5 Tips to Get a Higher Grade on Your Pokemon Cards

5 Tips to Get a Higher Grade on Your Pokemon Cards

Every Pokemon card collector dreams of pulling a PSA 10 or a perfect gem mint card from a pack. But here is the reality: the grade your card receives is not just about luck. How you handle, store, and photograph your cards can make the difference between a 9 and a 10. Whether you are submitting to PSA, BGS, or using TCGrader's AI grading, these five practical tips will help you maximize your card grades.

Tip 1: Handle Your Cards with Clean, Dry Hands

This might sound basic, but it is the single most important habit you can develop as a collector. The oils and moisture on your skin are your cards' worst enemies.

Why it matters: Natural skin oils leave invisible residue on card surfaces that can cause surface damage over time. Even worse, touching a card's surface can leave fingerprints that show up under the intense lighting used during grading. These surface marks are enough to drop a card from a 10 to a 9 or even an 8.

What to do:

• Wash and thoroughly dry your hands before handling cards
• Consider using clean cotton gloves for high-value cards
• Never touch the face of a card. Hold cards by the edges only
• Avoid handling cards after applying hand lotion, sanitizer, or sunscreen

Even when sleeving a card immediately after pulling it from a pack, make sure your hands are clean. That five-second window of exposure is enough to leave marks that will haunt you at grading time.

Tip 2: Sleeve and Topload Immediately

The moment a card leaves its pack, the clock starts ticking on potential damage. Every second a card spends unprotected is a chance for surface scratches, edge dings, or corner wear.

The proper protection sequence:

1. Penny sleeve first: Slide the card into a standard penny sleeve (also called soft sleeves). Insert the card top-edge first to minimize contact with the card face.
2. Then a toploader or semi-rigid holder: Place the sleeved card into a toploader. For cards you plan to grade, use semi-rigid card savers instead, as most grading companies prefer them for submissions.
3. Store upright in a box: Keep your toploaded cards standing upright in a card box or storage container. Laying them flat in stacks can cause pressure damage over time.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Do not use binder pages for valuable cards, as the rings can cause pressure dents
• Never rubber-band cards together
• Avoid magnetic holders for long-term storage, since some can leave marks
• Do not store cards in extreme temperatures or humidity

Tip 3: Understand Centering Before You Grade

Centering is the one grading attribute that is completely out of your control since it is determined at the printing factory. However, understanding centering helps you make smart decisions about which cards are worth grading.

How centering is measured: Centering is expressed as a ratio comparing the left-to-right and top-to-bottom borders. Perfect centering is 50/50 in both directions. PSA allows up to 60/40 on the front and 75/25 on the back for a Gem Mint 10.

How to check centering yourself:

• Hold the card up and visually compare opposite borders
• Use a centering tool or app to measure precisely
• Use TCGrader for an instant centering analysis

Pro tip: Before submitting a batch of cards to PSA, check the centering on every single one. A card with 65/35 centering cannot receive a PSA 10 no matter how perfect the corners, edges, and surface are. Identifying poorly centered cards in advance saves you submission fees on cards that will never achieve top grades.

Tip 4: Use Proper Lighting for AI Grading Photos

If you are using AI grading tools like TCGrader to evaluate your cards, the quality of your photos directly impacts the accuracy of your grade. Poor photos can make a mint card look damaged or hide real flaws that the AI would otherwise catch.

Optimal lighting setup:

• Use natural daylight when possible. Position yourself near a window with indirect sunlight. Direct sunlight creates harsh shadows and glare.
• Avoid overhead fluorescent lights, which can create uneven lighting and color casts
• Use two light sources positioned at 45-degree angles to the card to minimize shadows and glare
• Eliminate glare on holo cards by adjusting the angle until the holographic pattern is visible but not creating a bright reflection

Photography tips:

• Photograph on a clean, solid-colored background (dark backgrounds work best)
• Keep the card flat and shoot from directly above
• Use your phone's highest resolution setting
• Take the card out of the toploader but keep it in the penny sleeve for photography
• Make sure the entire card is in focus. Tap on the card to lock focus.
• Avoid digital zoom, as it reduces image quality

What to avoid:

• Blurry or out-of-focus images
• Photos with strong shadows across the card
• Bright glare spots that hide surface details
• Crooked angles that distort the card's proportions

Tip 5: Know Your Card's Weak Points

Every card type has common problem areas. Knowing where issues tend to appear helps you inspect cards more carefully and protect them where they are most vulnerable.

Pokemon card common issues by era:

Vintage (Base Set through Neo):

• Thin card stock that dents and bends easily
• Holo bleed on holographic cards
• Silvering along edges (thin white line where ink did not fully cover)
• Print lines running across the holographic foil

Modern (Sun and Moon onward):

• Texture print lines on full-art and rainbow rare cards
• Factory edge whitening, especially on darker bordered cards
• Pack-fresh surface scratches from cards rubbing together in the pack
• Centering inconsistencies that vary by print run

What to inspect before grading:

1. Examine all four corners under magnification for whitening or fraying
2. Run your finger along each edge to feel for nicks
3. Hold the card at an angle under bright light to reveal surface scratches
4. Check the back of the card, as graders examine both sides equally
5. Look for print defects like ink spots, print lines, or roller marks

Bonus: Pre-Screen with AI Before Professional Submission

The most cost-effective strategy is to pre-screen every card with TCGrader's AI grading before deciding which ones to send to PSA or BGS. The AI will catch centering issues, corner wear, and surface problems that you might miss with the naked eye.

By following these five tips consistently, you will protect your cards from unnecessary damage, identify your best candidates for professional grading, and ultimately achieve higher grades across your collection. The difference between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10 can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars on high-demand cards, so every precaution is worth taking.