NQU Plugins
Plugin documentation

Better PDF & Screenshot Exports

Better PDF & Screenshot Exports helps you create browser-side PDFs and PNG screenshots from Bubble pages, groups, or elements. Use it when users need to download an invoice, save a page as a PDF, or capture a designed section as an image.

Demo: https://bubble-essential-plugins.bubbleapps.io/version-test/pdf-screenshot

A Bubble demo page showing a screenshot saved to Bubble storage

Quick start

  1. Install the plugin in your Bubble app.

  2. In Bubble Settings > General, enable the option to expose ID attributes on HTML elements.

  3. Add the PDF and screenshot generator element to the page. Keep it visible; it can be small.

  4. Give the page wrapper, group, or element you want to export an ID attribute, such as invoice_area.

  5. Add one of the plugin workflow actions: Create PDF from page or group, Create PDF from element, or Capture screenshot.

  6. Select the PDF and screenshot generator element in the action's Element field.

  7. Set Target page or group ID attribute or Target element ID attribute to the ID attribute you added.

  8. Choose whether the action should download the file, save it to Bubble storage, or both.

  9. When saving to Bubble, use the matching saved event to write the generated file to your database.

Element

Add the PDF and screenshot generator element to any page where you want to generate PDFs or screenshots. The element provides the exposed states and events used by the workflow actions.

PDF and screenshot generator element properties in the Bubble editor

The element has no plugin-specific visual fields. Use Bubble's normal layout controls to keep it on the page. It can be a small visible element because it is only used as the action target and state holder.

PDF and screenshot generator events in the Bubble editor

Create PDF from page or group

Use Create PDF from page or group when you want to export a page wrapper or large group as a PDF.

Create PDF from page or group action properties in the Bubble editor

Fields

  • Element: The PDF and screenshot generator element instance that should receive states and events.

  • Target page or group ID attribute: The HTML ID attribute of the page wrapper or group to export as a PDF.

  • PDF orientation: portrait or landscape. Default: portrait.

  • PDF paper size: The generated PDF paper size. Options: a4, a3, letter. Default: a4.

  • Output quality: Capture quality and file size. Options: 2, 3, 4, 5. Default: 2.

  • Output file name: The file name to use. The plugin adds .pdf if needed.

  • Save file to Bubble: Saves the PDF to Bubble storage and triggers Page or group PDF saved when the file is ready. Default: checked.

  • Download file: Downloads the PDF in the user's browser. Default: checked.

  • Top margin (mm): Top margin for the generated PDF, in millimeters. Default: 30.

  • Bottom margin (mm): Bottom margin for the generated PDF, in millimeters. Default: 30.

  • Left margin (mm): Left margin for the generated PDF, in millimeters. Default: 20.

  • Right margin (mm): Right margin for the generated PDF, in millimeters. Default: 20.

  • Capture timeout (ms): How long the browser waits for images before continuing. Default: 1500. Set 0 to wait without a timeout for large pages.

Create PDF from element

Use Create PDF from element when you want to export one element as a PDF with a specific pixel width and height.

Create PDF from element action properties in the Bubble editor

Fields

  • Element: The PDF and screenshot generator element instance that should receive states and events.

  • Target element ID attribute: The HTML ID attribute of the element to export as a PDF.

  • PDF orientation: portrait or landscape. Default: portrait.

  • PDF width (px): The generated PDF width in pixels. Match this to the target element width for predictable output.

  • PDF height (px): The generated PDF height in pixels. Match this to the target element height for predictable output.

  • Output quality: Capture quality and file size. Options: 2, 3, 4, 5. Default: 2.

  • Output file name: The file name to use. The plugin adds .pdf if needed.

  • Save file to Bubble: Saves the PDF to Bubble storage and triggers Element PDF saved when the file is ready. Default: checked.

  • Download file: Downloads the PDF in the user's browser. Default: checked.

  • Capture timeout (ms): How long the browser waits for images before continuing. Default: 1500. Set 0 to wait without a timeout for large elements.

