Count blister packs in a tray from a photo

Counting blister strips, not the tablets sealed inside them

Blister packs are the unit a dispensary reorders, returns and checks against a wholesale invoice, so the number you want is strips or cards, not doses. Pharmacies, clinics and care homes use a photo count as a draft before their regulated manual check, or to tally a returns tote by expiry batch. The page opens with What to count set to blister packs, but the domed side of a strip shows a neat grid of tablet pockets, and a counter can latch onto those pockets instead of the whole strip.

To keep the unit right, switch to Similar items and drag one example box around a complete strip, edge to edge. If the drawer mixes full strips with cut-down ones, mark a cut strip as a second example; up to three are allowed. Lay the strips flat in one layer on a dark matte surface and use soft side light: foil and clear plastic both throw hot reflections under a ceiling lamp, and a glare patch can hide a strip edge. Strips that slide under each other read as one.

Once each marker has been checked against the photo, type the corrected number into the tally row and label it with the batch or expiry date. Loose tablets belong on the pill counter for tablets and capsules, and outer cartons on a shelf are quicker with the box counter.

Before you photograph the strips

• Group strips by product and batch so each photo becomes one tally row
• Lay them flat with no edge tucked under a neighbor
• Switch off an overhead light that makes a bright patch on the plastic
• Mark a whole strip as the example, never a single tablet pocket