Photograph · Scan
How to scan or take a picture
The crop and the grade both need a flat, well-lit card that fills the frame. A white-border card on pale wood, or a phone shot from the side, leaves desk in the picture and the report is only a hint.
Phone
- Lay the card flat on a contrasting table — dark desk for a white-border card, light desk for a dark back.
- Hold the phone directly above, not at an angle. The card should fill most of the frame, with a little table around it.
- Use even light. Turn away from a window or lamp that throws glare on the surface.
- Shoot front and back if you can. Use Turn 90° on the grader until the card stands the right way up.
Scanner
- Scan at 300 dpi or higher, colour, JPEG or PNG.
- One card per file, or a front and a back as a pair.
- Wipe the glass. Dust reads as surface marks.
If the photograph is too soft, too glare-lit, or we cannot lift the card off the table, the report says so and the grade stays conservative.