;
21              align-items: center;
22              justify-content: center;
23              background-image: url('${backgroundImageUrl}');
24              background-size: cover;
25              font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
26              color: white;
27              text-align: center;
28            }
29            .overlay {
30              background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);
31              width: 100%;
32              height: 100%;
33              display: flex;
34              flex-direction: column;
35              align-items: center;
36              justify-content: center;
37              padding: 2rem;
38              box-sizing: border-box;
39            }
40            h1 {
41              font-size: 60px;
42              margin-bottom: 1rem;
43              text-shadow: 2px 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
44            }
45            .category {
46              background: #ff6b6b;
47              padding: 0.5rem 1.5rem;
48              border-radius: 50px;
49              font-weight: bold;
50              text-transform: uppercase;
51              letter-spacing: 1px;
52            }
53          </style>
54        </head>
55        <body>
56          <div class="overlay">
57            <span class="category">${category}</span>
58            <h1>${title}</h1>
59          </div>
60        </body>
61        </html>
62      `,
63      width: 1200,
64      height: 630,
65      format: 'png'
66    })
67  });
68  
69  const data = await response.json();
70  return data.screenshotUrl;
71}

Integration with Content Management Systems

For maximum efficiency, integrate these automated visual generators with your CMS:

javascript
01// Example WordPress integration using the REST API
02const WordPress = require('wordpress');
03const client = WordPress.createClient({
04  url: 'https://your-wordpress-site.com',
05  username: process.env.WP_USERNAME,
06  password: process.env.WP_PASSWORD
07});
08

09async function updateProductScreenshots() {
10  // Get all product pages
11  const products = await client.getPosts({
12    type: 'product',
13    status: 'publish'
14  });
15  
16  for (const product of products) {
17    // Generate fresh screenshot
18    const screenshot = await captureProductScreenshot(product.link);
19    
20    // Update the featured image
21    await client.uploadMedia({
22      file: screenshot,
23      filename: `product-${product.id}.png`
24    }).then(media => {
25      return client.updatePost(product.id, {
26        featured_media: media.id
27      });
28    });
29  }
30}

By automating your visual content creation with our Screenshot API, you can maintain a consistent visual identity across all platforms while saving significant time and resources. This approach ensures your marketing materials, documentation, and social media content always showcase the most current version of your product.

MarketingContent Creation

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