Scan a book's barcode
Point the camera at the barcode on the back cover and Margin fills in the title and the author for you.
The steps
- On the Books tab, press Add a book.
- Press Scan the barcode.
- Hold the barcode inside the picture. Margin reads it and looks the book up.
- Check the Title and the Author it filled in, because a library catalog is not always tidy.
- Press + Add book.
Scan a book's barcode. No sound. The words are on the screen.
What to know
The scanner reads the thirteen digits under a book barcode, which are its ISBN. A price sticker or a library label is not a book number, so Margin ignores it.
Some books are not in any catalog, and older ones often are not. When Margin cannot find one it says so and leaves the boxes to you.
If your computer has no camera, press Take a photo instead and give it a photo of the barcode.
On a phone
The app uses your phone's own scanner, which is faster and reads a creased cover better than a laptop camera does. It asks for the camera once and then remembers.
Did this answer it?
If it did not, write to us. A real person reads every one.
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