Pokémon card scanner not working? Check the photo and message

Make the small print readable

Place one card on a plain background. Include all four corners and keep the phone roughly parallel to the front, with a small margin around the card. Avoid a distant binder page, several overlapping cards, a cropped number or a hand covering the set mark. Clean the camera lens, steady the phone and wait for focus before taking the photo.

If text stays soft, move the phone a little farther away rather than pressing it against the card or relying on digital zoom. The site requests a rear camera and continuous focus where supported, but cannot force every phone to focus. Inspect the saved image: readable text is a more useful check than the size of the preview.

Continue with: How to identify a Pokémon card by set and number.

Move the light before retaking a foil card

A ceiling lamp, flash or scratched sleeve may produce a bright patch over the name, illustration or number. Move away from direct light, use diffuse illumination and slightly adjust the angle while keeping the text legible. Avoid your own shadow across the card.

A sleeve or rigid holder can add another reflective layer. Adjust the lighting first; remove the card only when you can do so safely. Do not bend it or apply cleaning products. A clearer identity photo still does not prove the physical foil version: check that separately with the finish guide.

Continue with: Holo or reverse holo? Check where the light moves.

Camera and upload problems need separate checks

If the camera does not open, check camera permission for this site in your browser and device settings. Use the HTTPS site in a supported browser, or take a photo with your normal camera app and upload it. Browser restrictions or an unavailable camera can block capture without telling you anything about the card.

Choose JPEG, PNG or WebP, no larger than 20 MiB. HEIC and HEIF are currently rejected; export or convert a copy to a supported format rather than merely changing the filename. A file the browser cannot decode also fails. The browser prepares the image, then sends it to the server for Vision recognition; scanning is not entirely local or offline.

Continue with: Pokémon card condition: Near Mint, Excellent and Played.

Recover a missed identity without repeating the same photo

Check the card-language selection: supported cards are English, Italian and Japanese, even though the interface has nine languages. Compare the returned candidates using name, illustration, set and full number. The first suggestion is a starting point; select the matching candidate when another one fits.

If none fits, use the recovery form after a scan. Enter the requested set code and collector number, preserving prefixes such as GG. The set-and-number guide helps separate these details. A recognized card without a quote is a price-coverage gap, not proof that recognition failed or that the card is worth zero.

Read limits before pressing retry

For a busy service, rate limit or temporary outage, wait as indicated and retry when the button becomes available. Card Scan Lab does not automatically retry the retained image. A network error or timeout concerns the request; repeated uploads do not diagnose a counterfeit or damaged card.

The free guest allowance is five distinct priced results per browser identity, followed by free email access with a one-time code. It is not five photo attempts: errors and results without a price do not consume that product allowance. Separate technical limits still protect the service, including after login. EUR references remain European-market references, including for Japanese cards.