Turnitin is known for its ability to detect plagiarism in written work, but many wonder about its effectiveness with visual content like screenshots and images. As assignments include more multimedia, it’s important to understand Turnitin’s capabilities. Thus, the question “Can Turnitin detect images and screenshots ?” is increasingly relevant for students and teachers. The answer is no. Turnitin cannot detect screenshots or images. This article explains why.
Currently, Turnitin cannot detect text within screenshots or images, as it only focuses on analyzing text-based content. If you submit a paper containing screenshots of text, Turnitin will not be able to identify the text in those images. However, it is important to cite any sources you use properly.
“A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS: Insert an image of the text so it looks, for example, like a 5-page essay.
Turnitin’s Response: Our algorithm detects paper and word length. And will flag such a paper.”
Note: Turnitin cannot read text in images, but it can flag submissions with many images as suspicious. This may happen if it looks like someone is trying to avoid the text analysis.
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Turnitin detects plagiarism by comparing submitted documents against a vast database of internet data, academic articles, books, websites, and previously submitted papers.
Its algorithms analyze the assignment to identify similarities that may indicate plagiarism. After the analysis, Turnitin generates a report highlighting matching words and showing the percentage of the document that aligns with other sources.
Importantly, Turnitin does not determine whether work is plagiarized; this responsibility lies with the teacher or designated authority. Turnitin serves as a useful technological tool in this process.
Turnitin is a fantastic tool for educators or relevant fields in academics. However, it is not a universal key that can unlock any door in the world. Turnitin’s scope is only checking text.
| What Turnitin can scans | What Turnitin cannot scans |
| ✅Microsoft Word (.doc / .docx)
✅Microsoft Excel (.xls and .xlsx) ✅OpenOffice Text (.odt) ✅Google Docs via Google Drive™ ✅Corel WordPerfect® (.wpd) ✅PostScript (.ps/.eps) ✅Portable Document Format (.PDF) ✅HTML ✅Rich text format (.rtf) ✅Plain text (.txt) ✅Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp and hwpx) ✅Microsoft PowerPoint® (.pptx, .ppt, .ppsx, and .pps) |
❌Microsoft® Works (.wps) file types.
❌Apple Pages file types. ❌OpenOffice Text (.odt) created and downloaded from Google Docs ❌Spreadsheets created outside of Microsoft Excel (i.e. .ods). ❌PDF files of images ❌Microsoft Office 365 files created with Microsoft Online / Microsoft OneDrive ❌Encrypted, Password Protected and Read-Only files ❌Odt files created and downloaded from Google Docs online |
Note: If your word processor is unsupported or there’s a file issue, save your file as TXT or RTF to upload to Turnitin.
Turnitin’s scope is still large enough to help users find similarities in text papers. In the future, Turnitin might add a visual checking function.
In academic contexts, some actions, such as plagiarism, cheating, and copyright infringement, are considered to violate academic integrity. Moreover, those cheating actions are wrong and unethical.
If you are a student, you might receive a lower grade or a failing grade as a punishment. If you are a creator, your value will be affected as a penalty. That is a consequence that no one wants to have.
Maintaining the value of original materials, creations, and credibility indicates academic integrity. Not only creators and students, but also all workers should respect original works, and avoid copying or plagiarism.
Maybe You Are Interested: What Percentage Of Plagiarism Is Acceptable? 5 Tips To Reduce
Plagiarism is one of the crucial violations of academic integrity. No one is happy when reading the copied content. So, to improve learning and research experiences, here are some recommendations to help you avoid plagiarism.
Turnitin cannot detect screenshots and images, excluding text. Although Turnitin can identify similarities, it doesn’t conclude whether the submission is plagiarism or not. This is in charge of the teacher or relevant person. Turnitin checks text, unable to determine visual documents. This program can’t see words inside visual material. However, Turnitin can mark the written paper, which might flag it if it contains many unnecessary pictures.
Cheating is not encouraged in the academic community or anywhere in the world.
No. Turnitin cannot detect Tables and graphs, including text within tables or graphs. Turnitin is only a text checker tool.
Yes. Turnitin will scan all texts, which can be edited in slides. Turnitin cannot identify text in images or screenshots inserted in PowerPoint. Turnitin is only used for checking text.
