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Rock Identifier: Identify Any Rock from a Photo Upload a photo of a rock, crystal, mineral, or stone. You get the name, rock type, Mohs hardness, and a value estimate. Works on trail finds, beach pebbles, gem show pickups, and that mystery rock your kid brought home. Free, no account needed. Drop a rock photo here or tap to upload JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC • Max 50 MB • 1 free scan per day Analyzing your rock… Download Free for iOS & Android How the Rock Identifier Works 1 Photograph the Rock Use natural light. Brush off loose dirt. Shoot straight-on so the surface fills the frame. If the rock looks dull, wet it first. Water brings out colors and grain patterns the AI needs. 2 AI Reads the Surface Color, luster, crystal structure, grain size, fracture pattern, transparency. The model checks all of it against a reference set of thousands of known rock and mineral types. Takes a few seconds. 3 Get the Identification You receive the mineral name, rock classification (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic), Mohs hardness, formation type, and an estimated value range. One screen, no textbooks required. Explore Rock & Mineral Identification Each tool below uses the same AI engine, tuned for that specific category. Pick the one that matches what you found. 💎 Crystal Identifier Quartz, amethyst, fluorite & more 🪨 Stone Identifier River stones, beach pebbles, field finds 💍 Gemstone Identifier Sapphire, ruby, emerald, opal ⛏️ Mineral Identifier Feldspar, mica, pyrite, calcite 🦴 Fossil Identifier Ammonites, trilobites, plant fossils 💠 Diamond Identifier Raw, cut & simulated diamonds 🥇 Gold Identifier Gold nuggets, ore & fool’s gold What Is a Rock Identifier? A rock identifier is a visual analysis tool. You give it a photograph of a rock, crystal, or mineral. It returns the name, classification, hardness, and value estimate. The AI was trained on labeled images of thousands of specimens. It reads the same features a geology student reads at a sorting table. Faster. 🔍 How the AI Reads Rocks Color catches your eye first. It catches the AI's eye first too. But color alone is unreliable. Purple could be amethyst, fluorite, or lepidolite. So the model goes deeper: surface luster (glassy, waxy, earthy, metallic), transparency, grain size, and fracture pattern. Vitreous luster points to quartz. Metallic means sulfides like pyrite. Conchoidal fracture means glassy silicates. 🌋 Igneous Rocks Crystallized from molten material. Slow cooling underground produces coarse grains visible without magnification. Granite is the textbook example. Fast cooling at the surface gives fine-grained basalt or glassy obsidian. The telltale sign: interlocking crystals, no layering. 🏖️ Sedimentary Rocks Compressed layers. Sand grains cemented over millions of years become sandstone. Marine shell debris becomes limestone. River mud becomes shale. Usually the softest of the three types. Often show bedding planes. The only rocks that regularly contain fossils. 🔥 Metamorphic Rocks Started as something else. Limestone cooked and squeezed becomes marble. Shale under pressure turns to slate. The giveaway is foliation: wavy mineral bands forced into alignment by tectonic pressure. Same chemistry as the parent rock. Completely different texture. ⚠️ Common Misidentifications Pyrite gets called gold constantly. Gold is soft (Mohs 2.5) and bends. Pyrite is hard (6.5) and shatters. Slag glass gets mistaken for obsidian. Iron concretions get called meteorites. Quartzite and marble get swapped. A scratch test or acid drop resolves most of these in seconds. 📷 Getting Better Photos Wet the rock before photographing. Water saturates pores and brings out color contrasts, grain boundaries, and banding that dry surfaces hide. Geologists lick rocks for the same reason. Use overcast daylight, a plain background, and fill the frame. A fresh fracture surface beats a weathered exterior every time. 