Images and pictures in Excel

DataMind Oda in Excel works with images in two ways: you attach an image to a message, such as a screenshot of a report or a photo of a printed table, and Oda looks at pictures Excel draws of your charts, ranges and shapes, for example to check how a chart it made looks. Both work only with a model that reads images. For other files, see Attach files in Excel.

Which models read images

• Oda in Excel answers with the model your DataMind server marks as its default for Oda. Images reach that model only when it reads images; your administrator decides which models your DataMind server offers.
• The pane checks this as it opens, and again before your next message if the check did not work. With a model that reads text only, the pane does not offer the step that takes pictures, so Oda works from the values, formulas and settings it reads instead.
• Pictures in Oda's answers that come from the web are never loaded; each shows as a link. See Oda in Excel.

Attach an image

1. Click Attach files at the bottom of the message box, drag the image onto the pane, or paste it into the message box.
2. The image gets a chip at the top of the message box, with a small preview, then goes with your message.

• The pane takes PNG and JPEG images of up to 20 MB, and up to 10 files in one message.
• Before it stores an image, the pane turns it upright as your camera recorded it, removes its metadata and scales it down to at most 2,048 pixels on its long edge. A small image is never enlarged.
• Images stay on this computer with the chat, in the pane's own storage, and count towards the space the pane keeps for files; see Where your files are kept.
• With a model that reads text only, a line under the chips names the image and warns The current model cannot see images, so this image is not sent. The image is neither stored nor sent, and Oda is told that you attached one.
• When the pane could not check the model, it does not send images either, and the chat shows Whether the current model can see images could not be checked, so the attached images were not sent. Attach them again to try once more.

Images can be attached also where the pane cannot read other files; see When the pane cannot read files.

Oda looks at your workbook

With a model that reads images, Oda can ask Excel for a picture of:

• a chart: Excel draws it 1,280 pixels on its long edge, in the chart's own proportions. Oda can also look at a chart right after it adds or changes one; if Excel cannot draw the picture, the change to the chart still stands.
• a range: up to 50 rows by 30 columns, for example to check a layout or a format. Excel for Mac does not draw pictures of ranges, so there Oda looks at charts and shapes only.
• a shape or a picture on a sheet, by its name.

The step row reads Looking at a picture of the workbook and the chart, range or shape, then the size, such as A 1280 × 720 picture. Taking a picture changes nothing in the workbook, so it never asks for approval.

• One reply takes up to 5 pictures, counting those Oda's Office.js code takes; see Office.js code in Excel.
• A picture Excel returns may be up to 4 MB; the pane then scales it as it scales attached images.
• Pictures are kept with the chat in the pane's storage, like attached images, and only the model answering the chat receives them.

Questions, answered

Which model do I need for Oda to see images?

A model that reads images. Oda in Excel uses the model your DataMind server marks as its default for Oda; ask your administrator which models your server offers. With a text-only model, Oda works from the values and settings it reads.

The message box says the current model cannot see images. What now?

The model Oda uses reads text only, so the image is not sent. Describe what the image shows in your message, or paste its numbers into the workbook, or ask your administrator about a model that reads images.

Can Oda see my chart?

Yes, with a model that reads images: Oda asks Excel for a picture of the chart and looks at it. The step row reads Looking at a picture of the workbook. With a text-only model, Oda reads the chart's settings and data instead.

Why does Oda not look at a picture of my cells on a Mac?

Excel for Mac does not draw pictures of ranges, so Oda offers pictures of charts and shapes only there. It still reads the cells, their values and their formats.

How many pictures can Oda take?

Up to 5 in one reply, and a range picture covers up to 50 rows by 30 columns. Ask again in your next message to look at more.

Are my images sent anywhere?

An image you attach goes to the model with your message, through your DataMind server, when the model reads images. The image itself stays in the pane's storage on this computer with the chat.

What does "Whether the current model can see images could not be checked" mean?

The pane could not reach your DataMind server to learn whether the model reads images, so it did not send them. Attach the images again and send your message; the pane checks again.

Does Oda shrink my images?

Yes, when they are large: the pane scales an image to at most 2,048 pixels on its long edge and removes its metadata before it stores the image. Smaller images keep their size.