Camera Scanning

Camera scanning

Point your device's camera at a barcode or QR code and Gubbins finds the item — no typing. It's the fastest way to look something up, check it out, or move it.

Where to find it: the Scan button on the Inventory screen, once the Live camera scanning capability is enabled (Modular UI).

How it works

Gubbins reads codes using your browser's built-in barcode detector where available, and falls back to an off-thread software decoder (WASM) where it isn't — so scanning works across a wide range of devices, including older ones. It handles common barcode symbologies and QR codes, and skips frames adaptively to stay smooth.

Scan a code and Gubbins matches it to an item by its barcode, then lets you act on it — view it, adjust stock, check it out, or move it.

💡 Tip Add a product's barcode to its Details (there's a Scan button right on the field) so future scans jump straight to it. A barcode Gubbins doesn't recognise can also trigger a product lookup.

ℹ️ Note The camera is only used while you're actively scanning, on your device — no image ever leaves it. Live scanning is separate from printed labels: turning the camera capability off doesn't affect your printed QR codes. See Privacy & security.

When a code isn't found

A barcode with no matching item isn't an error — it just means nothing's linked to it yet. You can create an item for it, or (for groceries) try a product lookup.

Related pages

• Continuous scan & batch actions — scan many items in a row and act on them together.
• QR codes & label printing — the labels you scan.
• Receipt & label OCR — reading text, not just codes.