Introduction

PagePixels is a screenshot automation tool for taking automated scheduled screenshots of websites (and parts of web pages), such as charts in your Google Sheets.

PagePixels is free to start, and this tutorial provides step-by-step instructions for automating screenshots of a Google Sheets chart on a once per day interval.

Example

Prerequisites

Before you start, you'll need:

  • A PagePixels account.
  • A Publish Chart link for your Google Sheets chart you want to screenshot.
    • For this tutorial we're using the interactive type of a published Google Sheets chart link (default). If you decide to use another type, make sure to adjust the CSS Selector (in Step 4) accordingly.

Quick start with a screenshot template

The quickest way to start capturing a Google Sheets chart is to use the screenshot template below:

Screenshot template

Take screenshots of a Google Sheets chart

Try template
→

After duplicating the template to your PagePixels account, replace the URL with your Google Sheets published chart link, and click the "Save" screenshot button.

Or if you prefer to set up the screenshot automation from scratch, step-by-step instructions are available in the next section.

How to automate taking a screenshot of a Google Sheets chart

To create a screenshot automation of a Google Sheets chart:

1

Create a screenshot

Log in to your PagePixels account, and click the "+Create Screenshot" button.

2

Set your schedule

By default, recurring screenshots are set to every 5 minutes.

For a daily screenshot, change the default frequency values from every "5" "Minutes" to every "1" "Days" using the input field and drop-down menu.

3

Add your URL

Copy and paste your Google Sheets chart link into the "Website URL to Capture" field.

4

Add CSS Selector

PagePixels "CSS Selector" field comes in handy when you want to capture only a specific element on a web page.

In this case, to get a screenshot of only your Google Sheets chart (without all extra the white space), you can use the CSS Selector:

#embed_chart
5

(Optional) Add Custom CSS

PagePixels CSS injection option is useful for customizing the style of a web page or a specific element you want to screenshot.

In this case - to add padding to the right side of your Google Sheets chart, you can use the CSS:

#embed_chart{
padding-right: 20px !important;
}
6

Increase "Time to wait" value

Because data visualizations can take a long time to load, we recommend increasing the "Time to wait" value from 1500 to 8000 (value is in milliseconds).

If the visualizations are still not fully loaded, you can increase this value further (max is 20000).

7

Save Screenshot

Click the green "Save Screenshot" button (top-right).

Your screenshot automation is officially set, and your first screenshot will be taken shortly.

What else can PagePixels do?

When you automate screenshots of your Google Sheets charts and visualizations with PagePixels, you can also:

  • Schedule screenshots by time interval, days of the week, time of day, and time zone using PagePixels' built-in scheduling system.
  • Automatically post screenshots of your Google Sheets charts to a Slack channel, a Custom Webhook address, or upload the images to your Dropbox account, with PagePixels built-in integrations.
  • Leverage no-code integration platforms Zapier and Make to take, upload, and email your Google Sheets chart screenshots to thousands of services, such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Chat.
  • Customize the style of your Google Sheets charts with PagePixels Custom CSS injection feature.
  • Perform AI analysis on your Google Sheets charts with PagePixels built-in AI visual analysis functionality (powered by OpenAI - creator of ChatGPT).
  • Use PagePixels' full-featured Screenshot API to programmatically take screenshots of your Google Sheets charts and visualizations.

Explore our features page for even more things you can do with PagePixels!

Support

Questions? Contact us anytime by email:

support-tickets@pagepixels.com

Or send us a message through our Support page.