For the past eight or nine months, you’ve watched Magic Scan grow from an exciting new idea into one of the most powerful features we’ve ever added to Cook’n.

Almost every newsletter brought another improvement.

The Cook’n Elves became smarter.

We added support for more platforms.

We taught Magic Scan how to understand handwritten recipes.

We added support for multiple photos.

We made it possible to crop cookbook pages containing multiple recipes.

And we taught it to import PDFs and recipe text.

Little by little, Magic Scan kept getting better.

But I intentionally waited to create a new demo video.

Why?

Because I wanted to wait until it was completely finished and available everywhere.

Well...that day has finally arrived!

Magic Scan is now available on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android, and all of the features we’ve been working toward are finally here.

So, I sat down and recorded a brand-new demonstration that shows the entire Magic Scan experience from beginning to end, with all the bells and whistles!

It All Started with a Carrot Cake Recipe

Instead of creating another technical demonstration, I wanted this video to show how people actually receive and collect recipes in real life.

The video begins with my buddy, Brent Lange, texting me a photo of his wife’s carrot cake recipe.

Rather than saving the picture somewhere and telling myself I’d type it into Cook’n later, I simply tapped the Share icon on my iPhone, selected the Cook’n app, and pressed Submit.

That’s all I had to do.

The Cook’n Elves took over from there. They recognized the recipe, organized all the ingredients, and even created step-by-step directions!

What About That Giant Stack of Recipes?

Next, I tapped Scan, selected Camera as the source, and showed a massive stack of printed and handwritten recipes that Kathy has been collecting for decades.

This was one of my favorite parts of the demonstration because it brought the video to life. Instead of staring at a computer or phone screen the whole time, you can see my desk, the computer screens in the background, and this enormous pile of recipes waiting to be organized.

Typing all of those recipes into Cook’n by hand would be a huge pain, and it would take forever!

But with Magic Scan, it’s easy!

I picked the top recipe off the pile, took a photo of it, and...badabing!

The Cook’n Elves turned it into a beautifully organized Cook’n recipe.

Even Handwritten Recipes!

Next, I selected a handwritten recipe.

Old family recipes are often the most meaningful recipes we own. Unfortunately, they can also be the hardest to preserve because they’re frequently written on faded, stained, or aging recipe cards.

Amazingly, the Cook’n Elves were able to read the handwriting and import that recipe too!

One Recipe Spread Across Four Screens

Then, I tapped Photo Library and selected a screenshot of a recipe that I had saved on my phone.

There was just one problem. The entire recipe wouldn’t fit on a single screen, so I had captured it in four separate screenshots.

No problem!

I selected all four images, and Magic Scan combined the information from every screenshot into one complete recipe.

Two Recipes on One Cookbook Page

Next, I selected a photo of a page from a cookbook.

But this page contained two different recipes.

I showed how you can tap the image inside Cook’n to edit it, drag the edges to crop out the second recipe, and then import the first one.

Badabing!

Then, I repeated the process, cropping out the first recipe and leaving only the second one.

With just one photograph, I was able to create two separate recipes in Cook’n.

Magic Scan on Your Computer

Finally, I switched over to the Cook’n Desktop App and demonstrated how Magic Scan works on a computer.

This time, I selected a PDF file from my computer and let the Cook’n Elves import the recipe.

I also explained that Cook’n can capture recipes from web pages, and you can copy and paste recipe text into Magic Scan too.

No Matter Where Your Recipes Live

By the end of this fast-paced nine-minute video, you’ll see just how flexible and powerful Magic Scan has become.

No matter where your recipes live, the Cook’n Elves are ready to help:

• Text messages
• Printed recipe cards
• Handwritten family recipes
• Cookbook pages
• Screenshots
• Multiple photos
• PDF files
• Web pages
• Copied and pasted recipe text

Many of us are visual learners.

Reading about a feature is one thing. Watching it happen right before your eyes is something entirely different.

So, whether you’ve been following the development of Magic Scan from the very beginning, you missed a few newsletters along the way, or you’re one of our new MasterCook friends seeing it for the first time, I think you’re going to have a lot of fun watching this demonstration.

Grab a favorite snack, press Play, and let me show you just how magical Magic Scan has become!