Your first collection

Starting

Tap + on the Collections screen to start something new, or the + in the corner of a collection to add to it. You can also start from outside the app - see Ways to use Catchall.

Then choose where the photos come from:

• Take Photo - Catchall's own camera. Take as many shots as you like, then tap Done. While you aim, a label at the bottom of the viewfinder counts the items Catchall can see in frame.
• Choose Photos - pick from your photo library.
• Import Files - images from the Files app, or a PDF. Each PDF page becomes a photo. Catchall currently imports the first five pages of a PDF, and tells you if it had to leave some out.

Once you have some photos, Add Photos in the top corner lets you add more from any of the three - you can mix camera shots and library photos in one go.

How many photos at once

Catchall reads every photo in a batch together, in one pass. That's what lets it notice that ten photos are all wine labels and suggest fields that fit all of them - but it also means there's a limit to how much it can take in at once.

Three or four photos at a time is a good rule. If a batch is too big, Catchall will say so; go back, choose fewer, and add the rest to the same collection afterwards. A photo that's very dense with text - a full menu, a page of small print - can go over the limit on its own. Photograph it in parts, a section or a column at a time, and add each part to the same collection.

Where the records go

Below your photos are two choices:

• Create Collection starts a new one. You'll be asked for a name, and the name matters: it tells Catchall what to look for. "Wine List" gets you vintages and prices; "Receipts" gets you totals and dates.
• Add to Existing Collection lists the collections you've added to most recently, with Search… for the rest. The new records use that collection's fields, so you skip straight to reviewing them.

If you started from inside a collection, there's just one button - Add to followed by its name.

Not ready to decide?

If you've taken the photos but don't want to choose a collection yet - or you have no connection - open More (the ⋯ button) and tap Save for Later. The photos wait in your Inbox until you come back to them. Nothing is read until you do.

Before you save: the steps in between

• Checking the outlines - tap a photo to see and change what Catchall found in it.
• Fields and roles - for a new collection, the fields Catchall suggests.
• Reviewing before you save - the records themselves.

To abandon a capture, tap Cancel. If you've already picked photos, Catchall asks first.