How to grade Pokémon cards at home
Updated October 3, 2026 by Kamal Nasir
Grading companies score a card on four things: centering, corners, edges and surface. You can check all four at home with a bright light, a ruler or centering tool and a magnifier, then compare what you find with the standards the grading companies publish. A home grade is an estimate, but it tells you which cards are worth sending in.
What you need
- A clean, flat surface and a microfiber cloth.
- A bright desk lamp you can angle.
- A ruler with millimeter marks, a printed centering overlay or a centering app.
- A jeweler's loupe, or your phone camera zoomed in.
- Soft sleeves, so you handle each card as little as possible.
Step 1: measure the centering
Centering is how evenly the borders frame the picture. Measure the left and right borders at their narrowest points, then the top and bottom. Divide the larger border by the two added together. A left border of 3 millimeters and a right border of 2 millimeters gives 3 divided by 5, or 60/40. Do the same from top to bottom and on the back, and use the worst reading.
CGC's published scale shows how much each grade tolerates. Its Gem Mint 10 allows front centering of about 55/45 and back centering of about 75/25, and its Pristine 10 asks for 50/50. For sports and non-sports cards its Mint 9 asks for 60/40 or better on the front and 90/10 on the back. PSA, Beckett and other services publish their own standards, close to these but not identical, so check the one you plan to use.
Nocturne: Card Value Scanner
Scan Pokémon, Magic and One Piece cards for value
Step 2: check the corners
Under the lamp, look at each corner front and back through the loupe. A top-grade corner comes to a sharp point with no white showing. Whitening, a fuzzy or soft tip, or a ding each lower the grade, and several worn corners pull a card well down the scale. On CGC's scale, a Near Mint 7 may show a touch of wear on three or more corners.
Step 3: check the edges
Edges show wear as white chips or a rough line, most visibly on the back, where the dark blue border makes whitening stand out. Run the light along each edge and note any chipping, nicks or a rough factory cut.
Step 4: check the surface
Tilt the card under the light so the reflection sweeps across it. This shows scratches, scuffs, dents, print lines, fingerprints and holo scratches that are invisible face on. Check the back too. A single crease or dent is usually enough to keep a card out of the top grades.
Turning your notes into a grade
One weak area caps the grade. Under CGC's standards, a card centered 65/35 cannot be a Gem Mint 10 however sharp its corners are, so start from your worst finding and work up. Be strict: graders look under magnification, so treat every flaw you can see as one they will see too.
If you plan to sell the card raw instead, the marketplace terms are simpler. TCGplayer uses Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played and Damaged, and Cardmarket uses a seven step scale from Mint to Poor.
Is it worth getting your cards graded?
Grading costs a fee per card plus shipping and insurance, and it takes weeks or longer. It tends to pay off when a card is already valuable raw, your home check points to a high grade, and graded sales at that grade are clearly above the raw price plus your costs. For most modern cards in ordinary condition the slab adds less than it costs. Look up sold prices at the grade you expect and at one grade lower, since that is a realistic outcome.
Nocturne gives a digital condition estimate from your photos, with separate centering, corners, edges and surface scores and a defect map showing where the wear is. Like any home check, it is a guide for deciding what to buy, sell or send in, not a substitute for an official grade.
Questions people ask
What does PSA 10 mean?
PSA 10 is Gem Mint, the top of PSA's 1 to 10 scale, for a card with essentially no visible flaws and tight centering. CGC also calls its 10 Gem Mint, and has a Pristine 10 above it for virtually flawless cards with 50/50 centering.
What is good centering on a Pokémon card?
55/45 or better on the front is within CGC's Gem Mint tolerance, and 60/40 still meets its Mint 9 standard for sports and non-sports cards. The further a card is from 50/50, the lower the ceiling on its grade.
Can an app grade my cards?
An app can estimate condition from photos and point out wear you might miss. Only a grading company can issue a grade that buyers accept on a slab.