Showcasing websites in a print portfolio?
January 7, 2011 9:26 PM   Subscribe

How can I capture my blog pages as images to import into InDesign? (Tryin' to create a portfolio here...)

I am a non-designer whipping together a print portfolio in InDesign to submit as part of an application to a design program. As part of this, I'd like to include quality images a couple of websites I created in the past.

I can note the URL on the print portfolio, but it is preferable if I supply a USB key or CD with a pdf of the sites. And I need images of the site for the print portfolio regardless. The problem I am running into is converting a site into a pdf that does not do anything funky with the text or images. Specifically, I have been running into issues with pdfs screwing up the text ("Categories" becomes "C A T E" or the fonts - standard ones like Courier - are switched to Times or the like). The blogs are hosted on TypePad.

Screen shots are suboptimal as the content I'd like to capture in a single go extends beyond the frame of my browser.

If I could figure out how to save the site as XML, it looks like I could then import it into InDesign and create a pdf from there.

Design / web geniuses of MeFi, I thank you in advance for your help!
posted by pearl228 to Computers & Internet (6 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
The FireShot addon for Firefox.
posted by mhoye at 9:29 PM on January 7, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: If you're on a Mac, the Paparazzi app will screen capture the entire webpage. Really handy to have around.
posted by kerning at 9:40 PM on January 7, 2011 [1 favorite]


Windows 7 has the built-in Snipping Tool that works quite well.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 10:31 AM on January 8, 2011


Best answer: You definitely want to go the route of screen capping. Don't try making a PDF or importing XML. Like kerning said, Paparazzi is the way to go. There is likely something similar that exists for PC as well.

If not, you could always take a screen cap, scroll the page a bit, take another screen cap, etc... and then reassemble the entire thing in photoshop.
posted by teriyaki_tornado at 12:35 PM on January 8, 2011


ScreenGrab is also an extension for Firefox that will capture all of or part of a webpage.
posted by potch at 2:20 PM on January 8, 2011


Response by poster: Thank you all so much.

I should specify - I am on a mac. I have access to photoshop also.

Paparazzi is giving me fantastic images of the blogs that appear crisp in Preview, but then when I go to place them in InDesign, look horribly pixelated. I'm being dense here most likely, and will continue to play around, but if anyone has tips on how to deal with this they would be most appreciated!
posted by pearl228 at 6:03 PM on January 8, 2011


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