Create recipes from a PDF, Excel or Word file or a photo
All plans
Upload the recipe you already have and Recipok builds it with your ingredients; plus recipes from a description, bulk import and the Chefotheque.
What it is for
Almost every bakery has its recipes somewhere: a flour-stained notebook, an inherited Excel file, a supplier’s PDF or a sheet from a course. Typing them one by one into any program takes a quarter of an hour per recipe. With document reading, you upload the file and Recipok suggests the recipe already built, with its ingredients matched to your catalogue.
All you do is review, correct anything that doesn’t add up and confirm. This article explains the four ways to bring in recipes you already have: from a document, from a description, in bulk from a spreadsheet, and from the sample recipes or the Chefotheque.
Before you start
- Set up your main ingredients with their price. The more you have, the more lines Recipok will match with your catalogue instead of creating new ingredients.
- Importing from a document uses scans from your document reading quota. If your plan does not include it, Recipok tells you when you try.
- Each imported recipe counts towards your plan’s recipe limit, like any other.
- Import the semi-finished products (doughs, creams, bases) first and then the products that use them. That way you can match the base inside the cake.
Import a recipe from a document
Click Recipes › New recipe. The Create recipe or formula window opens. At the top is the Already have the recipe in a document? block.
- 1The file: PDF, XLSX, XLS, CSV, DOCX or an image, up to 10 MB.
- 2Import with AI starts the reading. It can take up to a minute and you can close the window: we let you know when it is done.
- 3From here you open manual creation and the Analyze with AI button.
Upload the file
Click Choose a file (PDF, XLSX, DOCX, CSV, image), pick the document and click Import with AI. If it is a photo, make sure it is legible: taken straight on, well lit and without cutting off the edges.
Wait for the notification
Recipok starts analysing the document. You can keep working: when it finishes, a notification tells you “We extracted the recipe… Review it and create it.”
Review the proposal
At the top you see the Recipe data (name, total weight, pieces) and the Confidence of the reading as a percentage. Below, each ingredient with its quantity and a tag: From catalog (matched to one of yours) or New (it will be created). A summary tells you how many come from the catalogue and how many will be created.
Create the recipe
Click Create recipe and then Go to the recipe. You are now in the editor: fill in the handling time, the actual weight and the selling price as in Create a recipe.
Warnings you may see in the review
| Warning | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| Scaled percentages | The document gave baker’s percentages. Recipok has scaled the quantities to a base batch: check them before creating. |
| Estimated quantities | It was a technical sheet without batch quantities. They have been deduced from the ingredient list and scaled to 1 kg of product. |
| Very long document | Only the first part has been read. Split the document. |
| It is an ingredient technical sheet | It is not a recipe. Scan it from the ingredient form to fill in allergens and nutrition. |
| It is an invoice or a delivery note | Upload it in Scan document to register the purchase. |
| We could not read the recipe | Try another file or a sharper photo. No scan has been used. |
Start from a description
If you don’t have the recipe written down and it is a new product, click I'd rather create it by hand from scratch. Type the Recipe Name and, if you like, a description (you can dictate it with the microphone). Choose the Quantity format, the desired quantity and the estimated time, and click Analyze with AI.
Recipok suggests a generic recipe cross-checked against your catalogue. Each ingredient shows where it comes from: In warehouse (you already have it), Alternative (a similar one from your catalogue) or Suggestion (new), with its degree of match. You see a Preliminary Summary with yield, estimated cost and time. Tick the ones you want and click Confirm ingredients.
It is a starting point, never your recipe. Adjust the quantities and method to what you actually do before using it for labelling or selling.
Bulk import from a spreadsheet
In Recipes › Recipes and formulas, open the three-dot menu (More actions) and click Import. Drag in a CSV, XLSX or XLS file (3 MB maximum) and click Import.
This route reads fixed columns, the same ones Recipok uses when you Export. It is the right one for reloading a Recipok export or a file prepared in that same format. For an Excel file in your own format, Import with AI recipe by recipe is usually less work. If you are coming from another tool, read Moving from Excel to Recipok.
Sample recipes and Chefotheque
- Sample recipes: in the same window, the “Start with a sample recipe” block instantly creates a recipe with its ingredients, allergens and costs. Ideal for learning the editor.
- Chefotheque (Recipes › Chefotheque): recipes published by other bakeries and brands. You can search, follow their authors and use Import recipe to copy one to your account. Some are reserved for paid plans.
Tips
- Always check the allergen card of the recipe you have created. If an ingredient was created as new, complete its sheet (price, allergens, nutrition).
- Does your recipe book run to hundreds of pages? Recipok offers data loading by its support team: ask for it before spending weeks typing.