# Getting started

Install the extension and capture your first page.

## Install

Add Page Scanner from the [Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/page-scanner/oinkohacnbkapdnnhpidmoidmidlgaoj). It runs in Google Chrome and
other Chromium browsers.

## Capture a page

Open the page you want and click the Page Scanner icon in the toolbar, or press `Alt+Shift+P`.
There is no popup: the click is the scan.

The icon's badge follows the scan while it measures the page, lets it settle, captures it and
builds the PDF. When it finishes, an editor tab opens right next to the page you scanned, holding
the whole page from the top of its scroll to the bottom.

While a scan runs, Chrome shows a bar that reads "Page Scanner started debugging this browser".
That is Chrome's own notice for any extension using its debugger. It goes away when the scan
finishes, and no extension can hide it.

One scan runs at a time per tab. A second click while one is running is ignored.

## Vector or raster

The editor's toolbar says which kind of capture you have.

- **Vector** is the normal case. The PDF holds real text you can select, search and copy, and
  artwork that stays sharp at any zoom.
- **Raster** is the fallback when Chrome's debugger cannot attach to the tab, most often because
  DevTools is already open on it. The page is scrolled a screen at a time and the pieces are
  stitched together, so the PDF holds an image. Close DevTools and scan again to get a vector
  capture.

## Pages it cannot scan

Only `http`, `https` and `file` pages. Chrome does not let any extension work on `chrome://`
pages, the Chrome Web Store, other extensions' pages (the built-in PDF viewer is one), `about:`
or `view-source:`. Clicking the icon on one of them shows a short notice in the page that removes
itself after six seconds.

## What it can touch

It asks for no host permissions. It reaches a page only when you click the icon or press the
shortcut on it, or when a script or agent you paired asks it to.

A capture is kept in the extension's own storage inside your browser, and is deleted the next time
the extension starts if it is more than 12 hours old. There is no account and no server, and
nothing is uploaded. The privacy policy, linked at the top of the sidebar, has the details.

## Next

- [Crop, zoom and pan](https://docs.pagescanner.app/extension/editor) in the editor.
- [Export](https://docs.pagescanner.app/extension/export) a PDF, a PNG or a JPEG.