Photographing Cards Like a Pro (Raw & Slab)

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Straighten, crop, and leave a clean border.
• Remove visible dust before shooting instead of cloning it out later.
• Export high-resolution JPG or PNG with reasonable file sizes.

Adopt a consistent naming convention and pair shots so you can find and reuse them quickly.

• Example: 2022-topps-chrome-150-refractor-psa9-front.jpg
• Match back/close-up filenames using the same stem.

• Lights set at 45°
• Lens and background cleaned
• Square, stable framing
• Front, back, detail, and serial shots captured
• Neutral color and readable text/label

• 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.

Answering the most common photography workflow questions from sellers.