Screenshots

Screenshots capture visual state for debugging, reporting, and visual regression testing.

1. Full Page Screenshot (Primary Method)

TakesScreenshot Interface (Recommended)

// Cast driver to TakesScreenshot
TakesScreenshot screenshot = (TakesScreenshot) driver;
File sourceFile = screenshot.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);

// Save to specific location
FileUtils.copyFile(sourceFile, new File("screenshots/full-page.png"));

Inline Bytes (Reporting Tools)

byte[] screenshotBytes = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.BYTES);
String base64Screenshot = Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(screenshotBytes);

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2. Element-Specific Screenshots

Selenium 4 introduces getScreenshotAs() directly on WebElement.This removes the need for older workarounds like full-page screenshots and manual image cropping.

This approach is:

• Clean
• Stable
• Cross-browser
• CI-friendly

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("submit-btn"));
File screenshot = element.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
FileUtils.copyFile(screenshot, new File("screenshots/button.png"));

Works for: Buttons, images, divs, tables, charts.

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3. Base64 Screenshots (Reports/Emails)

// For ExtentReports, Allure, email attachments
String base64Image = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.BASE64);

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4. Automatic Screenshots on Failure (TestNG/JUnit)

TestNG Listener

public class ScreenshotListener implements ITestListener {
    @Override
    public void onTestFailure(ITestResult result) {
        WebDriver driver = (WebDriver) result.getTestContext().getAttribute("driver");
        if (driver != null) {
            File screenshot = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
            FileUtils.copyFile(screenshot, new File("screenshots/" + 
                result.getName() + "_" + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".png"));
        }
    }
}

JUnit 5 Extension

public class ScreenshotExtension implements AfterEachCallback {
    @Override
    public void afterEach(ExtensionContext context) throws Exception {
        if (context.getExecutionException().isPresent()) {
            // Take screenshot logic
        }
    }
}

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5. Full Page Scroll Screenshots (Long Pages)

public void fullPageScreenshot(WebDriver driver, String fileName) throws IOException {
    JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
    
    // Get total page height
    long totalHeight = (Long) js.executeScript("return Math.max(" +
        "document.body.scrollHeight, document.body.offsetHeight, " +
        "document.documentElement.clientHeight, " +
        "document.documentElement.scrollHeight, " +
        "document.documentElement.offsetHeight);");
    
    // Set viewport to full height
    js.executeScript("window.scrollTo(0, 0);");
    
    // Capture screenshot
    File screenshot = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
    
    // Save
    FileUtils.copyFile(screenshot, new File("screenshots/" + fileName));
}

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6. Multiple Viewport Screenshots (Stitching)

public void stitchedScreenshot(WebDriver driver) throws IOException {
    JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver;
    
    // Get dimensions
    int windowWidth = driver.manage().window().getSize().getWidth();
    long totalHeight = (Long) js.executeScript("return document.body.scrollHeight");
    
    List<File> screenshots = new ArrayList<>();
    
    // Take screenshots at intervals
    for (int i = 0; i < totalHeight; i += windowWidth * 0.8) {
        js.executeScript("window.scrollTo(0, " + i + ");");
        Thread.sleep(500);
        screenshots.add(((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE));
    }
    
    // Stitch (requires external library like ImageMagick or Java AWT)
}

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7. Utility Class - Production Ready

public class ScreenshotUtil {
    public static void captureFullPage(WebDriver driver, String testName) {
        try {
            File src = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
            String timestamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss").format(new Date());
            File dest = new File("screenshots/" + testName + "_" + timestamp + ".png");
            FileUtils.copyFile(src, dest);
            System.out.println("Screenshot saved: " + dest.getAbsolutePath());
        } catch (IOException e) {
            System.err.println("Screenshot failed: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }
    
    public static void captureElement(WebDriver driver, WebElement element, String name) {
        try {
            File src = element.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
            FileUtils.copyFile(src, new File("screenshots/" + name + ".png"));
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
    
    public static String captureAsBase64(WebDriver driver) {
        return ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.BASE64);
    }
}

Usage:

ScreenshotUtil.captureFullPage(driver, "login-test");
ScreenshotUtil.captureElement(driver, loginButton, "login-button");

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8. Integration with Reporting Tools

ExtentReports

ExtentTest test = extent.createTest("Login Test");
test.addScreenCaptureFromBase64String(ScreenshotUtil.captureAsBase64(driver));

Allure

Allure.addAttachment("Screenshot", "image/png", 
    new ByteArrayInputStream(screenshotBytes), ".png");

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9. Headless Mode Screenshots

ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
options.addArguments("--headless=new", "--window-size=1920,1080", "--virtual-time-budget=5000");
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

// Screenshots work identically in headless
ScreenshotUtil.captureFullPage(driver, "headless-test");

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OutputType Enum Values

Type	Return	Use Case
FILE	File	Save to disk
BYTES	byte[]	Memory operations
BASE64	String	Reports, APIs
BASE64_STRING	String	JSON responses

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Best Practices

1. Always use try-catch - screenshots can fail on unstable pages
2. Timestamp filenames - avoid overwrites
3. Create screenshots folder before tests (screenshots/)
4. Limit screenshot size for reports (resize if >2MB)
5. Screenshot on failure only - reduces storage
6. Use relative paths for CI/CD compatibility
7. Close File streams - use try-with-resources when possible

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Quick Reference

Action	Method
Full page	((TakesScreenshot)driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE)
Element	element.getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE)
Base64	((TakesScreenshot)driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.BASE64)
Save file	FileUtils.copyFile(src, dest)

100% complete Selenium screenshot API with production examples for all scenarios.