Photo Guide

Better photos mean more accurate condition assessments. Here's what helps.

Use a dark background

Place cards on a black or dark surface. This creates contrast around the edges so we can see edge whitening, corner wear, and centering clearly.

Good

  • Black desk or table
  • Dark fabric or felt
  • Dark mousepad or playmat

Avoid

  • White surfaces
  • Patterned surfaces
  • Binder pages

Get the lighting right

Use even, indirect lighting. Overhead room lights or natural daylight from a window work well. Avoid pointing a light directly at the card.

Tips

Diffused natural light near a window is ideal

Bounce lamp light off a wall or ceiling

If you see glare on a holo, shift your angle

Common mistakes

Flash — creates harsh spots, especially on holos

Phone shadow — holding the phone directly over casts a shadow

Mixed light — warm lamp + cool daylight makes colors look off

Flat and straight

Lay cards flat and shoot from directly above. We need all four corners and edges visible to measure centering accurately.

  • Card is flat — not curled or resting on something uneven
  • All four corners visible
  • Camera directly above, not at an angle
  • Some background visible around the card

Both sides matter

We need both front and back photos of every card. A front-only submission limits what we can tell you — and could mean the difference between a $50 valuation and a $500 one.

Front tells us

  • Card identity — name, set, number
  • Holo pattern and surface scratches
  • Front centering (left/right, top/bottom borders)
  • Creases, dents, or print defects on artwork

Back tells us

  • Edge whitening and corner wear
  • Back centering (often different from front)
  • Staining, discoloration, or water damage
  • Print lines, roller marks, and factory defects

Why this matters for grading

Grading companies like PSA and Beckett score cards on centering, corners, edges, and surface — and they evaluate both sides independently. A card with a perfect front but heavy edge whitening on the back won't grade well. Without back photos, we can't give you an accurate grade estimate or tell you whether grading is worth the investment.

Without back photos we can't

  • Give an accurate condition grade estimate
  • Recommend whether professional grading makes financial sense
  • Identify shadowless or 1st edition variants (back design differences)
  • Provide a reliable market value for raw or graded sales

Tips for back photos

  • Flip cards in place so they stay in the same position as the front photo
  • Use the same lighting setup for both sides
  • Dark backgrounds are even more important on backs — edge whitening is white-on-blue and easy to miss on light surfaces

Multiple cards

You can photograph up to 4 cards per image. If you do, spacing matters.

4-card layout

Card 1
Card 2
Card 3
Card 4

Make sure to leave space between each card

  • At least a finger-width gap between cards
  • No overlapping — every edge fully visible
  • Same layout for front and back photos

Single-card photos give the best detail. Multi-card layouts speed things up, but use individual shots for high-value cards.

Keep it sharp

Make sure the photo is in focus. Tap the card on your phone screen before shooting. A blurry photo means we can't see scratches, print lines, or edge detail.

Before you submit, check

  • Can you read the small text when you zoom in?
  • Card edges clear against the background?
  • No glare or shadows on the card?

Sleeves and toploaders

If you can, take cards out of sleeves — they add glare and hide surface detail. But don't risk damaging a card for a photo. A decent shot in a sleeve is better than a damaged card. Just let us know.

Ready to submit?

A phone camera, a dark surface, and decent light. That's all you need.

Start Your Submission