Capture screenshot

Use Capture screenshot when you want to capture a page section or element as a PNG image.

Capture screenshot action properties in the Bubble editor

Fields

  • Element: The PDF and screenshot generator element instance that should receive states and events.

  • Target element ID attribute: The HTML ID attribute of the element to capture as a PNG image.

  • Output file name: The file name to use. The plugin adds .png if needed.

  • Output quality: Capture quality and file size. Enter a number from 2 to 5. Default: 2.

  • Save image to Bubble: Saves the PNG to Bubble storage and triggers Screenshot saved when the image is ready. Default: checked.

  • Download image: Downloads the PNG in the user's browser. Default: checked.

  • Capture timeout (ms): How long the browser waits for images before continuing. Default: 1500. Set 0 to wait without a timeout for large elements.

Clear generated outputs

Use Clear generated outputs to clear the element's saved image, saved PDFs, last error message, and last status message. This action has no fields.

States

  • Saved screenshot image: The saved PNG image returned by Capture screenshot when Save image to Bubble is enabled.

  • Saved page or group PDF: The saved PDF returned by Create PDF from page or group when Save file to Bubble is enabled.

  • Saved element PDF: The saved PDF returned by Create PDF from element when Save file to Bubble is enabled.

  • Last error message: The latest error message returned by a PDF or screenshot action.

  • Last status message: The latest progress or completion message returned by a PDF or screenshot action.

Events

  • Screenshot saved: Triggered after a screenshot has been saved to Bubble storage and Saved screenshot image is ready.

  • Page or group PDF saved: Triggered after a page or group PDF has been saved to Bubble storage and Saved page or group PDF is ready.

  • Element PDF saved: Triggered after an element PDF has been saved to Bubble storage and Saved element PDF is ready.

Example workflow

Save a screenshot to your database:

  1. Add a group to the page and give it an ID attribute, such as receipt_preview.

  2. Add the PDF and screenshot generator element to the same page.

  3. Add a button workflow and run Capture screenshot.

  4. Set Element to the PDF and screenshot generator element.

  5. Set Target element ID attribute to receipt_preview.

  6. Set Output file name to a useful value, such as receipt.

  7. Turn on Save image to Bubble.

  8. Turn off Download image if the user should not receive a local download.

  9. Add a workflow for the Screenshot saved event.

  10. In that event, create or update your database thing with the element's Saved screenshot image state.

Troubleshooting

Nothing is generated:

  • Make sure the target ID attribute exactly matches Target page or group ID attribute or Target element ID attribute.

  • Make sure the target page, group, or element is visible when the action runs.

  • Make sure the PDF and screenshot generator element itself is visible on the page.

  • Check Last error message for details.

The file is generated but the saved state is empty:

  • Turn on Save file to Bubble or Save image to Bubble.

  • Use the matching saved event before writing the file to the database.

  • Read Saved screenshot image, Saved page or group PDF, or Saved element PDF from the same plugin element that ran the action.

The PDF or image is missing content:

  • Use JPG or PNG image elements where possible.

  • Avoid relying on SVGs, icon fonts, images inside HTML elements, or images embedded inside rich text.

  • Make sure external images are public and can be loaded by the browser.

The output is cropped or the page break is not right:

  • For Create PDF from element, set PDF width (px) and PDF height (px) to match the target element.

  • For Create PDF from page or group, adjust the PDF margins and paper size.

  • For large or slow content, increase Capture timeout (ms) or set it to 0.

The page jumps to the top when the action runs:

  • The plugin scrolls to the top before capture so page and element coordinates are consistent.

Limits

  • This plugin runs in the browser, so it is web-only.

  • The target page, group, or element must exist in the page DOM and be visible when the action runs.

  • Browser capture cannot perfectly render every Bubble element or third-party embed.

  • Very large pages and multi-page PDFs may need tuning and may not produce perfect page breaks.

  • Saving to Bubble storage only happens when the save option is enabled.

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