Importing your menu

How it works#

The menu does not have to be typed in. An AI reads categories, names, descriptions, prices and option groups out of a file and builds a proposal from them.

1. 1

   Pick a file

   PDF up to 8 MB, or a photo as JPG, PNG or WebP. Pasting text works too, if the menu is available as running text.

   Dashboard, Menu, Import

2. 2

   Let it read

   The import takes a few seconds up to about a minute, depending on how big the menu is. While it runs, the dishes it recognises appear one after another.

3. 3

   Review the proposal

   The proposal is a proposal. Before you apply it, every category is there with its dishes, and all of it can be changed, reordered or dropped. In practice prices and names come out well, while descriptions and which category a dish landed in need some work.

4. 4

   Merge groups

   If the import finds the same choice of sides twenty times over, it offers to merge them into one group in the library. That is almost always worth it: afterwards you change the price of a side in one place.

5. 5

   Apply

   Only this click writes anything into your menu. Afterwards everything sits in the normal editor and can be worked on further.

6. 6

   Fix up the allergens

   The most important job after the import. What stands as a footnote on the printed menu is rarely what the labelling rules mean.

   Dashboard, Menu

How often a month#

Every run of the import costs us money, so there is a number per calendar month instead of an unlimited offer:

• Starter: 5 imports a month.
• Pro: 15 imports a month.
• Premium: 30 imports a month.

What counts as an import#

Every reading run you start. A second attempt with a better photo therefore counts as well; reviewing, changing and applying afterwards does not.

How many imports the running month has used up is shown in the dashboard above the import. The counter goes back to zero on the first of the month.

What makes a good result likely#

A PDF reads better than a photo, and a straight photo better than a skewed one. A menu in two columns works; a menu printed across a picture means rework.

When a pass gets it wrong, a second attempt with the same file is usually not what helps, but a section of it: one category as its own picture, then the next.