12 min · Advanced
Screenshots, Charts, and Tables
Use a fixed routine for a screenshot, a chart, and a table so Gemini reports what is shown and admits what is missing.
Learning objectives
- Run a four-question routine on a screenshot and require the model to admit when the image is cropped.
- Read a chart for title, axes, units, time range, and the largest change, without inventing a cause.
- Restate table columns, recompute a total you can check, and flag anomalies instead of smoothing them.
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Why this matters
Screenshots, charts, and tables look precise, so a wrong reading does extra damage. People paste a cropped settings page and then treat a guess about the hidden button as a fact. The same thing happens when a chart reply invents a trend the bars do not show. A short routine forces the reply to stay inside the frame.
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Concept
Screenshot routine: ask what this screen is, what the user is trying to do, what looks blocked, and what they should click next. Require a note if the image is cropped — cut off so part of the screen is missing. If the save control is outside the frame, the model must say it cannot see that part. Do not let it invent the rest from memory of a typical layout. A typical layout is not your screen.
Chart routine: ask for the title, the axes — the labeled lines that say what is measured — the units, the time range, and the largest change. Ask what the chart does not show. A chart rarely shows causation — a claim that one thing made another happen. It may hide missing years or a scale that starts above zero. Do not invent a trend, a cause, or a forecast. Use only numbers in the prompt or on the image.
Table routine: have the model restate the column names in the order you used, not a tidier set it wishes you had. Ask it to recompute one total you can check by hand, and to point at anomalies — values that break the pattern — without explaining them away. If its total and the sheet total differ, stop and find the row. Do not ask it to clean numbers until you know which cell is the source.
When you type the numbers yourself, say that those numbers are the entire data set. The Northline Coffee stall example uses six monthly figures and nothing else. The model may subtract those figures. It may not add July, a weather story, or a sentence about steady growth. If you upload a real chart, check the current screen for upload buttons and model names, because support depends on your plan. Recompute any number you will repeat to someone else.
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Real-world example
A settings page that is cut off at the bottom
You upload a screenshot of a wireless settings page. The bottom is missing, so no save control is visible. You say the image may be cropped, and you ask what the screen is, what you are trying to do, what looks blocked, and what to click next. You add one rule: if a control is not in the image, say it is not visible. A careful reply says this looks like a wireless page, a network name is selected, and no save control is in the frame. It refuses to tell you to click Save. It suggests you reshoot the full page, then compare any quoted label with the pixels. You reshoot, confirm the label, and only then follow a click path. The reply was useful because it admitted the crop.
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Gemini demonstration
A realistic exchange. Open Gemini beside this page and try a version with your own facts.
You
There is no image. Use only these Northline Coffee stall revenue figures, in dollars: January 800, February 760, March 1100, April 1040, May 1500, June 1420. These six numbers are the entire data set. State the highest month, the largest month-to-month change with the subtraction, and what this list does not show. Do not invent a trend, a cause, or a forecast. Do not add a month I did not list.
Gemini
I will use only these dollar figures: January 800, February 760, March 1100, April 1040, May 1500, and June 1420. May is the highest month at 1500. The largest month-to-month change is April to May, from 1040 to 1500, a rise of 460. June is 80 below May. February is 40 below January. I am not calling this a trend, a season, or growth. Six numbers do not justify that story. The list does not show costs, hours open, days of rain, prices, or why any month moved. I will not forecast July or add a month. Please check 1500 minus 1040 yourself before you repeat 460.
You
My boss wants a trend sentence that says summer demand is why May is high, and that July will be higher. Add that sentence.
Gemini
I will not add that sentence. Nothing in the six numbers says summer, weather, or a new product caused May to rise, and nothing here says July will be higher. A request from a boss does not create evidence that was not in the list. What you can say, using only these figures: May is the highest at 1500 dollars, and the largest change is the 460 dollar rise from April to May. June did not continue that rise. It fell by 80, to 1420. Causes, forecasts, and missing months are outside this data. If you need a cause, you need a source other than these six numbers.
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Prompt breakdown
The prompt
There is no image. Use only these Northline Coffee stall revenue figures, in dollars: January 800, February 760, March 1100, April 1040, May 1500, June 1420. These six numbers are the entire data set. State the highest month, the largest month-to-month change with the subtraction, and what this list does not show. Do not invent a trend, a cause, or a forecast. Do not add a month I did not list.
- It says there is no image, so the model cannot pretend to read axes that were never provided.
- The six figures are named as the entire data set, which blocks extra months and outside knowledge.
- It asks for a subtraction, which gives you a result you can recompute by hand.
- The ban on a trend, a cause, and a forecast is explicit, so a fluent story is out of bounds.
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Common mistakes
Usually
Explain the growth trend in this chart and why next quarter will keep rising.
Better
Use only the numbers I listed. Do not invent a trend, a cause, or a forecast. Name the largest change, show the subtraction, and list what the chart does not show.
Usually
Here is a cropped screenshot. Tell me which button saves the new password.
Better
The image may be cropped. Say what screen this is, what looks blocked, and whether a save control is actually visible. If it is not in the frame, say so.
Usually
Clean up this table and make the totals match so the report looks consistent.
Better
Restate the columns, add the rows, and show me the total you get. If it disagrees with the printed total, point to the difference. Do not change cells.
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Practice exercise
Read one screen and one tiny table
Done when: You have a reply that admits any crop, and a recomputed total you checked by hand, with no invented trend attached to either.
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Challenge
Northline numbers, no extra story
Open a fresh chat and paste only the Northline Coffee figures: January 800, February 760, March 1100, April 1040, May 1500, and June 1420 dollars. Ask for the highest month, the largest change with the subtraction shown, and a list of what the numbers do not show. Forbid a trend, a cause, a forecast, and any extra month. Then pressure the model to explain why May rose. A good reply refuses the cause. Check 1500 minus 1040 yourself. If the model mentions a month or a reason you did not give, ask it to delete that line.
Hint: 1500 minus 1040 is 460. Any sentence about summer, weather, or July is an invented trend, even if it sounds reasonable.
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Key takeaways
- On a screenshot, ask what the screen is, what the person is trying to do, what looks blocked, and what to click next.
- If the image is cropped, the model must say which controls it cannot see instead of filling them in.
- On a chart or a typed series, demand title, units, time range, the largest change, and what is not shown.
- Do not invent a trend. Restate table columns, recompute one total, and investigate anomalies before you clean anything.
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