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
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.
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.
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! 📚✨