You don't need a camera to take good photos of your cards: your phone is enough. Take the card out of its sleeve, put it on a dark, plain background, use soft indirect daylight with no flash, hold the phone parallel to the card, and shoot the front, back and details. Photos like that work both for selling and for an AI to estimate the grade.
What you need
Your phone, with a clean lens (wipe it: a fingerprint on the lens blurs everything).
A plain, dark background: black card stock, a playmat or a matte cloth.
A window with indirect daylight or a white-light lamp.
Optional: a tripod or something to rest the phone on.
Step by step
Out of the sleeve for an analysis: plastic causes glare and hides the edges. For a listing you can leave it in a clean penny sleeve if the photo looks good, but detail shots are better with nothing on.
Dark background: the card's edges stand out and corner whitening shows.
Soft light: no flash and no direct sun. Light from one side and slightly above, not straight on.
Phone parallel: straight above the card, without tilting it. If the photo comes out as a trapezoid, centering looks worse (or better) than it is.
Whole card in frame: the entire card with a little margin around it. Don't crop the edges.
Focus: tap the screen on the card and wait for it to focus. Better to move closer than to use digital zoom.
The shots you need
Shot
What it's for
Front
Identifying the card and measuring front centering.
Back
Corners, edges and back centering. It's where wear shows most.
Side light
Tilt the card or the light: scratches, fingerprints and dents show up.
Corners
A close-up of each corner if the card is valuable.
Details
Specific flaws, the 1st Edition stamp or the serial number if it's numbered.
Holo and shiny cards
They're the hardest: glare hides everything. Rotate the card or the light slightly until the glare moves off the artwork, and take a separate shot tilted on purpose so the holo and its condition show. To check authenticity, a photo with the phone very close to an area of solid color helps you see the print pattern (see how to tell if a Pokémon card is fake).
Graded cards
Wipe the slab with a soft cloth.
Front shot with the label readable (grade and cert number).
A shot of the back of the slab.
Avoid ceiling reflections: tilt the slab slightly or shoot somewhere with no lights directly above.
For selling: be honest
No filters or edits. Colors have to be true to life.
Show the flaws. If they don't appear in the photo and the buyer finds them, you'll get a claim.
Always photos of your card, never stock images.
If the card is expensive, a photo with a note showing your name and the date builds trust.
Common mistakes
Shooting at an angle: it distorts centering.
Direct flash: it burns out the holo and hides scratches.
White background: the card's white borders disappear.
A card in a toploader with glare: nothing that matters is visible.
Blurry or dark photos.
For the AI analysis
CardFolio's AI analysis uses your front and back photos to identify the card, measure centering on both sides and score corners, edges and surface. The better the photos, the sharper the PSA grade estimate. If a photo doesn't show something, the analysis tells you instead of guessing. If you're unsure about the grade, go over what PSA grade your card would get.
Option
Price
What's included
No plan
€1.49
one analysis, no subscription
CardFolio Pro
€3.99/month
10 AI analyses a month
CardFolio Max
€9.99/month
50 AI analyses a month
CardFolio Élite
€19.99/month
up to 150 AI analyses a month
Your first analysis is free when you sign up. Prices in euros, VAT included. Cancel your plan anytime.
Got your photos? Upload them and see what grade your card would get (the app is in Spanish for now).