Banana Scale
Why Measuring From Photos Is Useful
You have a photo of a piece of furniture, a package, or an object you want to catalog, but the photo alone does not tell you how large it actually is. Banana Scale solves this by using a printed marker with a known physical size as a reference point inside the image.
How It Works
Print a marker. The app uses fiducial markers, small square patterns with a unique ID. The ID encodes the marker's real-world edge length in millimeters. Banana-shaped printable templates are available that make the markers easy to recognize and fun to use.
Capture or import a photo. Take a new photo or choose an existing one from the gallery.
Prepare the image. Crop, rotate, fine-rotate, or mirror the photo so the area of interest is clean.
Detect the marker. The app finds the marker in the image, reads its ID, and uses the encoded size to calibrate the view.
Add measurements. Place 3-axis scale gizmos on the detected marker to estimate width, height, and depth. Add distance bars between markers. Read out axis lengths, distances, surface areas, and approximate volume.
What You Can Measure
Axis dimensions — width, height, and depth from a single calibrated marker.
Distances — straight-line distance between two detected markers.
Volume estimates — approximate occupied volume derived from the gizmo axes.
Camera-to-point distances — estimated depth from the camera to specific points in the scene.
Metric and imperial — switch units at any time.
Measurements are overlaid as interactive visual elements directly on the photo, not hidden in a separate data table.
Saving and Sharing Results
Every measurement session can be saved and reopened later. You can share the annotated image, export structured measurement data as JSON, or send dimensions to another app through a deep link.
Image Preparation Tools
Because measurement accuracy benefits from a well-framed image, the app includes built-in editing:
Crop to the area of interest.
Rotate in 90-degree steps or fine-rotate for small adjustments.
Flip horizontally or vertically.
These tools mean you do not have to retake a photo just because the angle was slightly off.
It Works With Containd
Banana Scale can send the measured dimensions directly into Containd, the visual inventory app, through a deep link. When you do, a new inventory item is created with the measurements already filled in, so you go from a photo to a documented, dimensioned catalog entry in seconds.
The same printed markers also work when using AI-assisted item creation in Containd: the marker gives the AI a known-size reference so it can estimate the dimensions of surrounding objects in the image.
Honest Boundaries
Banana Scale works from static images, not live augmented-reality tracking. Accuracy depends on image quality, marker visibility, and how flat the scene is relative to the camera. It is a practical estimation tool for everyday objects, not a metrology instrument.
Banana Scale is available on Android and iOS. Printable marker templates are provided inside the app. Visit the software page for download links, or subscribe to the newsletter for updates.
