Prepare the ticket before opening the camera
Place the ticket on a flat, plain surface and smooth out folds without damaging the print. A dark ticket on a light surface, or a light ticket on a darker surface, gives the camera a clear edge to detect. Keep fingers, keys and other objects away from the printed area because they can cover a digit or be mistaken for part of a board.
Use the original ticket whenever possible. Screenshots, messaging-app copies and repeated photo exports often remove detail from small text. If the ticket is faded, do not trace over it with a pen. Increase the surrounding light and capture the sharpest original image you can, then manually verify any field that the result screen marks as uncertain.
Use even light and avoid glare
Bright, even light is more useful than a harsh flash. Stand near a window or under a room light, but move the ticket until there are no bright reflections across the draw date, game name, boards or barcode. A reflective patch can erase black print in the image even when the ticket appears readable to you.
If the phone casts a shadow, move the light to the side or hold the phone a little higher and use the camera zoom only slightly. Avoid coloured lighting and strong filters. They can reduce contrast between the paper and the thermal printing. The camera preview should show consistent white or pale paper from the top of the ticket to the bottom.
Keep the full ticket square in the frame
Hold the phone directly above the ticket so the long edges look parallel. A steep angle makes numbers near one end smaller and can merge nearby characters. Leave a narrow margin around all four ticket edges. The game title, draw number, draw date and every played board are all needed to produce a meaningful check.
Do not crop the bottom because it looks like blank paper in the preview. Multi-board and multi-draw information is often printed below the first board. If the full ticket is too long to remain legible in one image, start with the complete ticket. Use the review screen to identify what was missed before trying a closer second image.
Wait for focus and inspect the image
Tap the printed numbers in the camera preview and wait for the text to become sharp before taking the photo. Hold both hands steady and avoid digital zoom at long range. After capture, enlarge one board on the screen. If similar digits such as 1 and 7, 3 and 8, or 5 and 6 are difficult to separate, retake the image.
The scanner result is a transcription to review, not a replacement ticket. Confirm the displayed game, draw and each number against the paper. A correct result matched to an incorrectly read draw date is still an incorrect ticket check. SnapLotto should ask for a new image or manual confirmation when the available detail is not reliable enough.
Protect the ticket while getting support
Do not publish a full ticket photograph on social media or in a public comment. A ticket can contain a barcode, reference number and purchase information that should not be shared broadly. Keep the physical ticket secure and avoid marking it until the official operator has confirmed what is required for a claim.
When asking SnapLotto support about a scan, describe the game, draw date and the field that looks wrong. If an image is necessary, cover unrelated reference details unless support specifically explains why they are required. Never send banking passwords, one-time PINs or card details. SnapLotto does not need those credentials to explain a scan result.
Practical checklist
- Flatten the original ticket on a plain surface.
- Use even light with no glare or phone shadow.
- Include every edge, board, game label and draw detail.
- Hold the camera directly above the ticket and wait for focus.
- Compare every extracted field with the physical ticket.
- Keep barcodes and ticket references out of public posts.