Any Photo. A Complete Recipe.
Snap a photo of a recipe card, cookbook page, or handwritten recipe and Pluck extracts it. Or photograph a finished dish - Pluck identifies it and generates a best-guess recipe.
How it works
Take or upload a photo
Photograph a recipe card, cookbook page, handwritten recipe - or just a plate of food you want to recreate. Or choose an existing photo from your library.
AI vision analyzes the image
Pluck's AI determines what it's looking at. Recipe text? It reads and extracts it. A photo of a dish? It identifies the food and generates a complete best-guess recipe.
Review and save
Check the extracted or generated recipe, make any edits, and save it. Food-photo recipes include a confidence score so you know it's an AI best guess.
The manual way to digitize recipe cards
Take a photo and try to read it later from your camera roll
Photos of recipes are unsearchable and get lost among hundreds of other photos
Type out the entire recipe by hand into a notes or recipe app
Transcribing a full recipe takes 10–15 minutes and you'll make typos
Use a generic OCR scanner to extract the text
OCR dumps raw text with no structure - you still have to separate ingredients from instructions manually
With Pluck, snap a photo and get a structured recipe with ingredients, instructions, and metadata - even from handwritten notes.
Why use Pluck for Photos & Images?
Digitize family recipes
Turn handwritten recipe cards from grandma into searchable digital recipes. Preserve family recipes in your personal recipe box.
Cookbook to app
Love a recipe from a physical cookbook? Snap a photo and Pluck extracts it so you can access it on your phone while cooking.
AI vision, not just OCR
Pluck doesn't just read text - it understands recipe structure. It identifies ingredients, instructions, and metadata even from messy handwriting.
Photo of a dish? Get a recipe.
See a beautiful plate at a restaurant or a friend's dinner? Snap a photo and Pluck identifies the dish, then generates a complete recipe with realistic ingredients and step-by-step instructions.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with handwritten recipes?
Yes. Pluck's AI vision can read most handwritten recipes. Legibility matters - clear handwriting works best. You'll see a confidence score so you know when to double-check.
What image formats are supported?
Pluck accepts JPEG, PNG, and HEIF photos. You can take a photo directly in the app or upload from your photo library.
Can I scan multiple pages?
Currently, Pluck processes one image at a time. For multi-page recipes, take separate photos and create the recipe from the most complete page, then edit to add remaining details.
Can I get a recipe from a photo of food - not a recipe card?
Yes. If you upload a photo of a finished dish, Pluck identifies what it is and generates a best-guess recipe with realistic ingredients and instructions. The recipe is labeled as a best guess with a confidence score, so you know to taste-test and adjust.
How does this compare to a recipe scanner?
Traditional recipe scanners use OCR (optical character recognition) which just reads text. Pluck's AI understands recipe structure - it knows the difference between an ingredient and an instruction. And unlike any scanner, Pluck can generate a recipe from a photo of the finished dish alone.
Other ways to save Photos & Images recipes
Generic OCR apps (Google Lens, etc.)
Use optical character recognition to extract raw text from an image.
Extracts text but doesn't understand recipe structure - you get a text blob, not a usable recipe.
Manual transcription
Type out the recipe by hand into a recipe app or notes app.
Extremely time-consuming, especially for long recipes or hard-to-read handwriting.
Photo storage (Google Photos, iCloud)
Keep photos of recipes in a dedicated album in your photo library.
No recipe extraction - you still have to zoom and scroll through photos while cooking.
Want the best of all worlds? See how Pluck works.
Also works with...
Detailed guides
Save Recipes from WhatsApp
Stop losing recipes shared in WhatsApp chats. Pluck extracts recipes from forwarded images, photos, and messages into your recipe box with proper ingredients and steps.
Scan Recipes from Cookbooks
Digitize cookbook recipes by taking a photo. Pluck's AI reads the page, extracts ingredients and instructions, and saves a searchable digital recipe to your recipe box.
Digitize Handwritten Recipes
Turn handwritten recipe cards into digital recipes. Pluck's AI reads handwriting - from grandma's cursive to your own scrawl - and saves structured recipes to your recipe box.
Explore more
Ready to save your first recipe?
Available on iOS and Android. Download Pluck free today.
Try our free web recipe extractor - no app needed.
Want to help shape Pluck? Suggest a feature - we read every single one.