How to Scan Your Bookshelf with Achriom

You’ve spent years building a physical collection. Books line your shelves. DVDs and Blu-rays fill a cabinet. Vinyl sits in crates.

Typing each title into an app? That would take hours.

Good news: Achriom’s camera scanning can add 47 books in under a minute.

Here’s how it works.

What Camera Scanning Does

Point your phone at a shelf and Achriom scans multiple spines at once. It reads titles, matches them to a database, and adds them to your library automatically.

Works for:

• Books (spines or barcodes)
• DVDs and Blu-rays
• Vinyl records (spines or labels)

Cover art, metadata, and descriptions are added automatically. You review the results and confirm.

How to Scan

Step 1: Open Camera Scan

1. Open the Achriom app on your phone
2. Tap Add in the bottom navigation
3. Select Camera Scan
4. Grant camera permissions if prompted

Step 2: Position Your Camera

• Books: Point at spines on a shelf
• DVDs/Blu-rays: Point at spines in a cabinet or stack
• Vinyl: Point at spines in a crate or records standing upright

Tips for best results:

• Good lighting (natural light works best)
• Spines visible and readable
• Camera held steady
• 6-12 inches from the shelf

You don’t need to frame one item at a time. Achriom scans everything visible.

Step 3: Tap to Scan

Tap the camera button. Achriom captures the image and processes it.

You’ll see a loading screen while it:

1. Detects text on spines
2. Identifies titles
3. Matches them to the database
4. Pulls in metadata

This takes 5-10 seconds for most scans.

Step 4: Review Results

Achriom shows detected items with cover art and details.

For each item:

• ✅ Correct match: Tap to confirm
• ⚠️ Wrong match: Tap to search manually
• ❌ Missed item: Add it manually later

You can select all and confirm at once if everything looks right.

Step 5: Add to Library

Tap Add Selected. Items appear in your library immediately.

Tips for Better Scans

Lighting matters Natural light from a window works best. Overhead lighting is fine. Avoid harsh shadows or glare.

Clean spines Dust or angled shelves can obscure text. A quick wipe improves recognition.

Multiple passes Don’t try to scan your entire bookshelf in one shot. Do one shelf at a time. Review each batch before moving to the next.

Batch edit after Once items are in your library, you can add ratings, statuses, and notes in bulk. Scan first, organize later.

Use barcode mode for stubborn items If spine detection struggles, switch to barcode mode (option in camera settings). Scan one barcode at a time for precise results.

What Gets Added

For each scanned item, Achriom adds:

Field	Source
Title	Detected from spine
Creator (author, director, artist)	Database match
Cover art	Database match
Description	Database match
Genre / tags	Database match
Release date	Database match

You can edit any field after adding. Click the item in your library and update details.

Common Issues

“It didn’t detect anything” Check lighting and try again. Make sure text is visible and readable from your angle.

“It detected the wrong item” Titles with common words (e.g., “The River”) may match multiple items. Review results and select the correct one manually.

“Some items were missed” This happens with worn spines or unusual fonts. Add missed items manually via search.

“Scanning feels slow” Processing time increases with more items in frame. Scan smaller sections (one shelf instead of three) for faster results.

“Can I scan books lying flat?” Barcode mode works for flat books. Point at the barcode and scan one at a time.

After Scanning

Once items are in your library, you can:

• Rate them: Mark favorites with 5 stars
• Add statuses: Mark as “Finished” or “Want to Re-read”
• Write notes: Add your thoughts or memories
• Talk to the librarian: Ask “What patterns do you notice in my collection?”

Camera scanning is the fastest way to get your collection into Achriom. From there, the AI librarian can see the full picture.

Other Ways to Add Items

Camera scanning is fast, but not always necessary. You can also:

• Search manually: Type a title and add one at a time
• Import from services: Upload Goodreads or Letterboxd exports
• CSV import: Upload a custom list

Use whichever method fits your situation.

→ Complete Guide to Using Achriom

Time Savings

Manual entry: ~20 seconds per item Camera scanning: ~1 second per item (including review time)

For a 100-book collection:

• Manual: 33 minutes
• Camera scan: ~5 minutes

For a 500-book collection:

• Manual: 2 hours 45 minutes
• Camera scan: ~20 minutes

The larger your collection, the more time camera scanning saves.

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Ready to catalog your shelves? Open Achriom and scan your first shelf.