Photograph recipes: digitise cookbooks and Grandma’s recipe cards

Photograph recipes from cookbooks, magazines or Grandma’s recipe cards: the app reads ingredients and method, you check and save. Free to start.

Snap a cookbook page or recipe card – the app reads ingredients and method, you check and save.

At a glance

• Up to 3 photos per recipe – for recipes that run over two pages
• The app reads title, ingredients and method from the photo
• Printed text works best, handwriting if it’s easy to read
• Check and correct the preview before you save
• Nutrition is estimated from the ingredients
• Keep family recipes in a collection and share it by link

How it works

1. Take the photo – Good light, straight from above, the whole page.
2. Upload up to 3 – Ingredients on one page, method on the other? Both.
3. Check and save – Look at amounts, times and temperatures first.

Up to 3 photos. One recipe.

• Ingredients on one page, method on the other? Upload both
• The app puts them together into one recipe
• Printed text works best, handwriting if it’s easy to read

And for the Christmas baking?

• Next to Grandma’s classics: cookies sweetened with honey, dates and more
• No refined sugar
• Save your favourites to a collection

Christmas cookies with no refined sugar

Good to know: the app reads the text from your photo. Always check the preview before saving – especially amounts, times and temperatures.

How to photograph a recipe

1. Good light: daylight, no flash, no shadow on the page.
2. The whole page in the picture: straight from above, with all ingredients and steps.
3. Upload and check: up to 3 photos, then check the preview and save.

What works well – and what doesn’t

• Cookbooks and magazines: printed text works best.
• Handwritten recipe cards: this can work if the writing is easy to read. Check the preview especially carefully.
• Faded or very curly handwriting: here the app is more likely to misread words or amounts. Correct them in the preview.
• Crooked, dark or cut-off photos: what isn’t in the picture, the app can’t read. Better take the photo again.

Old-fashioned amounts

Old recipes often say “some”, “a splash” or “enough for one tray”. The app turns vague amounts into fixed units, such as “1 tbsp” instead of “a splash”. Look at these places in the preview – maybe more was meant.

Old recipes hardly ever list nutrition. The app estimates it from the ingredients. That’s a guide, not a lab value.

Keep Grandma’s cookie recipes together

Before Christmas the old recipe cards and baking notebooks come out of the drawer again. Photograph each recipe once and make a collection, such as “Grandma’s cookies”. Share the collection with the family by link – then nobody has to copy the card by hand again.

Recipe from the web instead of a book?

For food blogs, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube you don’t need a photo – the link is enough.

Save recipes from Instagram and websites

Frequently asked questions

Can I digitise handwritten recipes?

Yes, if the writing is easy to read. With faded or very curly handwriting the app can misread words or amounts. So check the preview especially carefully and correct it before you save.

What if a recipe runs over several pages?

Upload up to 3 photos at once, such as the ingredients from one page and the method from the other. The app puts them together into one recipe.

Is photographing recipes free?

Yes, 3 imports a week are free, with no banner ads. With Premium you import with no limit.

Do photographed recipes get nutrition too?

Yes. If the recipe doesn’t list any, the nutrition is estimated from the ingredients. That’s a guide, not a lab value.

Can I share family recipes with others?

Yes. Make a collection in Saved, such as “Grandma’s cookies”, and share it with your family by link.

SmarTasty on the App Store – or use it right in your browser: the SmarTasty app.