Product photo without a code: how Dri recognizes it, and when she prefers to read

Where to find it

It happens in the conversation with Dri, when you forward the photo the customer sent, and also when importing a quote on screen, in Quotes. The quote that comes from a product photo shows in Quotes like any other, and the line recognized by image comes marked for review.

Recognition compares the received photo with the photos of the products in your Catalog. A product without a photo in the catalog can't be recognized by image.

What photo recognition is

Not every image that arrives is a written order. Sometimes the customer sends the product photo (the box on the shelf, the item in hand, a screenshot of an ad) with no code at all. Dri can recognize that product by comparing the image with the catalog photos and build the line from there.

Before anything else, then, she answers a question: is this a photo of a product I recognize, or a document I need to read? The decision is the same in the conversation and in the on-screen import.

The photo becomes a quote, even when you only wanted to know what it is

Every photo Dri recognizes becomes a quote. There is currently no way to send the photo just to identify the product, or just to find out its price, stock or size, without the quote being created.

A question pointing at the photo doesn't change that. "What is this?", "how much is this one?", "is it in stock?" or "what size is it?" aren't answered as a lookup: the photo is treated as an order and the quote comes out with the recognized product.

In some accounts, a question that names the product by code or by name ("how much is the AB10371?") is answered as a lookup. Then the photos are set aside, no quote is created and Dri warns 📸 I read your question and have NOT read the photos yet.

What works today:

• Use the quote's own answer. When the photo becomes a single line, Dri's answer already names the product, with the code, the price and, when it can be checked, the stock. If it was just a lookup, ignore the quote.
• To look something up without quoting, type the code or the name as text, with no photo. See Consultar preço e estoque pela Dri.

What Dri does with each kind of text that goes with the photo (quantity, customer, questions) is in A quote from a photo, PDF or spreadsheet on WhatsApp, in the part about the text that goes with the photo.

The order of the decision between recognizing and reading

1. Firm recognition: the photo is practically a copy of a catalog photo (resent, resized, a screenshot). Dri builds the quote from the image and doesn't read the photo as a document.
2. Weak guess: the image looks like a product, but without certainty. Dri reads first and keeps the guess. The guess only counts if the reading doesn't find any catalog code.
3. Nothing similar in the catalog: normal reading, like any order's.

In some stores this behavior is adjusted by the Vendria team, for example, giving preference to the written code even when the image is recognized, or turning off image recognition. If in your store a product photo is always read as a document and in a colleague's it isn't, that's this configuration difference.

Why a weak guess never wins on its own

A white order sheet, handwritten, looks like any product photo with a white background when the comparison is by color. If the weak guess won, Dri would "recognize" two or three random products, build a tiny quote and skip reading the 120 codes written on the sheet.

That's why the weak guess waits for the reading. If the reading finds a catalog code, the text wins and the guess is discarded. If it finds nothing (which is the case of a photo of a single product), then the guess goes in.

When the reading fails, the guess goes in

If reading the photo simply didn't work, Dri isn't left without an answer: she uses the saved guess. One line to check is better than no quote.

The quantity of a line recognized by photo

A photo doesn't say how many units the customer wants, so the quantity comes from the number written with the photo or, without one, from the product's minimum packaging. The unit written with the number isn't carried over.

• With no number in the photo's text, the line is born without a stated quantity and Dri sets it to the product's minimum packaging. She doesn't leave it at 1, which is almost never what gets bought. On a single-line quote, Dri's answer marks this as assumed quantity.
• With a number in the photo's text, that number becomes the quantity of each product recognized in that batch of photos.

Two caveats about the written number, and both call for review:

• The written unit doesn't go along. In "I need 40 boxes", only the 40 is taken. The line follows the company's default for a quantity without a unit (the preference you told Dri in the conversation doesn't apply to photos) and may come out with 40 pieces instead of 40 boxes. See A quote from a photo, PDF or spreadsheet on WhatsApp, in the part about quantity without a unit.
• Any number in the text counts as quantity. In "make me one estimate" the "one" becomes quantity 1 on each line. In "with 50 off" the 50 becomes the quantity, and the discount isn't applied. Payment terms, payment and discount go in a message after the quote is created.

