Title: PDF Snapshot
Author: saumya010
Published: July 27, 2026
Last modified: July 30, 2026
---
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# PDF Snapshot
By [saumya010](https://profiles.wordpress.org/saumya010/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/pdf-snapshot.1.0.3.zip)
* [Details](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/pdf-snapshot/#description)
* [Reviews](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/pdf-snapshot/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/pdf-snapshot/#installation)
* [Development](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/pdf-snapshot/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/pdf-snapshot/)
## Description
PDF Snapshot adds a “Download PDF” button to your posts and pages. When a visitor
clicks it, the plugin captures the page, converts it to a PDF, and either shows
a preview popup (with Print and Download buttons) or downloads it immediately —
your choice.
**Key features**
* Two capture modes: the full themed page (with excluded sections removed), or
just the title and post content.
* Choose exactly which sections to exclude: header, navigation, footer, sidebars,
comments, and any CSS selector you specify (e.g. `.newsletter-signup` or `#related-
posts`) to identify additional elements to remove from the PDF.
* Preview popup with Print and Download actions, or immediate download — configurable.
* Available as a shortcode (`[pdf_snapshot]`), a Gutenberg block, and optional
automatic injection into all posts and/or pages.
* PDF-native running header (page title) and footer (page numbers), independent
of the page’s own HTML header/footer.
* Configurable paper size and orientation.
* Automatic image downscaling to keep generation fast.
* Built-in caching: a page’s PDF is only regenerated when its content actually
changes.
* Access control (public or logged-in users only) and a configurable rate limit
to prevent abuse.
#### How it works
Version 1.0 generates PDFs entirely on your own server using the open-source Dompdf
library — no external service, no added monthly cost, works on ordinary WordPress
hosting. This means very JavaScript-heavy embeds (like some interactive maps or
live widgets) may not appear in the PDF exactly as they do on screen; ordinary text,
images, and layout convert reliably.
### Third-Party Libraries
PDF Snapshot bundles [Dompdf](https://github.com/dompdf/dompdf) (LGPL-2.1) to generate
PDFs entirely on your own server, along with its own dependencies (php-svg-lib,
php-font-lib, php-css-parser, masterminds/html5, thecodingmachine/safe — all LGPL/
MIT licensed). No external service or API call is used for PDF generation.
## Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
* PDF Snapshot Button A button that lets visitors download or print the current
page as a PDF.
## Installation
1. Upload the `pdf-snapshot` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`, or install it through
the Plugins screen directly.
2. If installing from source (not a release zip), run `composer install` inside the
plugin directory to fetch the Dompdf library.
3. Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” screen in WordPress.
4. Visit **Settings PDF Snapshot** to configure capture, delivery, layout, and access
settings.
5. Add the `[pdf_snapshot]` shortcode to a page, insert the “PDF Snapshot Button”
block, or enable automatic injection in the settings.
## FAQ
### Does this work on shared hosting?
Yes. Version 1.0 uses a pure-PHP PDF library (Dompdf) with no external dependencies
beyond what Composer installs — no Node.js, no headless browser, no server configuration
needed.
### Will embedded videos, maps, or interactive widgets show up in the PDF?
Not reliably. The PDF engine does not execute JavaScript, so content that depends
on it (some embeds, live widgets) may appear blank or be omitted. Ordinary content—
text, images, tables, links — converts well.
### Can I control what’s included in the PDF?
Yes. Settings PDF Snapshot lets you exclude the header, navigation, footer, sidebars,
and comments, plus specify additional CSS selectors (e.g. `.newsletter-signup`)
to identify any other elements that should be removed from the generated PDF. These
selectors only pick which elements to strip — no CSS, JavaScript, or PHP code is
ever saved or executed.
### Where are generated PDFs stored?
In `wp-content/uploads/pdf-snapshot-cache/`, if caching is enabled. Cached PDFs
are automatically cleared when the source post is updated.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“PDF Snapshot” is open source software. The following people have contributed to
this plugin.
Contributors
* [ saumya010 ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/saumya010/)
[Translate “PDF Snapshot” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/pdf-snapshot)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pdf-snapshot/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/pdf-snapshot/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/pdf-snapshot/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/pdf-snapshot/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.0.3
* Faster, more reliable generation for large or image-heavy pages. Images embedded
in the PDF are now actually resized on the server to match the “Max image width”
setting (previously only a display size was capped, so Dompdf still had to download
and decode the original full-resolution file). Generation also now runs as a
background job instead of blocking the whole request: the button shows “Generating…”
and the PDF appears automatically once ready, so a large page can no longer time
out mid-generation.
* Fixed “Full themed page” capture producing an unstyled, incorrectly-laid-out
PDF instead of matching the live page: the site’s own stylesheets were failing
to load during capture in some environments (e.g. behind certain proxy/container
setups) and silently falling back to no theme CSS at all. Also fixed the PDF
not applying colors, fonts, or spacing that a theme defines via CSS custom properties(
common in modern block themes) — Dompdf’s PDF engine doesn’t support those directly,
so they’re now resolved to their real values before rendering. Also fixed content
occasionally running off the edge of the page when the live theme uses fixed
desktop-width containers; every element is now kept within the printable page
width. Also fixed the WordPress admin toolbar sometimes appearing inside the
generated PDF when the person clicking “Download PDF” was logged into wp-admin
at the time. Also fixed some images on the page (typically smaller thumbnails,
like related-post images) showing up as broken-image icons in the PDF instead
of loading correctly.
#### 1.0.2
* Fixed “Full themed page” capture ignoring the requesting visitor’s own login/
membership status. The server-side page fetch used to be completely anonymous,
so a membership or content-restriction plugin (e.g. MemberPress, Restrict Content
Pro) would see it as a logged-out visitor and serve the restricted/paywall version—
or in some setups, redirect away entirely, producing an empty PDF — even for
a genuinely authorized member. The fetch now forwards the requesting visitor’s
own cookies, so the captured page correctly reflects what they’d actually see:
the full content if they have access, or the paywall message if they don’t.
* Fixed a related case where the PDF could still render as a blank/white page:
some restriction plugins redirect an unauthorized visitor to a login or upgrade
page instead of showing a paywall message inline. The fetch no longer follows
redirects blindly — it now detects a redirect away from the requested page and
falls back to a direct content capture (so unauthorized visitors still correctly
get the real paywall/restriction message in their PDF) instead of silently capturing
the wrong page or producing an empty result.
#### 1.0.1
* Moved the settings screen’s button-style toggle and color-picker initialization
out of an inline `