html2image

What it is and what it does

html2image wraps the headless rendering mode of Chrome, Chromium, or Edge to convert HTML, CSS, and web URLs into image files. It abstracts away the complexity of invoking browser command-line interfaces, letting you generate screenshots from HTML strings, local files, or live URLs with a simple Python API. The package handles temporary file management, supports batch operations, and allows customization of output size, format, and browser flags.

The main use case is automated screenshot generation for testing, documentation, or content creation. It depends on requests and websocket-client for network operations, and requires a compatible browser binary installed on the host system. The package is actively maintained, supports Python 3.6 through 3.13, and has no known security vulnerabilities.

Use it for:

• Generate screenshots of live websites for automated testing or visual regression detection.
• Convert HTML email templates or reports to images for archival or distribution.
• Create PNG thumbnails from HTML/CSS designs without manual browser interaction.
• Batch-process multiple HTML files or URLs into images with consistent sizing and styling.
• Render SVG and other vector formats to raster images via browser headless mode.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Generates PNG/image files from HTML, CSS, and URLs by wrapping headless browser rendering (Chrome, Chromium, or Edge).

Yes. Low install friction, permissive MIT license, active maintenance, no known vulnerabilities, and broad Python version support (3.6–3.13). Install only if you have a compatible browser (Chrome, Chromium, or Edge) available on your system; otherwise, the package will fail at runtime. Suitable for production use in testing, documentation, and content pipelines.

Install

html2image on PyPI

pip install html2image

uv add html2image

poetry add html2image

Installing html2image

Before you install

Low friction: only two runtime dependencies (requests, websocket-client). Active maintenance with recent commits; last release 2025-05-16. Requires an external browser binary (Chrome, Chromium, or Edge) installed on the system to function.

License in practice

MIT License permits commercial and private use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions. Include a copy of the license and copyright notice in distributions.

Quickstart

pip install html2image

from html2image import Html2Image
hti = Html2Image()
hti.screenshot(url='https://www.python.org', save_as='page.png')
# or from HTML string:
hti.screenshot(html_str='<h1>Hello</h1>', css_str='body {background: blue;}', save_as='output.png')

Requires Chrome, Chromium, or Microsoft Edge installed and accessible on the system PATH or via browser_executable parameter.

Verify before relying

• Performance characteristics when rendering complex or large HTML documents.
• Memory usage and resource overhead for batch screenshot operations.
• Compatibility with specific browser versions or rendering edge cases.

Package facts

Evidence: html2image-2.0.7-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: chrome, chromium, chromium-browser, css, css to image, html, html to image, image, screenshot

Tags

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