GoFullPage vs. Convert: Web to PDF — Screenshots vs. Real PDFs

TL;DR

GoFullPage is a full-page screenshot tool with millions of users and a 4.9-star rating. It is excellent at what it does — capturing screenshots. But its PDF output is an image, not a real PDF. You cannot select text, click links, or search within it. If you need actual PDFs with selectable text and proper formatting, Convert: Web to PDF is the better choice.

Understanding the difference: screenshots vs. PDFs

This distinction is more important than most people realize.

A screenshot PDF is an image file saved with a .pdf extension. When you open it, it looks like a PDF. But try to select text — you cannot. Try to click a link — nothing happens. Try to search for a word — no results. It is functionally a photo of your screen wrapped in a PDF container.

A real PDF contains actual text data, formatting information, and hyperlink metadata. You can select and copy text, click links to navigate, search for words, and the file is typically smaller because text data compresses better than images.

For casual sharing or visual reference, a screenshot PDF is fine. For anything else — archiving, research, legal evidence, expense reports, reference material — you need a real PDF.

GoFullPage: what it does well

GoFullPage is one of the most popular Chrome extensions, and for good reason:

Dead-simple interface — Click the icon, wait a few seconds, and the screenshot is done. No configuration, no options to figure out.

Reliable full-page capture — It scrolls the entire page automatically and stitches the captures together into a single long image. This works consistently across most websites.

Multiple export formats — Save as PNG, JPEG, or PDF. The PNG output is genuinely useful for sharing screenshots.

Annotations (Premium) — The premium version ($1 per month) adds the ability to annotate, crop, and mark up screenshots before saving.

Massive user base — Millions of installs and a 4.9-star rating on the Chrome Web Store. It is well-maintained and regularly updated.

Where GoFullPage falls short for PDF needs

No text selection or search

The PDF is an image. When you save a research article, receipt, or report as a PDF via GoFullPage, you cannot copy a quote, search for a term, or extract any text from it later. For any use case where you need to reference the content, this is a major limitation.

No clickable links

Links in the original webpage become part of the image. URLs, email addresses, and navigation links are all just pixels. Nothing is clickable in the output.

No element removal

GoFullPage captures the entire page — ads, navigation bars, cookie banners, popups, and all. There is no way to remove unwanted elements before capturing. You get the page exactly as it appears on screen.

No article extraction

There is no mode to extract just the main content. If you want a clean version of an article without all the surrounding clutter, GoFullPage cannot do this.

No page size control

The output dimensions are determined by the page content. You cannot set the PDF to A4, Letter, or any standard paper size. The result is often an extremely long, narrow PDF that does not print well.

Large file sizes

Because the output is a full-page image, file sizes can be large — especially for long, image-heavy pages. A 10-page article that would be 200KB as a text PDF might be 5MB or more as a screenshot PDF.

Convert: Web to PDF: what it does differently

Convert: Web to PDF generates real PDFs using Chrome's DevTools Protocol. The output contains actual text, links, and formatting — not just an image.

Real text you can select and search

Every word in the PDF is selectable. You can copy quotes, search for terms, and extract text. This is essential for research, legal use, and reference material.

Clickable links preserved

Hyperlinks in the original page remain clickable in the PDF. URLs, email addresses, and navigation links work as expected.

Element removal before conversion

Click on any element — ads, banners, navigation, popups — and remove it before converting. Supports undo in case you remove something by mistake.

Article extraction mode

One-click extraction of just the main article content. Everything else (navigation, ads, sidebar, footer, comments) is stripped away automatically.

Standard page sizes

Choose from A3, A4, A5, Letter, Legal, Ledger, and Tabloid. Set margins, orientation, and scale. The output is formatted for printing or professional sharing.

Compact file sizes

Text-based PDFs are significantly smaller than image-based ones. The same article that produces a 5MB screenshot PDF might be 150KB as a real PDF.

Direct comparison

Output type:

• GoFullPage: Image (screenshot wrapped in PDF)
• Convert: Web to PDF: Real PDF (actual text data)

Text selection:

• GoFullPage: Not possible
• Convert: Web to PDF: Full text selection and copy

Search within PDF:

• GoFullPage: Not possible
• Convert: Web to PDF: Full text search

Clickable links:

• GoFullPage: No (links are pixels in the image)
• Convert: Web to PDF: Yes (all hyperlinks preserved)

Element removal:

• GoFullPage: No
• Convert: Web to PDF: Yes, click-to-remove with undo

Article extraction:

• GoFullPage: No
• Convert: Web to PDF: Yes, one-click article mode

Page size control:

• GoFullPage: No (dimensions match page content)
• Convert: Web to PDF: A3, A4, A5, Letter, Legal, Ledger, Tabloid

Typical file size (10-page article):

• GoFullPage: 3 to 10 MB (image data)
• Convert: Web to PDF: 100 to 300 KB (text data)

Works behind logins:

• GoFullPage: Yes
• Convert: Web to PDF: Yes

Cost:

• GoFullPage: Free (Premium $1/month for annotations)
• Convert: Web to PDF: Free, no paid tier

When to use GoFullPage

GoFullPage is the right tool when you need a visual screenshot, not a document:

• Design review — Capturing the visual appearance of a webpage for feedback
• Bug reports — Showing how a page looks in your browser, including layout issues
• Visual archives — Preserving exactly how a page looked at a specific moment
• Social sharing — Creating shareable images of webpage content
• Quick captures — When you need a fast screenshot and do not care about text selection

When to use Convert: Web to PDF

Convert: Web to PDF is the right tool when you need a document, not a picture:

• Research and reference — Saving articles, papers, and reference material you will search and quote later
• Receipts and invoices — Creating clean, text-selectable PDFs for expense reports
• Legal and compliance — Capturing webpages as evidence where text must be extractable
• Archiving — Creating compact, searchable archives of web content
• Reports and dashboards — Saving data-heavy pages as properly formatted documents
• Clean articles — Extracting just the article content without surrounding clutter

Can you use both?

Yes. They solve different problems and do not conflict. Install GoFullPage for screenshots and Convert: Web to PDF for real PDFs. Use whichever fits the task.

Related reading

• How to Save a Full Scrolling Webpage as a Single PDF in Chrome — a detailed walkthrough for capturing long pages
• Chrome Print to PDF vs. a Dedicated Extension: What You're Missing — how Chrome's built-in print compares to dedicated extensions
• How to Save a Webpage as PDF With Clickable Links (Not a Screenshot) — why real PDFs beat screenshot-based approaches

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I select text in a GoFullPage PDF?

GoFullPage captures a screenshot — an image of the page — and wraps it in a PDF container. The PDF file contains image data, not text data. PDF viewers cannot extract text from an image. A real PDF generator like Convert: Web to PDF writes actual text data into the PDF, which is why text is selectable.

Is GoFullPage a PDF tool?

Not exactly. GoFullPage is a screenshot tool that can export in PDF format. The PDF output is an image, not a document with real text. For true PDF conversion, use a dedicated PDF extension.

Which tool produces smaller files?

Convert: Web to PDF produces significantly smaller files because text-based PDFs compress much better than images. A 10-page article might be 150KB as a real PDF versus 5MB or more as a screenshot PDF.

Do I need to pay for either tool?

Both have fully functional free versions. GoFullPage charges $1 per month for annotation features. Convert: Web to PDF has no paid tier at all.

Bottom line

GoFullPage is a great screenshot tool — one of the best. But a screenshot is not a PDF. If you need selectable text, clickable links, searchable content, element removal, article extraction, or standard page sizes, use Convert: Web to PDF. It is free, local, and purpose-built for creating real PDFs.