To fix the quantity in the conversation, reply to the photo itself (the gesture of replying to a message on WhatsApp) with the number, for example "40". It applies to the products of that batch of photos, and Dri answers saying from how much to how much each line changed. This path doesn't convert boxes into pieces either: the number goes into the line as it is. When the doubt is between box and piece, the safest path is to fix it directly on the line, on the quote screen.

Several photos of the same product become a single line, not one per photo: they are almost always angles or variations of the same item. The line has the notice 3 images matched the same product …, warning that a single line went in and asking you to check the quantity and whether they were different variations.

In practice, a line recognized by photo always calls for a quantity check before going to the customer.

The notices a line recognized by photo carries

The notices don't block anything; they show on the line and in the quote's warning panel:

• Approximate recognition: I identified … from the image (approximate similarity), followed by a request to check whether it's that product. The photo was similar, but not a copy.
• Recognition by color, with low confidence: shows when the product was recognized only by color. It is almost always the weak guess that went in after the reading, because it found no code or failed; in a batch with other photos firmly recognized, it may go in without reading. Dri says I think it's … and warns that she identified it by color, with low confidence. Check carefully.
• Very similar products: I identified … from the image, but there are very similar products. Not this one? Select the right one: The line shows the similar ones for you to choose with one click.
• Photos not recognized: I didn't recognize in the catalog: … with the names of the images. If you want those items, send the code or add them when editing.
• Several photos, one line: the notice from the previous section.

See Line notices: the Check badge, the drawer and the review panel.

Recognized the wrong product?

It happens: two genuinely different products can have very similar photos. If the line came with the very-similar-products notice, choose the right one right there. If it didn't, the way out is to change the product on the line, on the quote screen. See Change the product on a quote line.

When the photo has a code and the image points to another product

When the photo is read and the reading finds a catalog code and the image seems to be of another product, the written code wins. The line keeps the code's product. This only happens when the photo actually gets read: with firm recognition it isn't read, and a code printed on it isn't seen, except in a store configured to prefer the written code.

The image's guess becomes a review notice in only one case: one photo and one line. Then the line shows ⚠️ Check: the code … points to …, but from the image the product seems to be … I kept the written code; tap to switch to the image's suggestion if you prefer. With several photos or several lines, the image's suggestion is discarded without notice and the code goes on alone.

It's not that the code is wrong in these cases, it's that you don't find out there was a divergence. On a photo you already suspect, check the line by hand.

An unreadable photo is tested after this decision

The test that refuses a blurry or dark photo runs on the reading path, after this decision. A firm recognition builds the quote first, and the photo never gets tested. A product photo with little light can, then, become a quote precisely because it was recognized. See When the photo is refused before it is even read.

Common questions

The customer sent just the product photo. Can Dri identify it? Yes, when the product has a photo in the catalog and the image is similar enough. The identification always comes in the form of a quote.

I sent the photo just to find out the price and Dri created a quote. Why? Every recognized photo becomes a quote, even with a question like "how much is this one?" written along. With a single product, the answer already has the name, the code and the price; if it was just a lookup, ignore the quote. To look something up without quoting, send the code or the name as text.

I wrote "40 boxes" with the photo and the line didn't come out in boxes. What happened? In photo recognition only the number is taken, without the unit, and the line follows the company's default for a quantity without a unit. Fix it on the line, on the quote screen.

I wrote the discount with the photo and it didn't go in. Why? In some accounts the discount written in the caption is applied, respecting the store's cap — and its number is no longer confused with the lines' quantity. In the others, send the discount in a message after the quote is created.

Why did Dri read the handwritten sheet instead of recognizing a product? That's expected: a weak guess never jumps ahead of reading a document.

I sent three photos of the same item and got a single line. Is that right? It's on purpose. Adjust the quantity and, if they were different variants, add the others.