Stop Typing Code from Screenshots (Seriously, Stop It)
As a developer, there is one thing that drives me absolutely insane: typing code from an image.
You know the drill. You're watching a YouTube tutorial, and the guy is coding at light speed. You want to try that function? Pause video. Alt-Tab to VS Code. Type a line. Alt-Tab back. Pause again. Type another line.
Or worse, a colleague sends you a screenshot of an error message on Slack. "Hey, can you fix this?" And you're staring at a wall of red text that you can't even copy-paste into Google.
It's 2026. Why are we still living like this?
Recently, I started using Eyesme Extension, and it's basically magic for lazy (efficient) developers like me. It lets me rip code straight out of images and turn it into actual, runnable text.
The Struggle is Real
- The "No Source Code" Tutorial: The YouTuber didn't link the GitHub repo. Thanks, buddy. Now I have to transcribe your 50 lines of Python manually.
- The Slack Screenshot: "Here's the error." Great, now I have to type out
NullPointerException at com.example.service...by hand just to search for it. - Documentation Screenshots: Some docs just love pasting images of config files instead of code blocks. Why? Just to hurt us?
Eyesme: My Code Snatcher
Eyesme gives me a "universal copy-paste." If I can see it on my screen, I can copy it.
And it's not just dumb OCR. It actually understands code structure. It keeps the indentation (mostly), and it can even tell me what the code does.
How I Use It to Code Faster (and Lazier)
Scenario 1: The YouTube "Steal"
Old Me: Pause. Type. Typo. Backspace. Type. Run. Syntax Error. Scream. New Me: Pause video. Cmd+Shift+X. Draw a box around the code block. The Magic: Eyesme extracts the text. I hit "Copy". Paste into my IDE. Bonus: I can ask it, "What is this function actually doing?" and it explains the logic before I even run it.
Scenario 2: The "Red Wall of Death"
Old Me: Colleague sends a screenshot of a stack trace. I squint at it, trying to find the line number, then manually type the exception message into Stack Overflow. New Me: Screenshot the screenshot (meta, I know). The Magic: I throw it at Eyesme and ask: "What's the root cause here? And how do I fix it?" Result: It parses the error, tells me "Hey, you have a null reference on line 42," and suggests a fix. I copy the fix and send it back. "Try this." I look like a genius.
Scenario 3: Learning New Frameworks
Old Me: Reading docs where they use screenshots for examples. I ignore them because I'm too lazy to type them out. New Me: Screenshot the example. "Extract this and explain the syntax." Result: I get the code to play with, and a mini-tutorial on how it works.
Advanced Moves
- Code Review from Images: Saw a snippet on Twitter/X? Screenshot it and ask Eyesme: "Is this code safe? Any vulnerabilities?" It's great for spotting bad practices.
- Steal Styles: See a cool button on a website but can't be bothered to inspect element? Screenshot it. "Give me the CSS for this." Boom.
- Error Library: Keep a folder of weird error screenshots. Use Eyesme to index them so you can search for "that weird React error" later.
The Verdict
We are coders. We automate things. That's our job.
So why are you manually transcribing text from a JPEG? Stop it. Get Eyesme Extension and save your fingers for the actual coding.
Trust me, once you start "copy-pasting" from videos, you'll never go back.