WebSnapperPro Tutorial

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POSTED ON
November 10, 2017

AUTHOR
Tom

CATEGORY
WebSnapperPro
Featured Apps
Tutorials

OVERVIEW

WebSnapperPro allows you to capture full web pages from your web browser with a single mouse click without the need to “stitch” or cut and paste individual screenshots.

You can save the page capture as an image file – most popular types supported – or as a vector based PDF file. You can also print the captured page, send it as an email attachment, send it to Evernote (if installed), or export it to your DropBox account, right from the WebSnapperPro interface.

INSTALL

Installation is easy. After downloading WebSnapperPro click the websnapperpro.dmg file in your downloads folder to launch the WebSnapperPro installer.

On the WebSnapperPro installation screen drag the WebSnapperPro icon and drop it onto the Applications folder icon on the installation screen and you are done.



On some systems the .dmg file might put a virtual disk on your desktop named WebSnapperPro. Click on the virtual disk to launch the WebSnapperPro installer. When done you can right click the virtual WebSnapperPro disk icon on your desktop and select “Eject” or just drag it to your Trash Bin to eject it.

SETUP

To set up the default Preferences for WebSnapperPro, launch WebSnapperPro and open the WebSnapperPro menu by clicking on “WebSnapperPro” in your Mac toolbar.



Select “Preferences…” from the WebSnapperPro dropdown menu.

Preferences General Tab



The General tab of the Preference settings lets you set how you want WebSnapperPro to work. Here is what each option does:

Default Download Location
Use the "Change" button to set your default download location.

When clicking "Add" button, capture from...
Sets action of the    button. Options are "Show Choices", "Safari", or "Chrome". Select Safari or Chrome for 1-click operation. The "Show Choices" option will allow source changes on the fly. Note:  If Safari or Chrome are selected the    icon will be replaced by the selected browser icon.

Maximum Number of Concurrent Downloads:
Used to limit CPU usage.

Default snapshot width (px):
Sets the width of capture.

Queue size (in entries):
Used to set visible queue size before vertical scroll bar appears.

Theme:
Light mode (shown here on the tutorial images) or Dark mode (visually striking on screen).

Process automatically to my default location
Saves each capture immediately to the "Default Download Location" above.

Prepend title with website's domain
Adds source domain to file name of snap.

Automatically remove items from queue once processed
Whether automatically or manually saved, they can also be automatically removed from the Downloads Queue.

Enable system notifications
Enabled by default. Allows a brief visual and audio confirmation of download completions at the the upper right corner of the Desktop.

Enable snap effect
Enabled by default. Provides audio and visual cue of target acquisition.

Enable batch mode
Used to capture a list of target URLs.

Enable iframe capture (captures ads and extra content)
Enabled by default. Disable to remove ads. Note: Some desired content could be removed.

Revert to Factory Defaults
Resets all Preference options on all tabs back to orginal default settings.


Preferences Snapshot Tab



The Snapshot Tab allows you to set image details.
Here is what each option does:

Destination: Options include, Disk, E-Mail, Pasteboard, Evernote (if installed), and DropBox.

Output Format:
Select PDF, PNG, JPG, JP2, GIF, BMP, TIFF (Default is PDF)

Conversion Mode:
Available with PDF Output, Conversion Mode allows you to select either "Vector" or "Image". Image mode will provide the best visual results, Vector mode provides 'live'links and selectable text. (Default is "Image").

Compression:
Available in JPEG or JP2, used to reduce file size.

Use pagination: Only available with PDF format - used to insert page breaks in long (physical length) PDF's for printing.

Orientation: Only available with Pagination - Select "Portrait" or "Landscape".

Margins (in points): Only available in Pagination - sets the top, bottom, left, and right margins.

Include headers and footers: Only available with Pagination. The "header" is the "Title" (if defined in the page HTML) at the top left, with the Date and Time at the top right. The "footer" is the page URL at the bottom left with the page number at the bottom right.

Note: A note or identification that will be inserted above the footer.

You can set the Font Face, and Size for the header, footer, and Note using the font button.


DropBox Tab

The DropBox tab has a single option - Link/Unlink - button. See "DropBox Integration" below, for details.


INTERFACE



WebSnapperPro launches with an animated camera icon and single "Add"    button in the Download queue. Use the button to add the active page in your Safari or Chrome browser to the WebSnapperPro Downloads queue. The button can be set in Preferences to automatically call Safari or Chrome for 1-click functionality, or it can allow you to choose sources "on the fly",including URLs from your Pasteboard.

