Baseball Cards Look Centered on Scans, But Not When in Hand

DeutscherGeist

Dear Fellow Collectors,

I have been on a recent buying spree of some key rookie cards on 4 Sharp Corners and Ebay. I go for centered cards in PSA 10 (PSA 9 for expensive cards). The scans look dead centered, but upon receipt of the card, I see there is a slight off centering (probably still within guidelines of a PSA 10). Has this happened to any of you?

Luckily, these cards are not expensive and they are still legitimately what I paid for. However, I am starting to believe that scans may not be totally reliable for determining if something is perfectly centered or 55/45. Some cards were photographed rather than scanned on a flat bed. Camera angles could influence the visual of a card, but it appears flat bed scanning seems to also create a tiny bit of illusion.

PaulMaul

The illusion is likely caused by the shadow of one of the PSA holder posts.

LarkinCollector

Camera angles are definitely used to influence appearance of centering. I just assume any angled pics are being used to distort perception unless a head on pic is also provided. I haven't noticed it on flatbed scans, but do pay attention to whether any portion of the card is obscured by the rails/LPTs/holder posts.

miwlvrn

Agreed on shadow from the rails even if the card itself is not up against them. Also, mind the background color behind the scan; black vs. white can look different on the same card.

aro13

I have had this happen to me quite often with 1971 and 1972 Basketball cards.

KendallCat

Very good points and there is a tell tale way to notice when this happens - I have seen some posters on here use this trick successfully as well. Rather than scan a card flat on a scanner they take a photo of the card, and to mask the centering being off they take a photo of the card with the wide side placed further away so it appears the card is more centered than it is. This masks the short side and makes the card appear centered.

JBrules

@KendallCat said:
Very good points and there is a tell tale way to notice when this happens - I have seen some posters on here use this trick successfully as well. Rather than scan a card flat on a scanner they take a photo of the card, and to mask the centering being off they take a photo of the card with the wide side placed further away so it appears the card is more centered than it is. This masks the short side and makes the card appear centered.

To add to this I always look at other scans that the seller has (if they are selling more than one card). If you see flat scans from a scanner for the truly centered cards then you know the answer.

KendallCat

@JBrules said:

@KendallCat said:
Very good points and there is a tell tale way to notice when this happens - I have seen some posters on here use this trick successfully as well. Rather than scan a card flat on a scanner they take a photo of the card, and to mask the centering being off they take a photo of the card with the wide side placed further away so it appears the card is more centered than it is. This masks the short side and makes the card appear centered.

To add to this I always look at other scans that the seller has (if they are selling more than one card). If you see flat scans from a scanner for the truly centered cards then you know the answer.

Excellent point and great advice.

BLUEJAYWAY

Excellent tips noted here.

erikthredd

I personally don't use a scanner for taking pics of my cards and sometimes its tough using an Iphone or Samsung because of the reflection off the holder or slab from the phone. So you basically have to take it at a slight angle or about 15"-20" directly over the card to prevent having your phone's reflection ruin the shot.
I'm not trying to make excuses for any of these sellers taking slightly angled pics, i'm just trying to point out that not everyone is trying to hide something.

JBrules

@erikthredd said:
I personally don't use a scanner for taking pics of my cards and sometimes its tough using an Iphone or Samsung because of the reflection off the holder or slab from the phone. So you basically have to take it at a slight angle or about 15"-20" directly over the card to prevent having your phone's reflection ruin the shot.
I'm not trying to make excuses for any of these sellers taking slightly angled pics, i'm just trying to point out that not everyone is trying to hide something.

Totally agree as I have purchased several centered cards from picts. at a slight angle from sellers who do not have a flatbed scanner.

RipublicaninMass

@JBrules said:

@KendallCat said:
Very good points and there is a tell tale way to notice when this happens - I have seen some posters on here use this trick successfully as well. Rather than scan a card flat on a scanner they take a photo of the card, and to mask the centering being off they take a photo of the card with the wide side placed further away so it appears the card is more centered than it is. This masks the short side and makes the card appear centered.

To add to this I always look at other scans that the seller has (if they are selling more than one card). If you see flat scans from a scanner for the truly centered cards then you know the answer.

This happened to me, and I opened an eBay case. I then noticed all the sellers cards were scan, except for the one bought! When I brought this to the attention to the eBay rep, they refunded me with the day