How to Photograph Your Menu for AI Import

When you upload your printed menu, AI reads the photo and prepares a draft. It finds categories, dish names and prices. A clear photo means fewer mistakes to fix.

Take the photo near a window or under a bright light. Avoid shadows across the page. Do not use the flash on glossy menus, because it causes glare.

Hold the phone flat above the page, not at an angle. The whole page should fill the screen.

Take one photo for each page. Do not fit two pages in one photo.

Tap the screen to focus before you take the photo. Zoom in to check the prices are easy to read.

If your designer gave you a PDF of the menu, upload that instead. It is usually the clearest option. In DashDine, a PDF can have up to 50 pages.

AI is fast, but it can still misread a price. Before you save, check:

• Every price
• Dish names in Arabic and English
• That each dish is in the right category
• Sizes and extras

In DashDine, nothing goes live until you publish. You can fix everything first.

• Prices in the wrong place. If prices sit far from dish names, check every price in the draft.
• Two languages on one line. Arabic and English on the same line are fine. Just check that each name went to the right language.
• Handwritten specials. AI reads print best. Add handwritten dishes yourself after the import.
• Very long menus. Split the photos into a few uploads, one section at a time.

Once your draft is right, add photos of your dishes. Guests choose faster when they see the food. Then publish, and test one order on your phone.

You don't need a camera or a studio. Your phone is enough:

1. Put the menu on a table near a window.
2. Turn off the flash.
3. Stand up and hold the phone above the page.
4. Make sure all four corners of the page are on the screen.
5. Tap to focus, then take the photo.
6. Zoom in on one price. If you can read it easily, the AI can too.

Repeat for each page, then upload all the photos together. For a short menu, the whole job takes about two minutes.