Snapshotting and Screenshotting

DPULSE provides multiple methods to capture and preserve target website content for analysis, documentation, and offline review.

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Overview

Method	Type	Output	Interactive
Screenshot	Visual capture	Image file	❌ No
PageCopy	Complete copy	HTML + assets	✅ Yes
Wayback Snapshot	Historical versions	Multiple HTML files	✅ Yes

Note: You will be prompted to select snapshotting mode during pre-scan configuration.

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Screenshot vs Snapshot

Feature	Screenshot	Snapshot
What it captures	Visual appearance at a moment	Full page structure and content
File format	Image (PNG/JPG)	HTML + assets
Interactive	❌ View only	✅ Navigate, click, inspect
Offline use	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Use case	Documentation, reports	Analysis, forensics

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📸 Screenshot Mode

Takes a visual capture of the domain's main page using headless browser technology.

How It Works

1. DPULSE launches a browser instance using Selenium
2. Navigates to target domain
3. Captures full-page screenshot
4. Saves image to report folder

Configuration

Important: Proper configuration is required for screenshotting to work correctly. See Configuration File for details.

Output

reports/
└── example.com_2024-01-15/
    └── screenshot.png

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📄 HTML Snapshot (Web Copy)

Saves the webpage as an HTML file, preserving structure and interactivity.

What It Captures

Element	Preserved
HTML code	✅ Yes
DOM structure	✅ Yes
Text content	✅ Yes
Links	✅ Yes
Forms	✅ Yes
Inline styles	✅ Yes

Output

reports/
└── example.com_2024-01-15/
    └── snapshot.html

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📦 PageCopy Mode

Creates a complete offline copy of the page including all assets.

What It Captures

Asset Type	Included
HTML	✅ Yes
CSS stylesheets	✅ Yes
JavaScript files	✅ Yes
Images	✅ Yes
Fonts	✅ Yes

Output

reports/
└── example.com_2024-01-15/
    └── pagecopy/
        ├── index.html
        ├── styles.css
        ├── script.js
        └── images/

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🕰️ Wayback Machine Snapshot

Retrieves historical versions of the target domain from the Internet Archive.

How It Works

1. Connects to Wayback Machine API
2. Queries for available snapshots within specified time period
3. Downloads selected historical versions
4. Saves all versions to report folder

Configuration

You specify the time period during scan setup:

Output

reports/
└── example.com_2024-01-15/
    └── wayback_snapshots/
        ├── 2023-01-15_snapshot.html
        ├── 2023-06-20_snapshot.html
        └── 2024-01-01_snapshot.html

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When to Use Each Method

Scenario	Recommended Method
Quick visual documentation	📸 Screenshot
Preserve page for analysis	📄 HTML Snapshot
Full offline copy with assets	📦 PageCopy
Track changes over time	🕰️ Wayback Snapshot
Legal/forensic evidence	📸 Screenshot + 📄 HTML Snapshot
Website no longer exists	🕰️ Wayback Snapshot

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Output Location

All captures are saved in the scan report folder:

reports/
└── example.com_2024-01-15/
    ├── report.html
    ├── screenshot.png
    ├── snapshot.html
    ├── pagecopy/
    └── wayback_snapshots/