url2png gem

What is it?

A Ruby gem wrapping the url2png.com API.

Who should use it?

Any Ruby on Rails developer who wants/needs to generate screenshots from sites using url2png.com.

Installation

gem install url2png

Configuration

You must define your public key and shared secret, they are required:

Url2png.config({

    # required
    :api_key      => 'PXXXXXXXXXXXXX',
    :private_key  => 'SXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX',

# optional
    :api_version  => 'v4',
    :api_url      => 'http://beta.url2png.com',
    :mode         => 'production',
    :default_size => '500x500'

})
api_version

You can define the api version if you want to use an different version of the url2png api.

Url2png.api_version = 'v4'

Available versions:

  • v6 (default)
  • v4
  • v3
api_url

Define an option api_url. By default 'http://beta.url2png.com'.

Url2png.api_url = 'http://beta.url2png.com'
mode

If you are generating local urls in development you can use a placeholder or dummy image. This is done by setting the mode:

Url2png.mode = :placehold if Rails.env.development?

Options are:

  • production (default; will use the url2png api to generate images)
  • placehold (will generate images at http://placehold.it)
  • dummy (will give a grey base64 data image)

default_size

Default size is set to 400x400. To change the default size:

Url2png.default_size = '500x500'


In Rails you probably want to do configuration in an initializer.

Usage

Generate an image tag:

url2png_image_tag url, [options]

# alias (older version)
site_image_tag url, [options]

To only get the image url:

url2png_image_url url, [options]

# alias (older version)
site_image_url url, [options]

Options differ by version!

Version 6

Thumbnail

Constrain screenshot based on width or height or both.
default: no resizing

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :thumbnail_max_width => 500,
                  :thumbnail_max_height => 500

                  # alias for :thumbnail_...
                  :max_width => 500
                  :max_height => 500
Viewport

Set viewport dimensions, adjust to your hearts content.
default: 1480x1037

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :viewport => '1024x900'
Fullpage

Will attempt to capture entire document canvas.
default: false

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :fullpage => true
Delay

Extra delay (in seconds) forced between page load and screenshot.
default: 1

  • min: 1
  • max: 5

example:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => '300x200',
                  :delay => 2
Force

Forces a fresh screenshot with each request, overwriting the previous copy.
You will be charged for every request made using the force option.

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                    :force => true
Size

Sets width and height attributes from the html <img> tag.

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => "800x600"

Version 4

Thumbnail

By default the size is set to 400 x 400 px. Proportions are constrained.

examples:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => '500x500'

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => 'ORIGINAL'
Size

This is a proportion bounding box. Almost the same as :thumbnail, but thumbnails will be resized to fit within this box. Width and height attribute of the html <img> tag will be set.

Browser size

Set the initial browser screen size.

  • default: '1024x768'
  • min: '200x200'
  • max: '4000x4000'

example:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :browser_size => '1024x2500'
Delay

Extra delay (in seconds) forced between page load and screenshot.

  • default: 1
  • min: 1
  • max: 5

example:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => '300x200',
                  :delay => 2
Fullscreen

When true, Will attempt to capture entire document canvas.
Will never return screenshot smaller than 'Initial Screen Size'.
default: false

example:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => '300x200',
                  :fullscreen => true

Version 3

Size

By default the size is set to 400 x 400 px. To generate an image with a specific size:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :size => '300x200'
Fullscreen

When true, Will attempt to capture entire document canvas.
Will never return screenshot smaller than 'Initial Screen Size'.
default: false

example:

url2png_image_tag 'http://www.zwartopwit.com',
                  :fullscreen => true

Important

This gem is written for Rails 3. Rails 2 might work but it's not tested.

Note that this gem is still under development.

Contributing to url2png

  • Check out the latest master to make sure the feature hasn't been implemented or the bug hasn't been fixed yet
  • Check out the issue tracker to make sure someone already hasn't requested it and/or contributed it
  • Fork the project
  • Start a feature/bugfix branch
  • Commit and push until you are happy with your contribution
  • Make sure to add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a future version unintentionally.
  • Please try not to mess with the Rakefile, version, or history. If you want to have your own version, or is otherwise necessary, that is fine, but please isolate to its own commit so I can cherry-pick around it.

Original API docs:

Copyright (c) 2011 Wout Fierens & Robin Houdmeyers. See LICENSE.txt for further details.