I hate screenshots of text

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Technical workarounds (OCR, LLMs, tools)

  • Many say “this is a solved problem”: they OCR screenshots via LLMs or built‑in tools (macOS/iOS Live Text, Windows Snipping Tool, PowerToys, OneNote, Shottr, third‑party OCR screenshot tools, etc.).
  • Some routinely pipeline screenshots → OCR → clipboard and find it fast enough that screenshots are no longer a big burden.
  • Others see using an LLM just to read text as wasteful compute and a workaround for bad UX, not a real fix.

Core complaints about screenshots of text

  • Lack of context: people crop to a single error line or tiny code snippet, omitting logs, file path, URL, and surrounding code; this is framed as a “how to ask for help” failure more than a format problem.
  • Unsearchable: logs and code in images don’t show up in Slack/GitHub/Teams search, making later debugging and knowledge reuse much harder.
  • Hard to copy: error codes, hashes, URLs, env files, stack traces and hex addresses are painful to retype from an image.
  • Accessibility: screenshots ignore user font size, dark mode, contrast, dyslexia needs, and screen readers.
  • Mobile: many find pinch‑zooming code screenshots on a phone worse than reading wrapped text.

Arguments in favor of screenshots

  • Preserve exact appearance: no line wrapping, indentation intact, monospace alignment, syntax highlighting, custom fonts/colors, and app‑specific color‑coded logs.
  • Avoid client mangling: some chat/email tools wrap, reformat, or strip code formatting; images bypass that.
  • Evidence & context: screenshots capture “what the user actually saw” at that moment and are robust even if source content changes or links rot.
  • Fast & universal: on heterogeneous apps/platforms, “hit screenshot and send” is the lowest‑friction, works everywhere behavior.

Compromises and best‑practice suggestions

  • Common proposed norm: send both a screenshot (for visual context) and text or a link (for search/copy).
  • Several advocate explicit help‑request etiquette: provide links, full logs, minimal reproducible examples, and avoid screenshots of pure text.
  • Some emphasize simply asking colleagues: “please send text / link instead” or “need context,” though there’s debate on tone and politeness.

Broader observations

  • Screenshots are seen as a symptom of weak text tooling in apps (poor code blocks, lack of horizontal scroll) and of mobile‑first, file‑averse user habits.
  • A few suggest richer “screenshot‑like” formats (vector/RTF‑style images with selectable text and metadata) as a long‑term solution.