🛡️ Limitations No photo-based tool replaces a hand lens and scratch plate. Weathered surfaces hide diagnostic features. Some minerals are near-identical in photos. Telling microcline from albite feldspar requires an acid test or thin section under polarized light. Treat the AI as a strong first pass. For anything high-value, consult a geologist. ⚖️ Mohs Hardness Scale Ranks scratch resistance from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond). Your fingernail is about 2.5, a copper coin is 3.5, a steel knife is 5.5. If your rock scratches glass, it is at least Mohs 6. The AI infers hardness from visual cues, but a scratch test at home confirms it in ten seconds. Frequently Asked Questions How do I identify a rock I found? Photograph it in natural light on a plain background. Upload the image to an AI rock identifier. The AI checks color, luster, grain size, and crystal habit against a database of known rock types. Wet the surface first for better accuracy. What are the three types of rocks? Igneous (cooled from magma), sedimentary (compressed layers of sediment), and metamorphic (transformed by heat and pressure). Granite is igneous, sandstone is sedimentary, marble is metamorphic. Is there a free rock identifier app? Yes. Rock Identifier is free on iOS and Android. The web tool provides one free scan per day. The same AI also runs as a rock identifier on Lens App. How accurate is AI rock identification? High for common specimens like granite, quartz, basalt, and limestone. Lower for heavily weathered, mud-covered, or matrix-embedded surfaces. Some minerals require physical tests a camera cannot perform. Can it tell me if my rock is valuable? It provides the mineral name and a general value range. Actual value depends on size, quality, rarity, and demand. For gem-grade specimens, consult a gemologist. What is the Mohs hardness scale? A 1-to-10 ranking of scratch resistance. Talc is 1, diamond is 10. If your specimen scratches glass, it is at least Mohs 6. Why does wetting a rock help identification? Water fills surface pores, saturates color, and reveals grain boundaries that dry surfaces hide. It is the same reason geologists lick rocks in the field. How do I tell gold from pyrite? Gold is soft (Mohs 2.5), bends, and leaves a yellow streak. Pyrite is hard (6.5), shatters, and leaves a black streak. A streak test on unglazed porcelain settles it. Can AI identify crystals and gemstones? Yes. It works on rough, tumbled, and polished specimens. For formal gemstone grading, a gemologist is still required because AI cannot measure refractive index from a photo. Does it work on fossils? Yes for common macrofossils like ammonites, trilobites, and shark teeth. Microfossils and fragmentary specimens may lack enough features for confident identification. What is the difference between a rock and a mineral? A mineral is a single naturally occurring solid with a defined chemical formula. A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals. Granite is a rock. Quartz is a mineral. Identify Rocks Anywhere The same AI that powers this website runs in the Rock Identifier app. Free on iOS and Android. Unlimited scans for subscribers. Download Free App × You've Used Your Free Scan Get unlimited rock identifications by downloading the Rock Identifier app. Free on iOS and Android. Download Free App --- About Rock Identifier AI-powered rock, mineral, crystal, and gemstone identification. Free and accessible to everyone. Our Story Rock Identifier started with a simple frustration: you pick up an interesting rock on a hike, and unless you have a geology degree, you have no idea what it is. Field guides help if you already know what category to look in. But most people do not. They are staring at a rock wondering whether it is quartz, feldspar, or something worth keeping. We built Rock Identifier to close that gap. Take a photo. Get an answer. No jargon, no prerequisite knowledge, no expensive lab equipment. Just a camera and curiosity. What Rock Identifier Does Rock Identifier is an AI-powered identification tool for rocks, crystals, minerals, gemstones, and fossils. Upload or snap a photo and the AI analyzes color, texture, luster, crystal habit, and surface features to determine what you found. Results include the specimen name, rock classification, Mohs hardness, formation type, and a general value range. We offer dedicated identification modes for specific categories: crystals, minerals, gemstones, fossils, diamonds, and gold. Each mode uses the same core AI engine, tuned for the visual patterns and diagnostic features most relevant to that category. Rock Identifier is also available on the Lens App for users who prefer that platform. Our Mission Geology should not be gatekept by academic credentials. Every curious person who picks up a rock deserves to know what it is. Our mission is to make geological knowledge accessible, immediate, and free at the point of use. Whether you are a student, a hiker, a collector, a prospector, or a kid who just found something shiny in the backyard, Rock Identifier is built for you. How the Technology Works Rock Identifier uses computer vision models trained on a large dataset of verified geological specimens. The AI has learned to recognize thousands of rock and mineral types by studying the