Import Your Product Catalogue from a Photo or PDF: Add Every Product in Minutes

Quick answer

Catalogue import from a photo or PDF is a SOVA feature that turns a catalogue or price list file into a list of products. You upload up to 10 files at once. SOVA’s AI reads each one, picks out every product with its name, price and details, and cuts out each product’s picture. You review the results and add them to your products. The scan usually finishes within five minutes.

Key takeaways

• A catalogue or price list that already exists as photos or a PDF can become a product list without anyone retyping it.
• Up to 10 files can be uploaded at once, and the scan keeps running in the background while you use the rest of the dashboard.
• Nothing is added blindly: every extracted product is shown for review, and its name, price and other details can be edited before it joins your catalogue.
• Imported products behave like any other product, so the plan’s product limit applies and the AI answers customers from them.

Why typing a catalogue in product by product holds shops back

Many shops already have their products in a form that is not a database: a printed catalogue, a supplier’s PDF, a price list photographed on a phone, a stack of menu pages. Getting that into a selling tool has traditionally meant typing every product in by hand, with a name, a price, details and a photo for each line.

That chore is why many shops delay putting their full range in front of an AI assistant. The assistant can only quote what is in the catalogue, so a half-entered catalogue means half-answered customers. For what happens once products are in, see how product management works in SOVA.

How the photo and PDF import works

You upload your files from the products area of the dashboard, where the feature is called AI Scan and Auto-Add. The same upload is offered on the products step when a new account is being set up, so a new shop can start with a full catalogue rather than an empty one.

Accepted files are JPG, PNG, WEBP and PDF, up to 10 files at a time and 25 MB each. After you upload, each file moves through simple statuses on screen: queued, scanning, ready for review, adding to your store and completed. SOVA tells you when a scan is ready, so you do not have to watch it.

• Upload: add up to 10 photos or PDF files at once.
• Scan: the AI reads the whole file and picks out each product with its name, price and details.
• Pictures: each product’s picture is cut out of the page, so a product gets its own photo rather than a full-page image.
• Review: the extracted products are listed so you can select the ones you want and edit the name, price, stock and other details.
• Add: the products you confirmed are added to your store in one step.

What happens to products after they are imported

Imported products are ordinary products. They appear in your product list, on your free storefront link and in what the AI quotes to customers, with your real prices and the pictures that were cut out of your catalogue.

Your plan’s product limit applies exactly as it does when you add a product by hand, so a very large catalogue may need a larger plan. From there you can edit a product, add variants or extra photos, or remove it, as described in the product management guide. When customers start ordering, the orders land in your order dashboard.

How to get a cleaner scan from your files

The AI reads what is on the page, so the quality of the file decides the quality of the result. A few habits help:

• Use sharp, well-lit photos taken straight on rather than at an angle.
• Prefer the original PDF over a screenshot of it when you have both.
• Check every price in the review step, because one misread digit is the easiest mistake to miss.

Frequently asked questions

How do I import a catalogue from a photo or PDF?

Open the products area of your dashboard, choose the AI scan option and upload your photos or PDFs. Wait for the scan to finish, review the products it found, correct anything that is wrong and add them. New accounts are offered the same upload on the products step of setup.

Which files can I upload, and how many at once?

JPG, PNG, WEBP and PDF files, up to 10 at a time and 25 MB each. For example, you can upload several photographed catalogue pages or a few supplier PDFs together, and SOVA scans them in the background while you carry on using the dashboard.

How long does a catalogue scan take?

Usually within about five minutes. Each file is queued, scanned and then marked ready for review, and SOVA tells you when it is ready, so you do not need to watch the screen. Very long or poor-quality files can take longer or fail, and a failed file is reported so you can upload it again.

Can the AI get a price or product name wrong?

It can misread a blurred or low-quality page, which is why the extracted products are shown for review before they are added. Check each price against the original file, edit anything that looks off, deselect products you do not want, and only then add them to your store.

Does importing count against my plan’s product limit?

Yes. Imported products count like any product added by hand: SOVA Starter allows up to 75 products, SOVA Growth up to 500 and SOVA Scale is unlimited. Products beyond your limit cannot be added until you remove some or move to a larger plan.

Can I still edit a product after it has been imported?

Yes. Imported products are ordinary products, so you can change the name, price, description and photos, add variants or remove the product at any time from your product list. The AI uses the updated details the next time a customer asks about it.