What is Full Page Screen Capture?
Full Page Screen Capture is a simple yet interesting browser extension for Google Chrome. The developers didn’t really leave any room for doubts about its functionality with its name. This application allows users to take full-page PNG (default) screenshots of your browser with just one click.
Full Page Screen Capture has more than 4 million users, and this is probably because of the fact that it is very simple and efficient. The latest version of this app extension is 6.5, and that just about describes everything there is to know about it.
This Chrome extension was developed by Peter Coles, who is an independent software developer in New York. Originally, this extension had been built in 2012, but back then, it wasn’t able to reproduce a pixel-perfect capture of the entire webpage. The newest version of this extension, however, has had major improvements, and all its original kinks have been worked out.
You can go ahead and download this application from Chrome Web Store or visit the developer’s website at gofullpage.com.
How to Install Full Page Screen Capture?
It seems as if everything about this application is very simple and straightforward. Upon entering the developer’s website, the first thing you will see is the ‘free link’ to the app extension.
This link will take you to the Chrome Web Store, where you will see its pretty decent 4.2 rating and download count. Your next step will be to click on ‘Add to Chrome’ to continue to the download.
Before the download can begin, you will see a simple prompt from your browser asking whether you want to add Full Page Screen Capture’s extension to your browser. If you would like to try the extension, click on ‘Add Extension’.
In just a few seconds, a new icon will appear in your browser’s menu bar between your bookmarks and settings icon. This icon, as you will find out later in this review, is the only thing you need to capture whatever you need.
You will find that there is no additional setup required for this application. Again, simplicity seems to be a recurring theme with Full Page Screen Capture. However, don’t expect to run this application from your desktop because it only appears as an extension for your browser.
Uses of Full Page Screen Capture
Full Page Screen Capture is an elegant way of capturing an entire webpage without any hassle. For this reason alone, this extension may be useful for:
- Tutorials
- Webpage developers
- To report bugs or bug fixes
- Anyone who doesn’t have time to take out snippets from large web pages
- Anyone dealing with massive scrolling pages
To sum it all up, Full Page Screen Capture resolves the problem of taking a screenshot of massive web pages that scroll for miles. These may also include web pages with absolute position elements, dynamic elements, animations, videos, and iframes. With just one click of a button, this extension can get the job done.
How to Use Full Page Screen Capture
Taking Screenshots
In order to take a screenshot, your first step will be to click on the grey camera icon in your browser’s menu bar. Do make sure you are on the webpage you would like to capture, though.
After you click on the camera, the app extension automatically starts to take a screenshot of the entire webpage. Even if it is a long webpage, this process takes a maximum of 3 or 4 seconds to complete. This process is denoted by a new window right underneath the camera icon. As you can see in the image below, we loved the Pac Man-inspired graphics too!
When Full Page Screen Capture is done rendering your screenshot, a new window should automatically open in your browser. This new window is your screenshot. The image below shows you how it captures Tumblr’s sign-up page with just one click.
Now, if you focus on your menu bar, you will see that the application allows you to download the screenshot to your computer as a PDF file or a PNG file. If you pull down the settings menu, you will find that you can also set the default image format to compressed jpegs.
On the other hand, the FAQ section of the Full Page Screen Capture website is a fairly long webpage. What the extension captured can see in the image. This image can be digitally zoomed in the new window and be accessed later from a folder with unlimited storage space.
Editing
Now that you’ve captured full webpages, this application also allows users to edit their screenshots. Here’s what the editor’s menu bar looks like:
You will have the option to add a number of shapes, annotations, or even blur out certain aspects of your captured webpage.
Besides shapes, you can also add stickers to your web pages, such as smileys, animal icons, symbols, and so much more.
If you click on more, you will see a few other editing options such as adding Borders/Paddings for your webpages. You can even choose from a spectrum of colors to make your screenshots look attractive.
The initial screenshot does not contain the URL bar of your browser. If you prefer your screenshots with them, you can either add the original MAC OS or Windows URL bar.
Or just a URL at the header or footer of your screenshot.
Full Page Screen Capture Comparison and Alternatives
This extension may be elegant and simple, but there are many other screen capturing tools out there. Top-rated applications like Snagit and some others have a lot more diverse options to offer. Let’s quickly look at how Full Page Screen Capture holds up against the best and the Snipping Tool that is a built-in feature in Windows.
| Full Page Screen Capture | Snagit | Snipping Tool |
| Can capture an entire webpage with just one click | Can captures still images as well as screen records with system audio and microphone input | Only captures still images. |
| You need to upgrade to premium to share to a few platforms | You can edit and annotate the captured shots and share it across a host of platforms | Can only share captured screens via email |
| – | Offers GIF conversion of screen recordings | – |
| Can identify and capture complex inner scrollable elements, framesets, and iframes automatically (like in Gmail) | Can grab the text in an editable form | – |
| Can capture both horizontally and vertically scrolling windows | Can capture both horizontally and vertically scrolling windows | – |
| Very user friendly and easy to understand | The video capturing feature may be a little complex | Quite straightforward – but only due to limited options |
With the help of this comparison, you can see that one thing missing from Full Page Screen Capture is a screen record feature. Still, it is far more complex than the snipping tool because it simplifies complex captures without the need of manually cropping multiple screens.
Premium Version of Full Page Screen Capture
Although most of the basic features of Full Page Screen Capture are accessible in the free download, you can upgrade to premium to try out some advanced features. These features include advanced annotation and editing features and can be subscribed for just $1 per month. Also, you can test the premium version with a free 1-week trial. Of course, you can cancel at any point during the trial without getting charged.
However, in order to sign up for the free trial, you will have to enter your credit/debit card information. Now let’s have a quick look at how both these versions are different.
| Full Page Features | Basic | Premium |
| Advanced Scroll Capture | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited Screenshots | Yes | Yes |
| Image Annotating | No | Yes |
| Image Cropping | No | Yes |
| Include URL/Browser in Screenshots | No | Yes |
| Sharing/Export | No | Yes |
| Priority Customer Support | No | Yes |
Add Full Page Screen Capture Chrome Extension: https://gofullpage.com/
Conclusion
Full Page Screen Capture is a great addition to the Chrome browser because it does most of the hard work for you, and it does so in a very user-friendly fashion. It doesn’t have any annoying pop-ups or complex features, and the whole GUI is quite intuitive and minimalistic.
Another thing worth noting is that everything you do in this application is done with a single click or special commands. What’s even better is that these commands are single letters like ‘R’ if you want to make a rectangle or ‘T’ to add text. Still, if there is anything that confuses you, the developer has added a very helpful FAQ section and a demo video everywhere it should be.
You will find that this application works great in almost every condition – whether you’re working with a simple or complex webpage. Even the price of the premium version is set very low. Simply put, Full Page Screen Capture is lightweight, intuitive, unobtrusive, and very efficient.
| Price | ★★★★★ |
| Ease of Use | ★★★★★ |
| Features | ★★★★ |
| Overall | ★★★★ |
