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Navigate to the running Next.js page, then call Playwright’s page.screenshot(). By default it saves the visible browser viewport; set fullPage: true for the full scrollable page, or use a locator’s screenshot() method to capture one element. The examples below use Playwright Test with TypeScript.
Set up Playwright and make the Next.js app available
If Playwright is not already installed in the project, the Next.js Playwright guide documents setup with pnpm create playwright and points to the create-next-app Playwright example as a quickstart. Follow the prompts for your project and browser setup. See the Next.js Playwright guide.
The browser must be able to reach the app. Start the development server separately, or have Playwright Test start it using its webServer configuration and wait for it to be available. For a local app using the usual development address, the URL is http://localhost:3000/. You can navigate with that absolute URL or configure a baseURL and use a relative route.
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Capture a page: viewport or full page
This minimal Playwright Test example writes a viewport screenshot to screenshot.png in the test process’s working directory:
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('save a page screenshot', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('http://localhost:3000/');
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });
});page.screenshot() captures the current viewport by default. To capture the page’s full scrollable height instead, add fullPage: true:
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png', fullPage: true });Replace the URL with the route you want, such as http://localhost:3000/products. These are Playwright’s documented page screenshot patterns; see Playwright Screenshots.
Wait for the page state you intend to capture
Navigation completing does not necessarily mean that your app’s data, images, or visual effects have reached the state you want. Prefer waiting for a meaningful page condition over adding an arbitrary delay. For example, if the page’s main heading indicates that the expected route has rendered, assert that it is visible before taking the image:
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import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
test('capture the home page', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('http://localhost:3000/');
await expect(page.locator('h1')).toBeVisible();
await page.screenshot({ path: 'artifacts/home.png', fullPage: true });
});The selector is only an example: choose an assertion that represents readiness for your page, such as a route-specific heading or loaded content. This helps avoid saving an image before the element you care about appears; it does not guarantee that every other asynchronous visual change has finished.
Capture one component or keep the screenshot in memory
Capture a component
Use a locator when you want an element rather than the whole page. Playwright scrolls the target into view and performs actionability checks before capturing it:
await page.locator('.header').screenshot({ path: 'header.png' });Change .header to a selector that uniquely identifies the component. If the locator targets a scrollable container, the screenshot shows only the content currently scrolled into view, not necessarily every item inside that container. Locator screenshots support options such as disabling animations; the Playwright Locator API documents animation handling and stylesheet options.
Process the image in memory
Omit path to receive the screenshot as a buffer. This is useful when passing the image to another library or a pixel-diff workflow instead of writing it directly to a local file:
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const image = await page.screenshot();Playwright documents both page and locator screenshot behavior in its Screenshots guide.
Save screenshots automatically from Playwright Test
For screenshots managed by the test runner, set the use.screenshot option in Playwright Test configuration. Its documented modes are off, on, only-on-failure, and on-first-failure; the default is off. For example, to capture when a test fails:
import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';
export default defineConfig({
use: {
screenshot: 'only-on-failure',
},
});The configuration can also enable full-page screenshots. For test-specific paths or attachments, Playwright documents testInfo.outputPath() and testInfo.attach(). See Playwright TestOptions.
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If screenshots serve as visual baselines, keep the route, app state, and execution environment consistent. Playwright notes that rendering can vary with the host operating system, browser version, settings, hardware, power source, and headless mode. Its visual comparison workflow waits for consecutive matching captures and saves a baseline on the first run; later runs compare against it. See Playwright Visual comparisons.
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- Wait for a meaningful page condition, then handle any known asynchronous content that can still change the image.
- Disable animations when they make the target screenshot unstable; locator screenshot options support animation handling.
- For volatile content, the visual comparison guide documents using a stylesheet to remove it. Mask or hide only areas that are irrelevant to the behavior under review.
- Use the same browser and execution setup when generating and checking baselines, and investigate environment changes before treating every image difference as an app regression.
Troubleshoot common screenshot problems
The browser cannot open the page
Check that the Next.js server is running and that the URL and port in page.goto() match the server. If you use a relative path, verify that Playwright Test has the intended baseURL. If the test starts the server, configure webServer to wait until it is available before the browser navigates.
The screenshot is blank or missing expected content
Confirm that the test navigates to the intended route and wait for a page-specific element or other meaningful readiness condition before capture. Navigation alone may not mean that client-side data or visual effects have settled.
The image shows only part of the page
The default page screenshot covers the viewport. Add fullPage: true to capture the full scrollable page. For a locator screenshot, make sure the selector targets the intended element; if that element is itself a scrollable container, only its currently scrolled content is shown.
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Visual comparisons change between runs
Check whether the browser version, host environment, headless mode, app state, or dynamic content changed. Keep the comparison environment consistent and stabilize genuinely variable content rather than broadly hiding page regions.
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For example, this cURL call saves a WebP screenshot of a URL:
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Which Playwright method captures only one Next.js component?
Use a locator’s screenshot() method, such as page.locator('.header').screenshot({ path: 'header.png' }).
Can I use a deployed Next.js URL instead of localhost?
Yes. Navigate to the deployed route with page.goto(); the browser running Playwright must be able to reach that URL.
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