visual characteristics that geologists use for identification: color, grain size, crystal structure, fracture pattern, luster, transparency, and surface texture. When you upload a photo, the image is processed through the model and compared against known geological signatures. The AI returns its top matches with confidence levels and key distinguishing features. Processing takes a few seconds. Your images are encrypted during transmission and are not permanently stored. We do not use uploaded photos for marketing, sharing, or any purpose beyond generating your identification result. See our privacy policy for full details. Available Everywhere Rock Identifier works on three platforms: Web: Free scanner at rockidentifier.io with one identification per day. iOS: Free app with additional daily scans and optional unlimited subscription. Android: Same features as iOS, available via the download link. The AI model is the same across all platforms. Results are consistent whether you use the website or the app. Contact Us Questions, feedback, or partnership inquiries: support@rockidentifier.io --- Crystal Identifier: Identify Any Crystal from a Photo Upload a photo of a crystal. The AI analyzes the crystal faces, color, transparency, and surface luster to return the mineral name, crystal system, Mohs hardness, and a value estimate. Works on rough points, clusters, druzy, and tumbled stones. Free, no account needed. Drop a crystal photo here or tap to upload JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC • Max 50 MB • 1 free scan per day Analyzing your crystal… Download Free for iOS & Android How the Crystal Identifier Works 1 Photograph the Crystal Natural light. Plain background. Show the crystal faces and any termination points. If it looks dull, mist it with water. That alone changes everything. 2 AI Reads the Geometry Crystal habit, color saturation, transparency, surface reflectance, edge angles. The model checks all of it against a labeled dataset of confirmed crystal specimens. A few seconds. 3 Get the Identification Mineral name, crystal system, Mohs hardness, formation environment, value estimate. If confidence is low, the AI lists alternative candidates so you can compare. What Is a Crystal Identifier? A crystal identifier is a visual recognition tool. You photograph a crystal. The AI extracts face angles, color distribution, transparency, and termination shape, then matches those features against thousands of confirmed specimens. Same core engine as the rock identifier, but weighted toward geometry and optical effects. 💎 Quartz Family Clear quartz is the baseline: hexagonal prisms, pointed terminations, Mohs 7. Add trace iron and you get amethyst or citrine. Except almost every "citrine" at gem shows is baked amethyst. Real citrine is pale and far less common. Same formula, wildly different appearances. Color alone fails as an ID method. 🔷 Calcite Over 300 documented crystal forms. Mohs 3, fizzes in dilute HCl, shows double refraction. Set a clear piece on printed text and you see two images. Nothing else common does that. Dogtooth scalenohedral crystals show up in caves. The rhombohedron is the classic shape. 🟣 Fluorite Cubes and octahedra. Purple, green, blue, yellow, pink, sometimes banded in the same crystal. Mohs 4. A steel knife scratches it. Fluorite is the mineral that teaches every collector: shape matters more than color. Two purple crystals, different shapes, different minerals. Period. 🔰 Tourmaline & Pyrite Tourmaline has a rounded-triangular cross section. Black schorl is everywhere. Watermelon tourmaline (pink core, green rim) is unmistakable when sliced. Pyrite forms cubes with face striations. Bright gold luster. Everyone calls it gold. It is not. Pyrite shatters. Gold bends. 🌋 How Crystals Form From magma (slow cooling = large crystals, pegmatites yield tourmaline rods over a meter). From hot water in rock fractures (quartz veins, fluorite pockets). From evaporation (halite, selenite). Inside solid rock during metamorphism (garnet, kyanite embedded in schist). The environment dictates the mineral and crystal size. 📐 Crystal Systems Seven systems defined by lattice symmetry. Cubic: pyrite cubes, fluorite octahedra. Hexagonal: quartz, beryl. Trigonal: calcite, tourmaline. Monoclinic: gypsum. When the AI sees a well-formed cube, it immediately eliminates every hexagonal and monoclinic mineral from the list. 📷 Photographing Crystals Show the crystal faces. Angle so two intersecting faces are visible. Overcast daylight preserves true color. Plain white background. Do not hold the crystal in your fingers. Mist with water if dull. For transparent specimens, backlight them so the AI reads internal color saturation. 