You are not limited to Safari or Chrome...with the available WebSnapperPro Bookmarklet, any browser can be used, as explained in the Operation section below.

As you add pages for processing they will be added to the queue, along with options for processing the pages.

OPERATION

WebSnapperPro provides 4 different capture methods: The Safari Extension (for OS X 10.12 and above only), the "Add" button   , the Bookmarklet, and the MiniBrowser. For most pages the the results will be the same, but there can be differences. See "Advanced Capture Techniques" below.

WebSnapperPro also allows "batch" captures using a text list of URLs. See "Batch Captures" below.

Safari Extension

For OS X 10.12 and above you can install the included Safari Extension. The Extension captures the source of the website, including any dynamic modifications you have made.

With Safari closed, launch WebSnapperPro, then launch Safari and open Safari Preferences from the Safari menu.



From the Safari Preferences screen select the "Extensions" Tab.



Make sure the checkbox for WebSnapperPro in the left column is checked. Quit and relaunch Safari and the WebSnapperPro Extension    will be added to your toolbar.



While viewing a page in Safari, just click on the WebSnapperPro Extension to launch WebSnapperPro and add the target page to the downloads queue. If WebSnapperPro is already open, the Extension will just add the target to the queue. You can continue adding target pages with the Extension.

The   "Add"    button

You can use the "Add"    button – when you want to capture a page you are viewing in Safari or Chrome. Just click the button and the target page will be added to the WebSnapperPro downloads queue. The button will capture the page source with any dynamic modifications you made on the page - even if the page is protected by a login/password, as the page source is copied directly from your browser. (Note: In both Safari and Chrome, an extra configuration step is needed) This is usually the most reliable method...but there can be exceptions. See "Advanced Capture Techniques"below.

Bookmarklet

If you are not using Safari or Chrome you can use the available Bookmarklet to capture webpages. The Bookmarklet works in all browsers. (See "Advanced Capture Techniques" below.)

Just drag this button

WebSnapperPro

and drop it onto the bookmarks bar in your browser, The Bookmarklet will appear on your browser bookmarks bar.

When viewing a web site in your browser just click the WebSnapperPro Bookmarklet on your browser bookmarks bar and WebSnapperPro will grab the current page for processing. If WebSnapperPro is not already opened when you click the Bookmarklet, the Bookmarklet will open WebSnapperPro and add the target page to the Downloads Queue for processing. With WebSnapperPro open, the Bookmarklet can provide the same 1-click functionality of the "Add" button.

MiniBrowser

WebSnapperPro has an internal MiniBrowser that can be called for difficult pages that rely heavily on external content. See "Advanced Capture Techniques" below.


In the example below three pages have been added to the downloads queue. You can process all the pages in the download queue with a single click using one of options of the multipurpose button    at the bottom of the interface.



The multipurpose button allows you to: Process All, the items in the queue; Clear All, the items; or just Clear Completed, items.

When you select Process All, WebSnapperPro will process all the items in the Downloads queue using your default Output Preferences settings.

The multipurpose button also allows you to Save or Email, all the pages in the downloads queue to a single multipage PDF.

Don’t confuse the “Multipage Saving...” options with the "Pagination" option in the Preferences settings. Pagination is automatically enabled when using any of the "Multipage Saving..." options, and page breaks (8.5 X 11) will be inserted into long PDF documents for printing and easy on-screen viewing. Without automatic pagination, long webpages would be reduced to fit on a single sheet and the result could be a narrow image - the longer the page, the narrower the image.

You can also process or delete pages individually using the "Save"    and "Delete"    buttons just beneath the URL of each item in the queue.

When processing pages individually, you will get a screen that allows you select output settings for individual pages.



NOTE: The "Save" button will make the capture. Changes here are page specific and will not effect your default Preference settings.


Snapping Local Pages: WebSnapperPro is not only for capturing pages from the Web. You can also capture local HTML pages by dragging an HTML file to the camera icon in GUI. The file will be added to the Download queue as a regular item.

Creating Multi-Page PDFs: You can also drag several PDF files to the camera and WebSnapperPro will create a single, multipage PDF file for you.

DropBox Integration: WebSnapperPro has the ability to export snapshots in any format to your DropBox account. To use this feature, just select DropBox as your destination in the Snapshot preferences. You will need to link WebSnapperPro to your DropBox account in WebSnapperPro Preferences.



Click on the "Link to DropBox" button. Your default browser will appear and you will see a webpage asking you to allow WebSnapperPro to access its own folder inside your DropBox.



Click "Allow".

Depending on your browser, you might be asked "Do you want to allow this page to open WebSnapperPro"?



