Fix: Vibium Screenshot Comes Out Blank

A blank Vibium screenshot almost always has one of four causes: you captured before the page actually rendered, you captured an empty viewport, the page needs full_page=True, or you wrote the returned PNG bytes incorrectly. Vibium's screenshot() returns raw PNG bytes (not a file path), and it auto-waits for actionability — so the most reliable fix is to navigate with go(), wait on a real element with find(), set a sensible viewport, then capture and write the bytes in binary mode. If the page is long, pass full_page=True so you grab the whole scrolling document instead of a single white fold. Blank images are rarely a Vibium bug; they are usually a timing or output-handling mistake. Work through the checks below in order — navigation, content readiness, viewport, full-page, and byte handling — and a previously white image starts showing real content. See how to take a screenshot for the baseline pattern.

Why does my Vibium screenshot come out blank?

A blank or all-white screenshot means the capture happened, but the pixels you captured were empty. The four usual culprits are: (1) you screenshotted before content painted, (2) the viewport was tiny or unset so almost nothing was visible, (3) the content lives below the fold and you didn't use full_page=True, or (4) you mishandled the returned bytes so the file is corrupt. Vibium auto-waits for elements you interact with, but a bare screenshot() right after launch() with no navigation will faithfully capture a blank about:blank.

How do I make sure the page has rendered first?

The most common cause is capturing too early. Navigate, then anchor on a real element before you shoot:

from vibium import browser_sync as browser
 
vibe = browser.launch()
vibe.go("https://example.com")
 
# Wait on something real so the page is actually painted
vibe.find("h1").text()
 
png = vibe.screenshot()
with open("page.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(png)
 
vibe.quit()

Calling find() (and reading its text()) forces Vibium to wait for that element to be present and actionable, which guarantees the DOM has rendered before you capture. For pages that hydrate slowly, anchor on a late-loading element — a footer, a "loaded" badge, or the specific component you care about — rather than the first heading.

Why is the bottom of my page missing or white?

A plain screenshot() captures only the current viewport, so a tall page looks mostly blank below the fold. Use full_page=True to capture the entire scrolling document:

from vibium import browser_sync as browser
 
vibe = browser.launch()
vibe.go("https://example.com")
 
png = vibe.screenshot(full_page=True)
with open("full-page.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(png)
 
vibe.quit()

This is the single most common fix for "the screenshot is half empty." See how to take a full-page screenshot for the complete walkthrough.

Could a tiny or unset viewport be the problem?

Yes. If the window or viewport is very small, the captured region barely contains any content and reads as blank. Set an explicit size at launch so layout matches what you expect:

from vibium import browser_sync as browser
 
vibe = browser.launch(window_size=(1280, 800))
vibe.go("https://example.com")
 
png = vibe.screenshot()
with open("page.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(png)
 
vibe.quit()

A defined viewport also makes screenshots reproducible across machines, which matters for visual regression. This is especially important in headless runs on a server, where there is no real display to fall back on.

Am I writing the PNG bytes correctly?

screenshot() returns raw PNG bytes, not a path — Vibium deliberately hands you the data so you can stream it to a visual-diff tool, an S3 upload, or a vision model. If you don't write those bytes in binary mode, the file ends up corrupt or zero bytes and viewers show nothing:

png = vibe.screenshot()
 
# Correct: binary write of the returned bytes
with open("page.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(png)
 
# Quick sanity check — a real PNG is well over a few hundred bytes
print(len(png), "bytes")

Common mistakes: opening the file in text mode (without wb), printing the bytes instead of writing them, or assuming screenshot() already saved a file. If len(png) is a few thousand bytes or more, the capture worked and the file should open fine.

Is it a single element coming out blank?

If you're capturing one element with element.screenshot() and it's blank, the element is likely off-screen, zero-size, or not yet rendered. Anchor on it first, then capture:

from vibium import browser_sync as browser
 
vibe = browser.launch()
vibe.go("https://example.com")
 
el = vibe.find("h1")
el.text()                  # ensures it's present and actionable
png = el.screenshot()
with open("header.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(png)
 
vibe.quit()

Because Vibium waits for actionability before acting on the element, this resolves most blank-element captures. If it's still empty, the element may have zero height (collapsed container) or be hidden by CSS — inspect it with find element and confirm it's visible.

A quick checklist for blank screenshots

• Did you go() to a real URL? A bare launch() + screenshot() captures about:blank.
• Did you wait on content? Anchor with find().text() so the page has painted.
• Long page? Use screenshot(full_page=True).
• Sane viewport? Launch with window_size=(1280, 800).
• Binary write? open(path, "wb").write(png) and check len(png).

Next steps

• How to take a screenshot in Vibium
• How to take a full-page screenshot
• How to run Vibium headless on a server