🛡️ Limitations Purple fluorite and amethyst overlap visually. The separator is hardness (4 vs 7), which a camera cannot test. Internal features (inclusions, phantoms) are invisible from outside. Heat-treated citrine is undetectable. For insurance or sale, combine AI with physical tests or consult a gemologist. The gemstone identifier handles gem-grade specimens. Frequently Asked Questions What crystal is this? Upload a photo to the scanner above. The AI returns the mineral name, crystal system, hardness, and value range. One free scan per day. How do you identify crystals by color? Color narrows the field but rarely confirms. Purple could be amethyst, fluorite, or charoite. The AI cross-references color with shape, transparency, and luster. Is there a free crystal identifier app? Yes. Rock Identifier is free on iOS and Android and includes crystal identification. One free web scan per day. What is the difference between a crystal and a mineral? A mineral is a naturally occurring solid with a defined chemical formula. A crystal is a mineral whose internal structure is expressed as visible geometric faces. All crystals are minerals. How can you tell if a crystal is real or fake? Real crystals have imperfections: inclusions, color zoning, natural fractures. Glass fakes are perfectly clear with round bubbles. A scratch test confirms it. What are the most valuable crystals? Ruby, emerald, sapphire, and alexandrite can exceed $10,000 per carat. Common crystals like quartz and amethyst are inexpensive. Can AI identify tumbled or polished crystals? Yes, but with lower confidence. Tumbling removes the crystal habit the AI relies on most. Multiple angles help. How does crystal shape help identification? Crystal habit reflects atomic structure. Quartz grows as hexagonal prisms. Pyrite forms cubes. These shapes are consistent within a species and are the strongest photo-based signal. Identify Crystals Anywhere The same crystal identification AI runs in the Rock Identifier app. Free on iOS and Android. Download Free App × You've Used Your Free Scan Get unlimited identifications by downloading the Rock Identifier app. Free on iOS and Android. Download Free App --- Mineral Identifier. Name Any Mineral from a Photo. Upload a photo of a mineral specimen. The AI analyzes color, luster, crystal habit, cleavage pattern, and surface texture to return the mineral name, chemical formula, Mohs hardness, crystal system, and formation environment. Free. No account required. Drop a mineral photo here or tap to upload JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC • Max 50 MB • 1 free scan per day Analyzing your mineral… Download Free for iOS & Android How the Mineral Identifier Works 1 Photograph the Specimen Place the mineral on a neutral background in natural light. Capture the surface so luster and crystal faces are visible. If the specimen has a distinctive streak, include a streak mark on white porcelain in the frame. 2 AI Reads Diagnostic Features The model evaluates color, luster type, crystal habit, transparency, surface texture, and any visible cleavage or fracture. These visual signals get compared against a database of thousands of confirmed mineral specimens. 3 Get Your Mineral ID You receive the mineral name, chemical formula, Mohs hardness, crystal system, typical formation environment, and related minerals. Results appear in seconds. What Is a Mineral Identifier? A mineral identifier matches your photo against thousands of confirmed specimens and returns the name, formula, and physical properties. The Rock Identifier app runs the same AI that powers the web scanner. 🧠 How AI Reads Minerals The model processes color, luster, crystal shape, transparency, and surface roughness from a single photograph. Color alone is unreliable because one mineral can appear in many shades. Quartz ranges from colorless to black. Luster and crystal habit carry far more diagnostic weight, and the AI leans on those signals to eliminate candidates quickly. 🪨 Rock-Forming Minerals Feldspar accounts for roughly 60% of the crust by weight. Quartz adds another 12%. Mica, pyroxene, amphibole, olivine, and calcite fill most of the remainder. These are the minerals that make up granite, basalt, limestone, and nearly every other rock you will pick up on a hike. Collectors sometimes overlook them, but they are the foundation of everything underfoot. ⛏️ Ore Minerals Pyrite, galena, magnetite, hematite, and chalcopyrite are among the most recognized ore minerals. Pyrite forms brass-yellow cubes that people mistake for gold. Galena has perfect cubic cleavage and a lead-gray color that is hard to confuse with anything else. Magnetite will pull a compass needle off north. These minerals built entire economies around their extraction. 