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Capture food photos for Photo Match

Photo Match’s first step is capture — get photos of what you have. The AI works best when it can clearly see each item, so a few simple framing rules help.

Photo Match is a Pro feature.

How to start

Take Photo / Choose From Gallery for Photo Match

  1. Open Photo Match — find it in the Options menu, the Import tab, or by tapping a “Photo Match” entry point inside a meal plan.
  2. Tap Take photo — uses your camera.
  3. Tap Choose from library — picks an existing image.

The first photo opens the multi-photo capture workflow. After each shot, the counter (“1 of 10”) increments and Forktastic offers Take another or Done.

How many photos

You can submit 1 to 10 photos in a single Photo Match session. Best practice:

  • Fridge: 3–4 photos (one of each shelf, one of the door)
  • Pantry: 2–3 photos (different sections)
  • Counter: 1 photo if there’s a discrete pile
  • Total inventory: mix of the above, up to 10

Quality > quantity. Four clear photos beat ten blurry ones.

Framing tips

The AI is robust but predictable: it works best when items are visible and identifiable.

Do:

  • Open the fridge / cabinet fully so items are in plain view
  • Pull items toward the front of the shelf so they’re not hidden behind other items
  • Photograph in good light — kitchen overhead light, or natural light through a window
  • Hold the phone steady — blurry photos limit identification

Don’t:

  • Photograph closed packages from the back (the label needs to be visible)
  • Stack so many photos that items overlap heavily
  • Photograph from extreme angles (top-down works better than acute side angles)

Edit / remove a photo before submitting

After each capture, the bottom of the screen shows a strip of thumbnails. Tap any thumbnail to:

  • Preview — view full-size
  • Retake — replace that photo with a new shot
  • Remove — delete from the batch

You don’t have to start over to fix one bad photo.

Submit for analysis

When you’re done capturing:

  1. Tap Done (or Analyze, depending on app version).
  2. Forktastic uploads the photos and runs vision + ingredient extraction.
  3. Analysis takes 20–60 seconds depending on photo count and detail.
  4. The review screen opens — see Review the extracted ingredients.

Privacy and photo handling

  • Photos are uploaded to Forktastic’s secure servers for processing.
  • After analysis, photos are retained for 24 hours then deleted. They’re not used for training or shared.
  • Extracted ingredient data stays in your account.

If you don’t want photos uploaded at all, Photo Match isn’t usable — the AI runs server-side.