Scan Recipes from Cookbooks
Love your cookbooks but want your recipes on your phone? Take a photo of any cookbook page and Pluck's AI extracts the recipe — ingredients, instructions, and all — into a digital format you can search, edit, and cook from.
iOS coming soon — join the waitlist
How Pluck solves this
Take a photo of the cookbook page
Open the cookbook to the recipe you want and snap a photo with your phone. You can photograph one page or take multiple photos for recipes that span two pages.
Pluck reads the page
Pluck's AI reads the printed text, understands the recipe layout, and extracts ingredients, instructions, cook times, and serving sizes — handling multiple columns, sidebars, and tip boxes.
Save your digital recipe
Review and save. Your cookbook recipe is now digital — searchable, editable, and accessible on your phone while you cook.
Digitizing cookbooks manually is tedious
Type out the entire recipe by hand
Transcribing a full cookbook recipe — ingredients, measurements, and multi-step instructions — takes 15-20 minutes per recipe.
Double-check every measurement
Did you type "1 tsp" or "1 tbsp"? One typo and the recipe is ruined. You re-read the page to verify everything.
Format it in a notes app or document
After typing it out, you format it so it's readable. Now you have recipes scattered across Notes, Google Docs, and random text files.
Why use Pluck?
Photo to recipe in seconds
What takes 20 minutes to type out manually, Pluck does from a single photo. Point, shoot, and save — your cookbook recipe is digitized.
Handles complex layouts
Cookbooks use multi-column layouts, sidebars, tip boxes, and ingredient substitution notes. Pluck understands recipe page layouts and extracts everything correctly.
Your whole cookbook on your phone
Digitize your favorite recipes from any cookbook and carry them all in your pocket. Search across all your cookbooks at once — something you can't do with physical books.
Frequently asked questions
How good is Pluck at reading cookbook pages?
Pluck's AI is trained to read printed recipe text, including different fonts, multi-column layouts, and cookbook-specific formatting. Clear, well-lit photos produce the best results. For older cookbooks with faded text, try photographing in good natural light.
Can I scan recipes from any cookbook?
Yes. Pluck works with any cookbook — modern or vintage, paperback or hardcover, any cuisine. As long as you can take a readable photo of the page, Pluck can extract the recipe.
What about two-page recipes?
For recipes that span two pages, take a photo of each page separately. Pluck will extract the recipe from each image. You can combine them during the review step, or photograph both pages in one wider shot.
Is scanning cookbook recipes legal?
Digitizing recipes from cookbooks you own for personal use is generally considered fair use. Pluck saves recipes to your private recipe box — you're not republishing or sharing copyrighted content. This is no different from handwriting a recipe in a notebook.
Related guides
Save Recipes from Photos & Images
Full guide to Photos & Images recipe extraction
Save Recipes from Pinterest
Stop losing Pinterest recipes in your boards. Pluck extracts the actual recipe from any Pinterest pin — ingredients, instructions, and cook times — into your recipe box.
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.
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.
Ready to save your first recipe?
Available now on Android. iOS coming soon — join the waitlist below.
iOS coming soon — join the waitlist
Want to help shape Pluck? Suggest a feature — we read every single one.