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Scan a supplier lot label

Photograph a supplier's lot label from a saved purchase. FourFoxes reads the lot number and dates, you check them on the review screen, and Save lot details writes them onto the purchase line. Values already on the line are kept, and differences are highlighted.

Photograph a supplier's lot label and FourFoxes reads the lot number, expiration date, and manufacture date for you. You check them on a review screen and save them onto one line of an ingredient purchase. Nothing is written to the purchase until you click Save lot details.

Before you start

  • Record the purchase first, with at least one line. A lot label is saved onto a line, so Scan lot label does not appear on a purchase with no lines.
  • Members, Admins, and Owners can scan lot labels. Production Team users cannot open purchases or scanning. Scanning is turned off in the sample account.
  • Each lot label scan counts toward your plan's monthly scans: 3 on Free, 20 on Maker, and unlimited on Producer. Lot labels and invoices share the same allowance.

Start a scan

Each of these opens the same Scan lot label page:

  • On a purchase, click Scan lot label at the top.
  • On a purchase, click Add lot in the Lot # column of a line that has no lot number. The scan starts on that line.
  • While editing a purchase, click Scan lot label under a saved line's Supplier Lot #.
  • On the Ingredient Purchases list, click the yellow badge in the # Items column, for example 2 missing lots.

Scan and review the label

  1. Under Lot label photo, take or choose one photo of the label. JPEG, PNG, WebP, and iPhone HEIC photos work. Fill the frame with the label, flat and in good light.
  2. Click Analyze lot label. The page shows Analyzing lot label... and opens Review lot label when it is done.
  3. Check the Purchase line. FourFoxes picks the line whose ingredient matches the product name on the label, or else the line you started from. Pick another line if it is wrong.
  4. Check the Lot / batch number against the photo. If the label had more than one code, the others are listed under Other codes read. Tap one to put it in the field.
  5. Check the Expiration date and Manufacture date, and any field highlighted in yellow (see below). Click the photo to open it full size.
  6. Click Save lot details. You go back to the purchase and see Lot details saved.
Review lot label screen The Review lot label screen with the label photo on the left and, on the right, the Purchase line, a highlighted Lot / batch number that differs from the scan with a Use scanned link, chips under Other codes read, the expiration and manufacture dates, and the Save lot details button. Review lot label Valley Pepper Supply · Oct. 20, 2026 1 field differs from the scan — check the highlighted values before saving. Lot label photo HABANERO MASH Net wt 25 lb LOT L2410-03 PO 24-1093 MFG 2026-10-14 BEST BY 2027-04-30 P8812 Open full size Purchase line Habanero Mash Lot details save to this line. 3 Lot / batch number L2410-3 ! Scanned: L2410-03 Use scanned 5 Other codes read: 24-1093 P8812 4 Expiration date 04/30/2027 Matches scan Manufacture date 10/14/2026 ✓ Save lot details Saves the lot number and dates onto the selected line. Back to purchase 6
The line's saved lot number wins. The scanned code shows underneath, with Use scanned to take it instead.

When the line already has values

What is already saved on the line wins. A field is filled from the scan only when the line has nothing in it. If the line has a value and the scan read something different, FourFoxes does not overwrite it:

  • The field is highlighted, and the scanned value shows under it as Scanned: followed by what was read.
  • A banner at the top says how many fields differ from the scan.
  • Click Use scanned to replace your value with the scanned one, or leave it to keep yours.
  • A field that agrees with the scan shows Matches scan.

When you change the Purchase line, the fields reload with that line's values before you save. Whatever is in the three fields when you click Save lot details is what the line gets, so a field you empty is cleared on the line.

If the scan reads nothing useful

  • No lot number could be read from this photo: type the lot number from the label, or click Retake photo. Any dates the scan did read are still filled in.
  • A date the scan could not make sense of shows its raw text under the field with not a recognizable date. Type the date yourself.
  • We could not read this lot label.: click Retry same photo, or Retake photo to take a clearer one. A scan that fails or is unreadable does not count toward your monthly scans.

Lot label scans are listed under Scan History on the Ingredient Purchases list, with Lot label in the Type column.

Out of scans this month

When your plan's monthly scans are used up, the Scan lot label page shows Scan limit reached instead of the upload form, with a Review plans button. The count resets on the 1st. You can still type the lot number on the purchase's Edit page.

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