To capture a rendered website with PHP and Symfony Panther, install Panther, make sure Chrome or Firefox and its WebDriver are available, open the page with Panther’s native browser client, then call takeScreenshot(). For example, $client->takeScreenshot('screen.png'); saves a screenshot after the page loads.
Install Panther and prepare a browser
In a Symfony project, add Panther as a development dependency:
composer require --dev symfony/panther
Panther controls a real browser through WebDriver. For Chrome or Chromium, provide ChromeDriver; for Firefox, provide geckodriver. The current Symfony End-to-End Testing guide documents installing drivers with dbrekelmans/bdi, placing them in your PATH or the project’s drivers/ directory, or installing them through your operating system’s package manager. Check the guide and your environment for compatible browser and driver versions.
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Panther can also be used outside a Symfony application. In that case, include Composer’s autoloader with require 'vendor/autoload.php'; before using Panther classes.
Capture a page with Chrome or Firefox
This standalone example uses Chrome. Change the client factory to createFirefoxClient() to use Firefox. The URL must be reachable from the machine running the script, and the matching browser driver must be installed and discoverable.
<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use SymfonyComponentPantherClient;
$client = Client::createChromeClient();
try {
$client->request('GET', 'https://example.com');
$client->takeScreenshot('screen.png');
} finally {
$client->quit();
}
The screenshot is written to the path passed to takeScreenshot(). Use an absolute path if you need a predictable output location rather than a path relative to the script’s working directory. Panther’s native browser client is essential here: Symfony documents that the alternative BrowserKit clients do not support screenshot capture, JavaScript, or CSS.
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Choose a browser that fits the job
Use Chrome when your test environment already provides Chrome or Chromium and ChromeDriver; use Firefox when it provides Firefox and geckodriver, or when Firefox behavior is what you need to inspect. Symfony documents both, but does not establish a universal speed or screenshot-fidelity winner. For a meaningful comparison, run the same page, browser version, viewport, and environment in both.
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Capture from a Symfony end-to-end test
For a Symfony application, use Panther’s test case so the application can be started for the test. The guide’s approach is to create a Panther client, request the page, and save the screenshot:
<?php
namespace AppTests;
use SymfonyComponentPantherPantherTestCase;
final class WebsiteScreenshotTest extends PantherTestCase
{
public function testPageScreenshot(): void
{
$client = static::createPantherClient();
$client->request('GET', '/');
$client->takeScreenshot('var/screenshot.png');
}
}
Run the test with your project’s configured test command, commonly php bin/phpunit. The screenshot path is relative to the process working directory; ensure its parent directory exists and is writable. Symfony’s guide describes Panther as supporting screenshots at any point during an end-to-end test, so you can capture after navigation or after your test has interacted with the page.
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Set the screenshot dimensions
The image dimensions follow the browser window size. Choose a viewport that matches the page state you want to inspect; a very tall window is useful for a long page but does not automatically guarantee that every lazy-loaded image has rendered. Symfony’s guide gives these browser-size examples:
// Chrome example: 1500 pixels wide by 4000 pixels high
$client = Client::createChromeClient(null, ['--window-size=1500,4000']);
// Firefox: set the browser window dimensions
$client = Client::createFirefoxClient();
$client->manage()->window()->setSize(new FacebookWebDriverWebDriverDimension(1500, 4000));
These are examples, not recommended dimensions for every capture. Keep width and height consistent when comparing screenshots, and remember that changing the viewport can change responsive layout, text wrapping, and the visible content.
Run Panther headlessly or debug visibly
Panther supports headless browser operation, which is suitable for many CI jobs. When diagnosing a failure locally, Symfony documents PANTHER_NO_HEADLESS as the switch for displaying the browser rather than running it headlessly. For example:
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PANTHER_NO_HEADLESS=1 php bin/phpunit
CI images must include a browser and a compatible driver, and the user running the job needs permission to launch them and write the output file. Browser installation and headless behavior vary by operating system and CI image, so use the current Symfony guide and the image’s documentation for environment-specific setup.
Troubleshoot common capture failures
- Panther cannot start the browser: confirm that the browser is installed and its matching ChromeDriver or geckodriver is executable and discoverable in
PATHor the project’sdrivers/directory. Usevendor/bin/bdi detect driversif you use BDI. - The browser starts, but the request fails: check that the URL is correct and reachable from the machine or CI runner. A local browser may not have the same network access, DNS, certificates, or authentication state as your desktop browser.
- The screenshot has unexpected dimensions or layout: set the browser window size before navigation and capture. Viewport width can trigger a different responsive layout; compare like-for-like dimensions.
- The screenshot is blank or missing content: make sure the request completed before capturing and that the page’s content is available to the browser. If the site renders content asynchronously, capture only after your test’s required condition is met rather than assuming navigation alone means every element has appeared.
- The file is not created: verify that the destination directory exists, the process can write to it, and you are checking the path relative to the actual working directory.
- You are using a BrowserKit client: switch to a native Panther browser client. The BrowserKit alternatives do not provide screenshot capture, JavaScript, or CSS support.
Or skip the browser setup
If you want a screenshot without installing and maintaining a browser and WebDriver, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API. Send one GET request with a URL; for example, this cURL command saves a WebP image:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp
See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Cookie banners are accepted and removed before capture, along with known newsletter popups and chat widgets; those cleanup steps can be turned off. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, with verdict and billing information returned in response headers. An MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools for AI agents. The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can Symfony Panther take screenshots outside a Symfony project?
Yes. Install Panther with Composer and include vendor/autoload.php; the standalone example above uses Panther’s native client directly.
Does Panther capture a screenshot of the whole page automatically?
The documented examples establish browser-window screenshots and viewport sizing. They do not establish that a default capture expands to the entire page.
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