AI Card Grading — How It Works

TCGSTREET uses computer vision and AI to analyze the condition of trading cards from a photo you submit. You receive a 1–10 condition score, a detailed damage breakdown, and a visual report — all in under a minute.

📷

Photo-Based Analysis

Submit a clear photo of your card's front face. Our system automatically detects, crops, and straightens the card — no manual editing needed.

🤖

Dual Grading Modes

Choose CV Grading for fast pixel-level defect analysis, or AI Grading for an additional large-language-model review of physical damage.

Priority Queue

Standard submissions are processed in order. Priority jobs jump the queue and are processed first, reducing wait time during busy periods.

📜

Full Damage Report

Every grade includes individual penalty scores for scratches, edge fraying, creases, discoloration, centering, and print defects.

📦

Bulk Grading

Upload multiple cards at once. Each is graded independently and results populate as they complete — ideal for grading a full collection.

🛡️

Foil & Holographic Cards

The system automatically detects foil and holographic finishes and adjusts its scratch and discoloration scoring to avoid false positives from card shimmer.

The Grading Process

1

Photo Submission

You upload a photo of the card's front face via the Grade page (single or bulk). The photo is checked for minimum quality — brightness, sharpness, and card angle — before any tokens are deducted. Photos that fail the quality check are rejected with a clear reason and no charge.

2

Card Detection & Straightening

The system automatically detects the card boundary, removes the background, and performs a perspective warp to produce a clean, top-down view — even if the card is slightly tilted in the photo.

3

Card Identification

The cropped card image is matched to our database to retrieve the official base card image for your specific printing. This reference image is used to measure off-centering, color misregistration, and edge deviations against a known-perfect baseline.

4

Defect Analysis

Computer vision algorithms scan the card surface for each damage category. In AI Grading mode, a large language model performs an additional physical condition review, and the two results are blended to produce the final score.

5

Score & Report Generation

A 1–10 score is calculated from the total penalty across all damage categories. A visual report image is generated overlaying the detected defects on the card. Both are saved to your history.

What Is Graded

Front face only. TCGSTREET analyzes the front of the card exclusively. The card back is not photographed, analyzed, or factored into the score. Physical grading services inspect both faces; back damage may cause their result to differ from ours.
Scratches & Scuffs
Up to −2.0 pts
Edge Fraying
Up to −2.0 pts
Creases & Bends
Up to −2.0 pts
Discoloration
Up to −1.0 pts
Misalignment
Up to −1.0 pts
Off-Centering
Up to −0.5 pts
Color Misregistration
Up to −0.5 pts

Grade Scale

10 Pristine Flawless — PSA 10 equivalent benchmark
9.0–9.9 Mint Near flawless, minimal handling marks
8.0–8.9 Near Mint Light handling, no visible structural damage
7.0–7.9 Lightly Played Minor wear, still excellent presentation
5.0–6.9 Moderately Played Visible wear and some surface damage
3.0–4.9 Heavily Played Significant damage affecting appearance
1.0–2.9 Poor Severe damage, misprint, or structural failure

Token Cost Per Submission

CV Grading (standard) 1 token
AI Grading (computer vision + AI Vision review) 2 tokens
Priority queue add-on +1 token
Rejected photo (quality check failed) 0 tokens

Tokens are purchased in advance from the token store. They do not expire and are refunded automatically if a grading job fails due to a system error.

Important Limitations

AI is not perfect. TCGSTREET grades are best-estimate scores based on photo analysis. The system may miss defects that are very subtle, hidden under glare, or only visible under magnification. Grades are provided for reference purposes and are not a guarantee of what any professional grading service will assign. Results may differ from PSA, BGS, CGC, or any other grading service.

For full legal disclosures see the Terms of Service.