Evidence

How to photograph a card for XGrade.

The report can only be as complete as the photos. Bad light does not make a card a 7. It makes the evidence a 7 — and the caps will say so.

Required

• Front of the card, fully in frame, all four corners visible.
• Even, diffuse light. No window glare on holo or gloss.
• Unsleeved. A sleeve or toploader is an obstruction (max 8.5).
• Square to the camera. Off-axis shots hide edges and warp centering.
• In focus. Soft focus caps at 8. Fair photos cap at 9.

Strongly recommended

• A back photo. Without a photo of the back of the card, we will not issue above 9.
• The same lighting and distance on both sides.
• A plain, contrasting surface so corners are not cropped into the table.

What we will not invent

If a corner is glare, cropped, or blurry, it is not visible. It scores 7. It is not assumed gem. Two or more unseen corners cap the report at 8. Evidence below 90% cannot be a 10.

Why this is stricter than “one snapshot”

A typical AI pre-grade will still print a confident number from a sleeved, glare-heavy phone shot. XGrade will print the number the photos have earned — and print the caps that blocked a higher one.