Centering
The card's image relative to its borders. Measured as L/R and T/B ratios. <b>55/45 or better</b> is required for a PSA 10.
Grading isn't magic — it's four measurable axes: centering, corners, edges and surface. Here's how each one works, and how to evaluate your own cards before sending them off.
Every professional grader uses these four axes. If you can evaluate them yourself, you can predict your card's grade.
The card's image relative to its borders. Measured as L/R and T/B ratios. <b>55/45 or better</b> is required for a PSA 10.
Sharpness, whitening, and rounding. A single whitened corner can drop a PSA 10 to a 9. Look closely under good light.
Chips, dings, and bevel wear along the four edges. Holo edges show silvering — check under direct light.
Scratches, print lines, holo scratches and orange peel. Even tiny surface flaws move the needle from a 10 to a 9.
Card grading is a 1–10 scale (PSA, CGC) or 1–10 with 0.5 increments (BGS). A PSA 10 (Gem Mint) is essentially flawless. A PSA 9 (Mint) has very minor wear. The drop from 9 to 8 is much bigger than from 10 to 9 — most of the value lives at 9 and 10.
Self-grading by eye is fine for a handful of cards, but it's slow and inconsistent. AI pre-grading measures the same four axes pixel-by-pixel and gives you a calibrated prediction in seconds. Use self-grading for first-pass triage, and SnapGrade for the final go/no-go before PSA.
Sign up, 2 free credits, and you'll see exactly what the model picks up on a card you thought was a clean 10.