Identify a card from a photo

Send a photo and get back the card and, where the photo shows it, the exact printing: 1st Edition, Shadowless, reverse holo, stamped promos, the 1999–2000 copyright print. The same feature is available as the GraphQL field identifyCard, the MCP tool identify_card and the CLI command raritydb identify.

query($image: String!) {
  identifyCard(image: $image) {
    status confidence hints
    card { code name number set { name printedTotal } }
    printing { key finish stamps subtype }
    printings { key finish stamps subtype }
    candidates { score textScore imageSimilarity reasons card { code name } }
    reading { name number printedTotal setCode language firstEditionStamp shadowless holoArea slabGrader slabGrade slabCert }
    quality { cardFound shortEdgePx sharpness glareFraction }
  }
}

raritydb identify charizard.jpg
raritydb identify charizard.jpg --tilted charizard-tilted.jpg --json

image is base64, a data URL (data:image/jpeg;base64,…) or an https:// URL. It must be a JPEG, PNG or WebP of at most 10 MB, with at least 600 px on the short edge. Each call counts as one request.

How it works

1. The card's outline is found and straightened, and the photo's quality is measured (quality).
2. A vision model reads what is printed on the card: name, collector number, set size, set code, language, stamps, the copyright line, where the holo shine is, and a graded slab's label (reading).
3. At the same time the photo is compared with the reference scan of every card (imageSimilarity).
4. Both kinds of evidence rank the candidates. Each candidate lists its reasons, e.g. "number 4 matches; set size 102 matches Base Set; looks like the reference scan (similarity 0.96)".
5. The cues visible on the card narrow the best match's printings (printing, or printings when more than one is still possible).

Status

printing is only set when exactly one printing fits what the photo shows. Otherwise printings lists those still possible, and hints names the missing cue, for example "Tilt the card under a light so the holo shine shows (holo or reverse)".

Several cards in one photo

identifyCards takes one photo of a spread on a table or a binder page (up to 20 cards) and identifies each card. Cards are found by their outlines and returned in reading order, with their row, column and box (where the card is in the photo, as fractions of its width and height).

query($image: String!) {
  identifyCards(image: $image) {
    foundBy detected hints
    cards { row column box { x y width height } error identification { status card { code name } printing { key } } }
  }
}

raritydb identify-cards binder-page.jpg --grid 3x3

• Binder pages: when the cards touch, their edges can't be told apart. Pass grid: "3x3" (rows x columns) and the photo is split evenly instead (foundBy: "grid").
• Quota: each identified card counts as one photo check. Cards past your remaining checks come back with error instead of an identification, so a page never fails halfway.
• Errors per card: a card too small or unreadable gets its own error; the others are unaffected.
• Size: cards in a page photo can be as small as 400 px on the short edge (600 for a single photo). For the best reads, photograph a 9-pocket page from straight above, filling the frame.
• One card found: if no separate cards are found, the whole photo is read as one card, with a hint.

Photo tips

• Lay the card flat on a plain, contrasting background and fill most of the frame.
• Use even light. Glare over the number or set code is the most common cause of AMBIGUOUS.
• Take it out of a toploader if you can. A penny sleeve is fine.
• Holo or reverse holo? Add tiltedImage (CLI: --tilted), a second photo tilted under a light so the shine shows.
• Graded slabs work: the grader, grade and cert number are read from the label (reading.slabGrader, slabGrade, slabCert).

Graded slabs

When the photo shows a slab label, slab says where to verify its cert with the grader, and whether the number is even possible for that grader:

{ identifyCard(image: $image) { reading { slabGrader slabGrade slabCert } slab { grader formatValid verifyUrl directLink note } } }

We link to the graders' pages and don't look certs up ourselves. Open the page and check that it shows this card and this grade, because a fake slab can carry a real cert copied from another card. formatValid: false means the number can't be one of that grader's certs, which is a red flag. The same check is available without a photo: slabVerification(grader: "PSA", cert: "12345678"), raritydb slab psa 12345678, or the verify_slab MCP tool.

What it can and can't tell

• Can: the set, number and language of any card in the catalog, including Japanese and other Asian prints. Visible printing cues: the 1st Edition stamp, Shadowless (Base Set), the 1999–2000 copyright, holo vs reverse holo (best with a tilted photo), stamps, Poké Ball / Master Ball patterns.
• Can't: distinguish printings that look the same in a photo (some print-run differences, or a misprint that isn't visible), or authenticate a card. It is also not a condition grade.
• Reference scans exist for most, not all, cards. A card without one is matched on its printed text alone.

This page as Markdown: /docs/identify.md