Running a pour session
How to start, run, and complete a pour session in Hi Ellie — including how inventory gets updated and what the completion screen captures.
A pour session walks you through a recipe step by step, tracks your progress, and updates your pantry inventory when you're done. Here's how it works from start to finish.
Starting a pour
From your recipe, tap Start pour to open a new pour session. Hi Ellie creates a session linked to that recipe and takes you to the first step.
You can also start a pour from the dashboard — if you have a recipe you've used recently, it may appear as a quick-start option on the Ellie greeting card.
Working through the steps
Each step shows you what to do — colorant weights, mixing instructions, cure times, and technique notes. Work through the steps at your own pace:
- Tap Done → Next step when you're ready to advance
- Tap Back to return to a previous step if you need to re-check something
- Use the Notes field on each step to capture anything worth remembering — what you changed, what you noticed, what you'd do differently
There's no timer running against you. Take the time you need.
Using Bench Mode during a pour
If your hands will be busy, tap the Bench Mode pill button to have Ellie read your steps aloud and listen for voice commands. You can advance steps, ask questions, and navigate hands-free without touching the screen.
See Bench Mode for full details.
Abandoning a pour
The Abandon button is always available at the top of the pour page. Tapping it ends the session without making any changes to your pantry — no inventory is deducted, and the pour is recorded as abandoned.
Abandon is the safe option if you're unsure about your amounts, if something went wrong mid-pour, or if you just want to stop without any consequences. You can always start fresh.
Completing a pour
When you've worked through all the steps, the Complete button appears. Tapping it takes you to the Ready to Finish screen.
Before you confirm, read the summary carefully. The completion screen shows exactly what will be deducted from your pantry:
- Each colorant's actual amount is deducted from your pantry stock
- The resin batch size is deducted from your on-hand quantity in ml
This cannot be undone. Once you tap Confirm completion, the inventory deductions are permanent. If you're not sure your amounts are right, tap Back and check — or abandon the pour and start a new one.
The completion screen
Before confirming, you can capture how the pour turned out. Everything on this screen is optional — leave anything blank to skip it.
Demold notes — a free-text field for anything worth remembering: surface finish observations, color saturation, what you'd change next time.
Photo — tap Add photo of finished pour to attach a photo to the completed pour record.
Quality ratings:
| Rating | Scale |
|---|---|
| Bubbles? | Yes / No |
| Surface finish | 1–5 |
| Clarity | 1–5 |
| Overall | ★★★★★ |
| Ready to sell? | Yes / No |
Tap Confirm completion to finalize. Your pantry updates immediately.
After completion
The completed pour appears in your Pours history with your notes, ratings, and photo. You can review past pours at any time to track how your recipes are performing over time.
If a colorant used in the recipe isn't in your pantry, no deduction occurs for that item — only tracked pantry items are updated.
Tips
- Weigh your colorants before you start. Once the resin is mixed, your working time is limited. Having everything staged means you're not rushing through steps.
- Use the Notes field as you go. It's much easier to capture observations mid-pour than to reconstruct them afterward.
- Don't rush the completion screen. The ratings take 30 seconds and build a useful record of which recipes consistently produce results you're happy with.