Render Links

Render Link Requirements

• accessToken
• apiSecret

A render link is just a URL where you add multiple screenshot options as a query string and then use that URL directly in an img tag or use the URL to download file to save on your own server or device.

Render links can be created by two methods using our API with GET and POST requests.

1. Directly adding screenshot options as query string to render endpoint using Access token and API secret.
2. Sending POST request to API endpoint using API Key

Render Link Example Using Query String

lets break down the sample Render Link URL, In above example we are using 3 options

1. accessToken ( replace this with your own token , find it from dashboard)
2. urlof the webpage you want to create screenshot that's 'https://www.wikipedia.org/'
3. format of the screenshot file generated by this request that's png

That's all it takes to generate a render link URL, you can copy paste this URL into a browser to get the screenshot. You can add many more screenshot options to customize it as per your need find all available and upcoming options on screenshot options docs.

Render Link Example For Production

Above method of creating screenshot is good only for internal applications, which are not exposed to public, by default the use of API Secret is not mandatory, this is done to get you started fast and let you get familiar with all options of API. When in production you must disable the API Secret setting Allow API usage without secret from API Keys page on dashboard.

By using API Secret and Screenshot options in the render link we create a signature, which helps us create a render link that cannot be manipulated by anyone.

Signature is just a string created with cryptography technique based on HMAC using SHA-256 hash function. Every programming language has a tool to make this signature. check full example code to know how to create a signature.

Here is the same Render Link from above Example with signature

Creating Render links using POST API Endpoint

To create render links with this method you only need API key, Once you have API key you just need to make a post request using your API key in authorization header with screenshot options in the request body, the API will immediately process the render request and reply with a response, check CURL example code below with response.

For more examples using other programming languages check our render links sample code section.