Scanning Your Shelves

Achriom can identify items from photos of your shelves, but results vary depending on how readable the spines are. Here’s what to expect and when to use alternative methods.

Setting Expectations

Shelf scanning works by reading text on spines — and spine designs vary wildly across books, albums, and movies. Some are crisp and legible, others are decorative, faded, or simply hard to read (even for humans).

Scanning works best for:

• Single items or small groups (3-5 items)
• Clear, high-contrast spine text
• Standard book spines and DVD cases

Scanning struggles with:

• Full shelves of varied items
• Decorative or artistic spine designs
• Faded, worn, or vintage items
• Vinyl records with minimal spine text
• Items behind glass (reflections)

A More Reliable Alternative

If you’re looking at a shelf and want to add everything, try reading titles aloud to your librarian instead. Just open the chat and say something like:

“Add these books: The Great Gatsby, 1984, Dune, and The Catcher in the Rye”

Your librarian will look up each one and add them to your collection. This is often faster and more accurate than scanning, especially for full shelves where spine readability varies.

When Scanning Works Well

Scanning shines when you’re adding one item at a time or a small group with clearly readable spines:

1. Point your camera at the item(s)
2. Take a clear, well-lit photo
3. Review the matches Achriom identifies
4. Confirm or correct before adding

Tips for Better Results

• Good lighting — Natural light works best
• Straight angle — Photograph parallel to the shelf
• Get close — Make sure text is readable in the photo
• Fewer items — 3-5 at a time beats a whole shelf

Bottom Line

Scanning is a handy tool for quick additions, but it’s not magic. For building out your full collection, a combination of search, import from services, and telling your librarian what to add will get you there faster and with fewer misses.