Card Condition: The Complete Grading Guide
What PSA graders look at — corners, edges, centering, and surface — and how to spot problems before you spend money on a raw card.
Last updated: May 2026
Donnie Lauring
Founder, AgentGRaiL · Former card grader
AgentGRaiL evaluates three of these four criteria automatically.
Our AI scores centering, corners, and edges from card photos. Surface is excluded because head-on photos can't capture it — we explain why in the Surface section below. Honest limitations are part of how we earn trust.
1. Centering
Left/right + top/bottom ratios — the most measurable criterion
Centering describes how well the printed image sits within the card's borders. It's expressed as a ratio — for example, 55/45 left/right means the left border is 10% wider than the right. PSA uses a strict percentage grid to define each grade tier. Centering is the most objective sub-criterion: you can measure it with a ruler or our AI can compute it from the image.
How to spot it
- →Hold the card face-up under consistent light and align it against a straight edge.
- →Look at all four borders simultaneously — a card can be perfect left/right but badly off top/bottom.
- →Slight misregistration (print is off but borders look correct) is different from true centering — compare border width, not image alignment.
- →Scans or photos taken off-angle will make centering look worse than it is; always photograph square-on.
PSA grading standards
Gem Mint
55/45 or better on both axes. At PSA 10 the card looks perfectly centered to the naked eye.
Mint
60/40 or better on both axes. A small but visible border difference is allowed.
Near Mint–Mint
65/35 or better. Noticeable centering issue but card still presents cleanly.
Worse than 65/35 on either axis. Strong centering defect is visible at a glance.
How AgentGRaiL evaluates centering
AgentGRaiL measures centering geometrically from the card image. The AI detects the card boundary, measures each border width in pixels, and converts to a percentage ratio. High accuracy on straight-on photos; off-angle photos degrade the measurement.
Pro tip
Centering can make or break a PSA 10 pop. A near-perfect-surface card centering at 62/38 is a hard 9 at best — know this before you buy.
2. Corners
The most common grade-killer on handled cards
Corners are examined under 5× magnification by PSA graders. What looks fine to the naked eye can show corner softening, fraying (tiny fiber separation at the tip), or whitening (surface compression exposing the white paper core beneath the coating). Corners are the most sensitive indicator of handling damage and the most common reason a card falls below PSA 10.
How to spot it
- →Examine all four corners at a 45° angle under a bright light — not head-on.
- →Look for 'fuzzing' at the very tip: tiny white or grey fiber separations that look like a soft brush stroke.
- →Whitening shows as a bright white spot right at the corner tip, caused by compression when the card is stacked or stored flat.
- →A corner ding is a physical bend: fold the card slightly to see if there's a crease line originating from the corner.
- →Macro photography (phone camera 3-5x zoom) reveals corner issues invisible in standard listing photos.
PSA grading standards
Gem Mint
Four sharp corners under 5× magnification. No fraying, whitening, or softening of any kind.
Mint
One corner may show the very slightest wear — barely perceptible under magnification.
Near Mint–Mint
Slight fraying or light whitening on up to two corners. Visible with naked eye under ideal light.
Moderate corner wear — obvious whitening, fuzzing, or a ding on one or more corners.
How AgentGRaiL evaluates corners
AgentGRaiL AI detects corner sharpness using edge detection and local sharpness analysis at each corner quadrant. Standard eBay listing photos often don't capture corner detail at the resolution our model needs — macro close-ups improve accuracy. The lightbox-v4 rig captures corners under controlled raking light for maximum AI accuracy.
Pro tip
Corner wear is the #1 reason cards hit PSA 9 instead of 10. When evaluating raw cards, zoom in on the corners in every listing photo — if the seller didn't provide a corner close-up, assume the worst.
3. Edges
The silent grade-killer — invisible until you look for it
Edge wear appears along the four sides of the card — not at the corners. It manifests as chipping (tiny pieces of the card's printed layer flaking off), whitening (the coating wearing away to expose white paper beneath), or fraying (fiber separation along the cut edge). Edge defects are especially common on vintage cards cut with less precise equipment, and on modern cards stored in loose stacks.
