Quick answer: Shoot a flat, evenly-lit page, keep text sharp and upright, and (in Manual mode) select each ingredient or step column separately. Small tweaks in lighting and framing make a huge difference to scanner accuracy.

3 keys to cleaner scans

1. Flat & bright

• Lay the book or page completely flat - no curves or shadows.
• Use diffuse light (daylight by a window or soft kitchen lighting). Avoid glare from overhead bulbs.

2. Square the shot

• Hold the camera directly above the page (birds-eye view).
• Fill the frame, but keep all page edges visible - cropped corners confuse line detection.

3. Column-aware selections (Manual mode)

• If a recipe prints ingredients in two side-by-side columns, draw a separate box around each column.
• Do the same for multi-column instruction steps.

Extra pointers

• Try Automatic first. If titles or ingredients land in the wrong place, switch to Manual and redraw boxes.
• Retake blurry photos. If the text isn’t crisp, the scanner will struggle.
• Two-page recipes? Scan up to two images in Automatic mode (five in Manual); make sure each is flat and well-lit.

Follow these tips and the AI recipe scanner will capture your cookbook pages with minimal cleanup. Happy digitising! 📚✨

Updated on: 14/06/2026