Guides · Photo packing

Scan your items into your bag

Updated June 29, 2026

Alba can pack your bag from a single photo. Lay everything out, take one shot, and Alba lifts out each object, matches it to your checklist, and ticks each one off — each with its own cutout as proof. There's no tapping through a list.

This is the feature that makes “Alba tracks what's in your bag” literally true. Instead of checking items off one by one, you photograph everything at once and review Alba's matches before anything is packed — so you stay in control while skipping the tedious part.

Before you start

  • An iPhone on iOS 17 or later, with the full Alba app installed.
  • A plain, well-lit surface — a bed or floor works well.

Step by step

  1. Open the scanner. Open your trip and tap “Scan N items into bag”.
  2. Lay everything out. Spread the things you're packing out in one flat layout, well spaced, on a plain surface so each object is distinct.
  3. Take one shot. Frame it all in the camera and tap the shutter.
  4. Let Alba lift the items. Wait for the Rausch “Lifting items…” glow while Alba cuts out each object individually.
  5. Review the matches. You get a grid with one card per object — its cutout, the matched checklist item, and a confidence percentage.
  6. Fix anything wrong. Tap a card to reassign it to the right item, or discard anything that isn't on your list. Nothing is packed until you confirm.
  7. Pack all. Tap “Pack all”. Each match is packed and ticked off with its cutout kept as proof.

Questions & troubleshooting

It matched something wrong — how do I fix it?

Tap the card in the review grid and reassign it to the right item, or discard it if it isn't a checklist item at all. Nothing is packed until you tap “Pack all”, so you can correct every match first.

Why does scanning say it's unavailable, or show a “DEMO” badge?

The lift-each-object-out step needs an iPhone on iOS 17+ with the full Alba build; on the simulator or older iOS it shows an honest banner instead. The AI badge means a vision model is matching each cutout to your list; DEMO means a built-in fallback is matching in order. Either way the cutouts are real and you can fix any match.

Objects merged together or got missed — what helps?

Spread the items further apart on a plain background and reshoot. Clear spacing and even lighting let Alba separate each object cleanly.

Does photo packing work on Android?

The per-object cutout uses an Apple (iOS 17) capability, so the lift-each-item-out flow is on iPhone today. The rest of Alba works on Android too.

Related guides

Ready to pack? Get Alba — free on iPhone and Android. Questions? Email travel@withalba.app.