💎 Hardness and Streak Tests Mohs hardness ranks scratch resistance from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond). A fingernail scratches anything below 2.5. A steel knife reaches about 5.5. Streak is the powder color left when you rub a mineral across unglazed porcelain. Hematite always streaks red-brown, no matter what color its surface appears. The AI cannot perform these tests, but it links each visual match to the known values. ✨ Luster Types Metallic luster looks like polished metal. Vitreous luster looks like glass, and it covers most silicates, including quartz and feldspar. Pearly luster shows a soft iridescent sheen and is typical of layered minerals like talc and some micas. Earthy luster appears dull and matte. The AI classifies luster from the way light interacts with the surface in your photo, and that single feature eliminates large groups of candidates. 📷 Photographing Minerals Use diffused natural light. Overcast sky or a north-facing window works well. Direct sunlight creates harsh reflections on vitreous and metallic surfaces that hide the real texture. Angle the specimen so at least one crystal face catches the light. Wetting a dull surface brings out color and translucency. If you can include a streak mark on porcelain beside the specimen, accuracy improves noticeably. ⚠️ Common Misidentifications Orthoclase and plagioclase feldspar look nearly identical in hand specimen. Both are light-colored and vitreous with two cleavage directions at roughly 90 degrees. Chalcedony, jasper, and chert are all microcrystalline silica with no visible crystal habit for the AI to read. If you have a well-formed crystal, the crystal identifier may give a more precise result. Fresh surfaces always give better results than altered rinds. 🚧 Limitations Microcrystalline specimens, heavily weathered surfaces, and minerals that look alike without physical testing will reduce confidence. The AI identifies the specimen as feldspar but may not resolve whether it is orthoclase or albite. Rare species outside the training data may not match at all. For a second opinion, try the identification engine. Frequently Asked Questions How do I identify a mineral? Photograph it in natural light showing luster and crystal faces, then upload the image to the mineral identifier above. Supplement with a scratch test and streak on porcelain for a definitive answer. What is the difference between a mineral and a rock? A mineral is a single inorganic solid with a fixed chemical formula and crystal structure. A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals. What mineral is this? Upload a photo to the scanner above. The AI returns the most probable mineral name, chemical formula, Mohs hardness, and crystal system. How many minerals exist? The International Mineralogical Association recognizes over 6,000 species. Only about 200 are common enough that most people will encounter them. What is the Mohs hardness scale? A 1-to-10 ranking of scratch resistance. Talc is 1, diamond is 10. Useful benchmarks: fingernail 2.5, copper coin 3.5, steel knife 5.5, quartz 7. Is there a free mineral identifier app? Yes. Rock Identifier includes mineral identification and is free on iOS and Android. The web tool at rockidentifier.io provides one free mineral scan per day. What are the most common minerals on Earth? Feldspar makes up about 60% of the crust. Quartz accounts for roughly 12%. Together with pyroxene, amphibole, mica, olivine, and calcite, they compose the vast majority of rocks. How do I tell pyrite from real gold? Gold is soft (2.5 to 3), malleable, and leaves a yellow streak. Pyrite is hard (6 to 6.5), brittle, and leaves a greenish-black streak. Can AI identify minerals from a photo accurately? For clean, well-crystallized specimens in good lighting, accuracy is high. It drops for microcrystalline minerals, weathered surfaces, and species that require physical testing to separate. What is the difference between luster and streak? Luster describes how light reflects off the surface (metallic, vitreous, pearly, earthy). Streak is the color of the mineral's powder when rubbed on unglazed porcelain. Identify Minerals Anywhere The same AI that powers this scanner runs in the Rock Identifier app. Free on iOS and Android. Unlimited scans for subscribers. Download Free App × You've Used Your Free Scan Get unlimited identifications by downloading the Rock Identifier app. Free on iOS and Android. Download Free App