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To check a Pokémon card's condition online, upload clear photos of the complete front and back. CGI Vision AI reviews visible centering, corners, edges, and surface and usually returns a result in about 60 seconds. The result is a photo-based pre-screen—not an official grade, authentication, or value appraisal.
The professional grading company physically inspects the card and assigns the final grade. CardGrade helps you decide what deserves that closer look.
A condition checker focuses on visible defects; the scanner explains capture and upload, while the AI grader explains the fuller estimate report. Use the page that matches your task.
Stay here for the four condition areas, photo checklist, and examples of edge whitening, holo glare, and print lines.
Use the condition checklist →Use the scanner guide when your main question is how to capture a card on web, iPhone, or Android.
Open the Pokémon card scanner →Use the AI grading guide for a deeper explanation of grade estimates, report factors, and submission planning.
See AI Pokémon card grading →A clean-looking front can still hide reverse whitening, a soft corner, or a surface issue. Review every category on both sides.
Measure left-to-right and top-to-bottom borders on both sides. PSA publishes approximately 55/45 or better on the front and 75/25 or better on the reverse as Gem Mint 10 guidance, but PSA makes the final in-hand decision.
Look for whitening, soft tips, bends, fraying, and compression at all eight visible corner faces. A sharp front corner can still show wear on the reverse.
Check all four edges on the front and back for white flecks, chipping, rough cuts, dents, and peeling. Dark blue vintage Pokémon backs can make edge whitening easier to see.
Rotate holo, reverse-holo, and full-art cards under diffuse and angled light. Visible scratches, fixed print lines, stains, scuffs, and gloss changes can matter, while glare can hide or imitate a defect.
Need a border ratio? Use the free card centering calculator. A ratio is one condition input, not a complete grade prediction. The PSA 10 centering figures above come from PSA's published grading standards.
The checker can only review what the image clearly shows. Use this checklist before uploading either side.
Photograph the complete front and back straight on. Keep every corner and edge inside the frame, with the camera parallel to the card.
Avoid direct flash, window streaks, deep shadows, and colored LEDs. If a holo reflection covers the art or text, change the light rather than accepting the glare.
A removable sleeve, top loader, or one-touch can add reflections and hide edges. Remove it only when doing so is safe. Never crack a professional slab for a photo pre-screen.
Use a clean, plain, contrasting surface and check the image at full size. Retake any photo with motion blur, compression, cropped borders, or a camera shadow.
Use a second angled-light inspection for holofoil and textured cards. A fixed mark stays in one place as the reflection moves; ordinary glare moves with the light.
Use clean, dry hands and hold the card by its edges. Do not wipe, polish, press, erase, or apply liquids in an attempt to improve condition.
| Card or surface | What you see | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Modern holo or full art | A bright band moves across the artwork when the light changes. | Likely glare, not enough evidence of a scratch. Retake under diffuse light and inspect at a second angle before relying on the surface result. |
| WOTC-era Pokémon card | Small white flecks stay visible along the dark reverse edge in a sharp photo. | Record visible edge whitening. The checker can review what the photo captures, but it cannot determine whether more wear is hidden by the holder or angle. |
| Holo with a print line | A thin straight line remains fixed across the foil while the reflection moves. | Treat it as a possible visible print defect and inspect the physical card closely. A photo cannot determine the professional grade impact by itself. |
| Pack-fresh modern card | One corner shows a tiny white touch even though the rest of the card looks clean. | Pack-fresh does not mean defect-free. Record only the visible touch; do not assume the checker can find defects that the image does not show. |
Use the checklist above to keep the full card square, sharp, evenly lit, and as free from holder glare as possible.
CGI Vision AI reviews visible centering, corners, edges, and surface and usually returns its photo-based estimate in about 60 seconds.
Confirm every flagged area under your own light, inspect anything the photos may have hidden, and compare the professional grader’s current standards before submitting.
Use the condition estimate with exact-card completed sales, current service terms, shipping, insurance, and your reason for grading. No photo result guarantees a grade or value.
Photo limitations
A photo pre-screen is useful only within the evidence supplied. It cannot touch, tilt, measure, authenticate, or physically inspect the card.
If a result depends on one obscured defect or a top grade, inspect the raw card again and model a lower outcome before paying a submission fee.
Upload sharp, evenly lit photos of the complete front and back. A useful condition check reviews centering in both directions, every corner, all four edges, and the visible front and back surfaces. CardGrade can organize those visible factors into an AI pre-screen, but you should recheck the physical card before deciding whether to submit it.
It can provide a photo-based estimate of visible condition, not an official PSA grade. PSA physically inspects the card and may see indentations, alterations, texture changes, or other details that a photo misses. Image quality, glare, sleeves, holders, and missing angles can also change the pre-screen.
PSA publishes approximately 55/45 or better centering on the front and 75/25 or better on the reverse for Gem Mint 10. Those ratios are guidance rather than a grade promise; corners, edges, surface, print quality, focus, gloss, staining, and overall eye appeal also matter, and PSA makes the final decision.
Start with a sharp front photo under diffuse light, then rotate the card or light to inspect the holo at another angle. A scratch or print line stays fixed on the card while glare and the intended foil pattern move. If the reflection hides an area, retake the photo instead of treating that area as clean.
You can use it to review clear photos of vintage cards, including WOTC-era releases. Inspect reverse-edge whitening, corner softness, holo scratches, silvering, print defects, stains, and other visible age or handling issues. The result still depends on the supplied images and does not authenticate the card or replace an in-hand review.
It may flag a visible print line, ink spot, edge touch, or centering issue when the photo captures it clearly. It cannot find an invisible defect or anything obscured by glare, a sleeve, low resolution, or the camera angle. Pack-fresh describes how the card was obtained, not a guaranteed condition grade.
Remove a card from a removable sleeve, top loader, or one-touch only when doing so is safe. Those layers can add glare and apparent scratches while hiding edges or corners. Never crack a professional slab for a photo pre-screen. If the card must stay protected, treat the photo result as more limited.
This page focuses on the visible condition factors and capture checklist used before grading. The Pokémon card scanner explains the camera and upload workflow, while the AI Pokémon card grader explains the fuller grade-estimate report. All three are photo-based pre-screening resources, not physical authentication or official grading.
Capture the complete front and back, review the AI condition estimate, and then recheck the physical card against the professional grader's current standards.
Photo-based pre-screen only. No official grade, authentication, submission outcome, or market value is guaranteed.