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InVintory Help

How to add wines by scanning a label

Photograph a wine label and InVintory reads the label, finds the wine in our database, and drops you onto a form where you set the quantity and the storage. Scanning is the fastest way to add a bottle.

It reads the text on the label, not a barcode — so the front or the back both work. The line under the viewfinder says so: Scan front or back of label or InVintory barcode. Back labels often carry the importer and the appellation, which is exactly what pins down an ambiguous wine.

Where the camera lives

Section titled “Where the camera lives”
Device What to tap
iPhone The camera button in the tab bar — or the camera icon inside Search all wines on Home
iPad The camera icon inside the Search all wines field at the top of the screen
Android The camera button beside the tab bar

You can also start a scan from inside a saved list, a storage (its Add Bottles search), a cellar section or the Add bottles screen — the bottle then lands in whichever of those you started from.

Take the photo

Section titled “Take the photo”
  1. Frame the label inside the rectangle. Tap anywhere on the frame to focus.
  2. In low light, tap the bolt icon at the top right for the torch. The icon beside it flips to the front camera.
  3. Tap the large white circle to capture — or the photo icon at the bottom left to use a picture you already took.
Camera button → capture → confirm the wine → Confirm

On iPhone and Android, Single above the capture button is the one-bottle scan described here. Multiple photographs several bottles in a row and adds them all at once, and on iPhone Menu reads a restaurant wine list.

What you see while it reads the label

Section titled “What you see while it reads the label”
On screen What to do
Reading label… then Searching database… Wait — it takes a few seconds. While this runs the only way back is Cancel, which returns you to the camera
Match found! We are confident, so you go straight to the wine. Check it is right and carry on
Choose label that matches your wine Several wines fit. Your photo sits above the candidates — tap the one that matches your bottle
Not the wine you scanned? Tap View other matches for the runners-up, or Search to find it by name yourself
No matches found Tap Retake for a cleaner photo, or the Search Wine card to look it up by name

Fill in the bottle

Section titled “Fill in the bottle”

The Add To Collection form opens next. Nothing here is compulsory except the quantity, and most of it is already filled in.

  • Quantity — the − and + buttons, or the quick-add row: 1, 3, 6, 12, 24.
  • Bottle info — the vintage is filled in if the label showed a year, so check it and change it if the label was a different one. Size defaults to a standard bottle.
  • Storage info — pre-filled with the storage you last added to, and it remembers that between app launches. Below it is a free-text spot for a shelf or rack note.
  • Purchase details, Purchased or received from, Note and Tags — all optional, all editable later.

Tap Confirm and you land on Added to collection, with the gold Scan again button to go straight back to the camera for the next bottle. Done is at the top right.

Scanning a restaurant wine list is a different thing

Section titled “Scanning a restaurant wine list is a different thing”

Photographing a restaurant’s wine list does not add bottles. On iPhone, tap Menu above the capture button and photograph each page: every wine on the list shows its value and scores on the photo, and Vincent can pick from it. On iPad, open a Vincent chat, tap +, then Scan a Wine List.

If the camera does not open

Section titled “If the camera does not open”

On iPhone and iPad, the scanner tells you why:

Message What to do
Camera Permission Required You turned camera access off for InVintory. Tap Open Permissions and switch Camera back on
Camera Restricted The camera is blocked for the whole device, so the switch in InVintory’s settings changes nothing. Check Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Allowed Apps & Features, or ask whoever manages the device

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”