How to spot it
- →Tilt the card at a shallow angle under bright light and look along each edge — edge defects 'catch' the light.
- →Run your eye along each edge looking for discoloration: a healthy edge matches the printed border color; whitening shows as a lighter streak.
- →Chipping looks like a notch or rough patch — common on edges near corners where handling first wears the card.
- →On modern glossy cards, fraying shows as a subtle texture change at the edge — feels slightly rough under the fingernail.
- →Check edges in the scan: look for irregular pixel patterns along the border that don't match the card's design.
PSA grading standards
Gem Mint
Edges are virtually perfect. No chipping, whitening, or fraying visible under magnification.
Mint
Very slight roughness on one edge — barely noticeable, no chipping.
Near Mint–Mint
Light chipping or whitening on 1–2 edges. Visible with naked eye at the right angle.
Moderate to heavy chipping, whitening, or fraying along one or more edges.
How AgentGRaiL evaluates edges
AgentGRaiL uses edge detection along each of the four card sides. Edge wear often reads as pixel-level irregularity at the card boundary — our model was trained on BGS-graded slab edge scores as ground truth. Standard eBay photos rarely capture edges well enough for high-confidence scoring; this criterion has the highest uncertainty in our AI output.
Pro tip
Edge wear is often invisible in eBay listing photos taken straight-on. Always request additional photos at an angle, or assume Grade 8 ceiling on any raw card where the seller hasn't provided edge close-ups.
4. Surface
The hardest criterion to assess — and why we're honest about it
Surface condition covers scratches, print lines, print defects, and scuffing on the front or back of the card. It's the most subjective criterion and — critically — the hardest to photograph. Surface defects only become visible under raking light: a low-angle light source that skims across the card and makes micro-scratches cast visible shadows. Standard head-on phone photos physically cannot capture most surface defects.
How to spot it
- →Use a portable LED flashlight (not overhead room light) and hold it at a 5–15° angle to the card surface. Slowly rotate the card. Scratches become clearly visible as the light rakes across them.
- →Look for 'hazing' — a subtle loss of gloss over an area of the card, indicating accumulated micro-scratches.
- →Print lines appear as thin parallel streaks in the printed area, from the printing press rollers — these are manufacturing defects, not handling damage, but still affect grade.
- →Print defects (ink spots, registration dots, smudges) are manufacturing issues visible under magnification.
- →Tilt the card under a single light source and slowly rotate 360° — scratches will 'appear' and 'disappear' as the angle changes.
PSA grading standards
Gem Mint
No scratches, hazing, or print defects under 5× magnification and raking light.
Mint
Very slight print line or minor surface irregularity only visible under strong raking light.
Near Mint–Mint
Light scratches or hazing visible under raking light; print defects may be present.
Visible surface wear, scratches, or print defects noticeable at normal viewing angle.
How AgentGRaiL evaluates surface
AgentGRaiL does not include surface in the final AI grade verdict. Standard eBay listing photos taken head-on physically cannot capture surface defects — including them in the grade prediction would generate false confidence. This is an honest limitation, not a gap we're planning to work around with software alone. The lightbox-v4 raking-light rig (which Donnie built for exactly this purpose) is the right fix. Until then, surface is excluded from AI verdicts and flagged as 'requires physical inspection.'
Pro tip
Never trust a raw card's surface from a head-on photo. For expensive cards (>$100), raking-light inspection is non-negotiable before submission. If the seller's photos are all head-on, factor in a grade-tier buffer before bidding.
Putting it all together
PSA grades on a holistic scale from 1 to 10, but each sub-criterion has a floor effect: a single severe defect in any category caps the overall grade, regardless of how perfect the other three are.
The most common pattern we see on AgentGRaiL is a card with great centering and clean edges that falls to a 9 because of soft corners — handling damage that the eBay listing photo didn't show.
AgentGRaiL's AI grades centering, corners, and edges with high confidence from good photos. Surface requires a physical inspection under raking light — no photo-based AI system can reliably catch surface defects from head-on shots. Factor this into your purchase decisions on high-value raw cards.