> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.eat-now.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a menu

> Put a PDF online in under a minute, or create an interactive menu — and let our AI read your PDF to fill it in for you.

Open **Digital menus** in the sidebar and click **Create a digital menu**. The first thing you choose is the **type** — and that choice is permanent, so read [the comparison](/menus/overview#the-two-types-of-menu) first if you hesitate.

## Option A — A PDF menu

The fastest route: your existing PDF, online, with a QR code.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose “PDF menu”">
    Then give it a **Menu name** — this name is for you (it appears in your dashboard) and, for a PDF menu, it is also what guests see in the *Menus* list on your portal. “Lunch”, “Wine list”, “Brunch”…
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add your file">
    Either upload a **PDF File** (up to 15 MB), or choose **External Link** and paste a URL if your menu already lives somewhere else.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Make it visible">
    Turn on **Make the menu visible online**, then **Save**. You can also save it hidden and turn it on later from the list.
  </Step>
</Steps>

That's it — your menu now has a permanent link and a QR code. See [QR codes & sharing](/menus/share).

## Option B — An interactive menu

A page hosted on your booking portal, in your restaurant's colors, with categories, prices, photos, allergens and automatic translations.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose “Interactive menu” and name it">
    <Frame caption="Choosing the interactive type, then how to start.">
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/eatnow/Ui0ES7GP5Mmu1gDB/images/screenshots/menus-create-dynamic-en.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ui0ES7GP5Mmu1gDB&q=85&s=0c8a86370f76a41be31da0028997e2fe" alt="The menu creation form with the interactive type selected" width="2880" height="1800" data-path="images/screenshots/menus-create-dynamic-en.png" />
    </Frame>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick how you start">
    **Import my PDF menu** — our AI reads your PDF and pre-fills your categories and dishes. PDF up to 15 MB.

    **Start from scratch** — you create the categories and dishes yourself in the editor.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click “Create and open the editor”">
    You land straight in the menu editor. If you imported a PDF, the extraction starts immediately and runs in the background — count on a minute or two, often much less for a one-page card. Stay on the page: it refreshes on its own when the import lands.

    <Frame caption="While the AI reads your PDF, the editor is read-only.">
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/eatnow/Ui0ES7GP5Mmu1gDB/images/screenshots/menus-extract-running-en.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ui0ES7GP5Mmu1gDB&q=85&s=d9ebcbeb00a1dc619acabff3d9a5bc91" alt="The editor showing the extraction in progress banner" width="2880" height="1800" data-path="images/screenshots/menus-extract-running-en.png" />
    </Frame>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review, then publish">
    Your categories and dishes appear, filled in, as a **draft**. Nothing is visible to guests until you turn on **Published**. Read every dish — especially the **allergens** — then publish. See [Build & publish](/menus/edit).

    <Frame caption="A one-page bistro card, imported: sections, prices, allergens, dietary marks and chili levels.">
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/eatnow/Ui0ES7GP5Mmu1gDB/images/screenshots/menus-extract-result-en.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ui0ES7GP5Mmu1gDB&q=85&s=7c93bde572213cbc38234f78414ee876" alt="The editor after an import, with the extracted categories and dishes" width="2880" height="1800" data-path="images/screenshots/menus-extract-result-en.png" />
    </Frame>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What the AI import does — and doesn't

Our AI reads your PDF the way a person would and copies it faithfully. It is deliberately conservative:

**It picks up**

* Your **sections** in reading order. A sub-section (*Wines › Reds*, *Wines › Whites*) becomes a category of its own.
* Dish **names and descriptions**, copied word for word, in their original language — then **translated into the portal's five other languages**, leaving your original untouched. Marker suffixes are stripped from the name: *"Pumpkin soup (V) ⁷"* comes back as *Pumpkin soup*, tagged Vegetarian, allergen Milk.
* **Prices**, including several prices for one item — *glass 7 € / bottle 32 €* and *50 cl / 1 L* become labelled price variants.
* **Allergens, dietary marks and chili icons — only when your menu explicitly prints them.** Footnote numbers tied to a legend, letters, a "(V)" or "(VG)" mark, a "gluten-free" mention, chili pictograms: all are read and mapped to the right fields.

**It never**

* **Rewrites your dishes in their original language.** Translations are added alongside; your own wording is kept word for word.
* Invents a description you didn't write.
* **Guesses an allergen from the ingredients.** "Peanut sauce" in a description does *not* add the *Peanuts* allergen. If your PDF doesn't declare allergens, the imported dishes carry none, and it is up to you to add them.

<Warning>
  The import is a starting point, not a legal declaration. **You remain responsible for the accuracy of your allergen information.** Always re-read the extracted dishes before publishing.
</Warning>

## Two things worth knowing

<Warning>
  **A vegan dish is not automatically vegetarian.** The import tags a *(VG)* dish **Vegan** only. A guest who filters on *Vegetarian* will not see it, because the filter keeps the dishes carrying every selected tag. If you want your vegan dishes to show up under both, tick **Vegetarian** as well on those dishes.
</Warning>

While the extraction runs, a blue banner shows the progress and the editor is read-only — edits made meanwhile could be overwritten by the import.

If it fails, a red banner explains why and offers **Retry**. The most common causes are a scanned PDF of very poor quality, a file over 15 MB, or a temporary hiccup on our side — a retry usually fixes it. See the [FAQ](/menus/faq#the-pdf-import-failed).

<Tip>
  Already created your menu and want to import a PDF into it afterwards? You can, at any time, from the editor's **Import a PDF** button — see [Re-import a PDF](/menus/edit#re-import-a-pdf).
</Tip>