I previously wrote about using Gemini to build little ‘utility apps.’ But you don't need to be building an app or website to get value from the Canvas tool. It can also help bring your lengthy documents to life in a new way.
If you’ve got (or have asked Gemini to create) a detailed plan, strategy document, or perhaps even just a project overview, it’s likely too long to quickly skim over. With one quick prompt, you can visualise it in a whole new way.
How to create visual versions of your documents
This will work with pretty much any document you have, but I recommend downloading it as a PDF. In my example, it’s a long strategy document.
Go to gemini.google.com to start a new chat
Click the ‘Tools’ button
Choose ‘Canvas’
Click the + button
Choose ‘Upload files’ and select the PDF
Write and submit a prompt like “Build an interactive dashboard version of this document in a single HTML file.”
Check out the preview (if there are any issues, click ‘Fix error’ to have Gemini diagnose and update it)
You can view this completed example here.
Share it with colleagues
This takes way more steps than it should, but you can share your creation by embedding it in a Google Site (it’s easier than it might sound).
From the preview in Gemini, click ‘Share’ and then ‘Copy contents’
Create a new Google Site by going to sites.new
Double click in the white area and choose ‘Embed’
Choose ‘Embed code’ and paste (ctrl+v) into the box
Click insert, then resize the app as required
[Optional] Make any edits to the site (e.g. change the title, add pages, etc)
Click ‘Publish’ (on the top right), choose a web address and click ‘Publish’
Click the arrow next to ‘Publish’ and choose ‘View published site’ to see it and share the web address with others
Take it further and customise the result
What you have is probably good on its own, but you could follow up with Gemini by asking for changes and additions. For example, you could ask questions like:
"Change the colour scheme to match [company’s] branding"
"Add a filter button to toggle between risk levels"
“Change the chart type from [X] to [Y]”
“Include a map to show team locations”
Prefer to watch and follow along?
Here’s my walkthrough of this example.
If you don’t have a document to hand, you can copy my example here here. (Don’t forget to download it as a PDF.)
I’ll be back in your inbox next week.
Dean