It is important that you click "Allow" on this screen.

You can confirm the integration was successful by checking the DropBox tab in WebSnapperPro Preferences. The button should now read "Unlink from DropBox".

Now, if you select "DropBox" as your Destination in WebSnapperPro Preferences, your snapshots will appear under the folder Apps/WebSnapperPro.

After a snap is completed with a Destination: DropBox, the URL of the WebSnapperPro folder in your DropBox will automatically be copied to your Pasteboard.


ADVANCED CAPTURE TECHNIQUES

As stated above, WebSnapperPro provides 4 different capture methods (The Extension, the "Add"    button, the Bookmarklet, and the Mini Browser). For most pages the results of these 4 methods will be the same, but there can be differences.

The Extension, the    button, and the Bookmarklet communicate with your browser and will capture any dynamic changes you have made including login credentials.

  But there may be some situations when the Extension, the    button, and the Bookmarklet will not work as expected. When the individual images or other resources on the page you are capturing are also protected by a login/password you might see some blank spaces instead of the content shown in your browser. The solution is to use the Mini Browser. (See below)


NOTE: When using the Safari or Chrome option on the     button, JavaScript from Apple Events must be allowed to properly resolve dynamic modifications on a page (opening menus, closing cookie notes, etc.),

To allow JavaScript in Safari, open Safari Preferences and on the Advanced tab, click the "Show Develop menu in menu bar" box at the bottom of the window.



This will put a "Develop" menu option on the Safari toolbar. Open the "Develop" menu and select "Allow JavaScript from Apple Events". Confirm and enter a password if required.



Please Note: On some systems the "Allow JavaScript from Apple Events" may not work in Safari. This is a known Apple bug and we are trying to find a work-around. At this time the only solution is to use the Bookmarklet, the Mini Browser, or Chrome.

WebSnapperPro will inform you if your system has the bug. A "warning" icon     will appear on the left, just above the Downloads queue when you select Safari as the capture source.

To allow JavaScript in Chrome, open Chrome



Select "View from the Chrome toolbar, then "Developer", and select "Allow JavaScript from Apple Events".

Mini-Browser: The Mini Browser can be invoked for a specific item in the queue by clicking on the URL of the item in queue. (See Operation screenshot above) The minibrowser will open and reload the target page. You can then modify the page dynamically (by clicking on buttons, expanding tabs, etc). When you are done, click the snap button in the top left   (see screenshot below) and the WebSnapperPro Mini-Browser will capture the page.




With the mini-browser, you can also resize the mini-browser window to trigger web responsive changes in the web page. For example, if you reduce the window size, the aspect of the page might vary (by hiding menus or triggering a mobile view, for example). If you then hit the snap button at the top left of the mini-browser, WebSnapperPro will capture the page with these modifications. The mini-browser is the safest approach to bypass password protected pages. Just log in as you would usually do in your regular browser, and get to the page you want to capture.

Sierra and High Sierra: Vector mode is less reliable in Sierra and High Sierra. Beginning with Sierra OS X 10.12, Apple's implementations of PDFKit (e.g. Preview) and WebKit (the Apple engine WebSnapperPro uses), have caused some problems.

If you are capturing a page with PDF output format, Vector conversion mode, you might get a PDF so "big" that Preview or Acrobat Reader might not be able to handle. Namely, preview might show a blank or distorted PDF in Sierra and High Sierra, and Acrobat Reader might display the page trimmed in OS X 10.9 and above, or in Windows.

The solution to this problem is to enable the "Use Pagination option" in WebSnapperPro Preference settings, or alternatively use an image format instead of PDF (e.g. PNG). Or, you can use Google Chrome to open the PDF, as it is the only engine for OS X that is able to properly handle these PDFs.

Missing images or content in the webpage: Techniques used on some web pages to conserve bandwidth and improve page rendering speed can keep content hidden until the browser calls for it. Scroll to the bottom of the page to force javascript to load the missing content before calling WebSnapperPro to make the capture.


BATCH CAPTURES

You can use a manual Drag N Drop method to capture a list of URLs.

First, in WebSnapperPro Preferences, General tab, check the Enable batch mode option. Next highlight a text list of URLs and then drag and drop it onto the animated camera icon at the top of the WebSnapperPro Interface. WebSnapperPro will process each URL in the list one by one, discarding the previous before moving on to the next, keeping memory usage to reasonable level.

Remember to disable batch mode in Preferences when done.

Please note: Manual Drag N Drop may not be as reliable on pages with dynamic content and some content may not be captured.