Getting started

Install

Add Page Scanner from the Chrome Web Store. 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 in the editor.
• Export a PDF, a PNG or a JPEG.