Photographing Cards Like a Pro (Raw & Slab)
Set up a consistent lighting, background, and framing workflow that works for raw cards and slabs so your listings look professional without heavy editing.
Use diffuse lighting, a neutral background, and stable framing. Angle raw cards slightly to kill glare, control reflections on slabs, and capture all key details so buyers trust your listings.
Setup
- Lighting: two soft sources at 45° angles to reduce glare.
- Background: neutral gray, black, or white—non-reflective and consistent.
- Stability: use a tripod or phone stand; brace elbows if handheld.
- Lens/phone prep: clean the lens and disable aggressive filters.
Shooting Raw Cards
Handle raw cards gently, removing sleeves only when the surface is dust-free and stable so you avoid creating micro-scratches.
- Keep a penny sleeve and semi-rigid ready for handling.
- Tilt the card 1–3° to manage glare while keeping edges square.
- Frame with even borders and avoid cropping off corners.
Shooting Slabs
Reflections are the main slab challenge. Position light sources so they miss the plastic face and use top-down diffusion whenever possible.
- Use a polarizing filter when available to knock back reflections.
- Keep the label in focus and legible.
Framing & Consistency
- Match orientation to the card (portrait vs landscape).
- Fill roughly 85–92% of the frame and keep margins consistent.
- Capture multiple angles: front, back, corners, edges, serial, and defects — keep the serial sharp enough to verify against parallel and print-run checklists.
Color & Exposure
- Use a gray card for consistent white balance when possible.
- Slightly underexpose chrome and foil to preserve highlights.
- Avoid filters that shift color; fix white balance lightly in post.
Post-Processing (Light Touch)
- Straighten, crop, and leave a clean border.
- Remove visible dust before shooting instead of cloning it out later — clean shots also feed more accurate reads if you use an AI scanner app for identification.
- Export high-resolution JPG or PNG with reasonable file sizes.
File Naming & Workflow
Adopt a consistent naming convention and pair shots so you can find and reuse them quickly — ideally straight into an eBay CSV listing workflow.
- Example: 2022-topps-chrome-150-refractor-psa9-front.jpg
- Match back/close-up filenames using the same stem.
Checklist (Printable)
- Lights set at 45°
- Lens and background cleaned
- Square, stable framing
- Front, back, detail, and serial shots captured
- Neutral color and readable text/label
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Photographing in dusty sleeves and introducing fake “defects”.
- Cropping too tightly, which jeopardizes buyer confidence.
- Using heavy filters that shift color or add glare.
- Allowing reflections to hide slab labels.
FAQs
Answering the most common photography workflow questions from sellers.