How SwapLoom AI Grading Compares to PSA: A Technical Deep Dive

Professional grading services like PSA use specific criteria to evaluate Pokemon cards. At SwapLoom, we've reverse-engineered these standards to provide AI-powered pre-grading that closely aligns with what you'd receive from PSA. Here's exactly how our methodology works.

Key Takeaways

Centering matters most - PSA has hard caps at 55/45 for PSA 10, 60/40 for PSA 9
Grade killers exist - Creases automatically cap at PSA 5, tears at PSA 2
Holo cards are penalized - Surface defects are more visible on holographic cards
MIN-subgrade policy - Your final grade equals your lowest criteria score
Our alignment: ~75-90% - Basic grading ~75%, Premium grading ~90%

Understanding PSA's Grading Standards

PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) evaluates cards across four main criteria: Centering, Corners, Edges, and Surface. Each criterion receives a subgrade, and the final grade is determined by the lowest subgrade—not an average. This is called the MIN-subgrade policy.

How PSA Calculates Final Grade

Subgrades: 10, 10, 10, 8

PSA 8

Lowest subgrade wins

✓ PSA Method

Subgrades: 10, 10, 10, 8

PSA 9.5

Average = wrong

✗ Common Mistake

1. Centering: The Most Critical Factor

Centering is measured as the ratio of borders on opposite sides. PSA has strict hard caps that cannot be bypassed regardless of how perfect other aspects are:

PSA 2025 Centering Thresholds

Grade	Front Centering	Back Centering
PSA 10	55/45 or better	75/25 or better
PSA 9	60/40 or better	90/10 or better
PSA 8	65/35 or better	—
PSA 7	70/30 or better	—
PSA 6	75/25 or better	—

ℹ️ What This Means: A card with 58/42 centering is automatically capped at PSA 9, even if corners, edges, and surface are all perfect 10s. SwapLoom applies these same hard caps in our algorithm.

How We Measure Centering

Our AI analyzes both the front and back of your card to calculate centering ratios:

Left/Right ratio - Compares the left border to the right border
Top/Bottom ratio - Compares the top border to the bottom border
Per-corner centering - Premium grading uses Ximilar to measure each corner individually

2. Grade Killers: Automatic Grade Caps

Certain defects are so severe that they automatically cap the maximum possible grade, regardless of other factors:

Grade Killer Defects

Defect	Maximum Grade	Description
Crease	PSA 5	Visible fold line across the card
Dent	PSA 6	Indentation from pressure/impact
Tear	PSA 2	Any rip or separation of material
Heavy Damage	PSA 3	Water damage, stains, major wear
Ink Missing	PSA 7	Areas where ink is rubbed off

⚠️ Important: A card with a crease will never receive higher than PSA 5, even if everything else is perfect. Our AI specifically looks for these defects and applies the appropriate caps.

3. Holographic Card Penalties

Holographic cards present unique challenges for grading. Surface defects that might be invisible on a regular card become highly visible on foil surfaces:

Holo Surface Penalty System

Standard Holo Cards: 0.9× surface score multiplier

Premium/Textured Holos: 0.85× surface score multiplier

Example: A surface score of 9.0 becomes 8.1 for standard holos, or 7.65 for premium textured cards.

Cards That Receive Holo Penalties

Holo Rare and Reverse Holo cards
Full Art and Alt Art cards
Illustration Rare cards
Secret Rare, Hyper Rare, and Ultra Rare cards
VMAX and VSTAR cards (premium texture)
Gold and Rainbow cards (premium texture)
Radiant and Shiny cards

4. Image Quality Gate

The quality of your uploaded images directly affects the accuracy of AI grading. We've implemented an image quality gate to ensure reliable results:

Image Quality Impact on Grade Ceiling

Image Quality	Max Grade	Action
EXCELLENT	PSA 10	Full precision analysis
GOOD	PSA 9	Minor limitations noted
ACCEPTABLE	PSA 8	Re-upload recommended
POOR	—	Analysis blocked, re-upload required

💡 Pro Tip: For the most accurate results, photograph your card on a dark, non-reflective surface with even lighting. Avoid glare on holographic cards by using diffused light.

Basic vs Premium Grading

SwapLoom offers two grading tiers with different levels of PSA alignment:

Grading Tier Comparison

Basic Grading (GPT-4 Vision)

~75% PSA alignment
Visual inspection only
Centering hard caps ✓
Grade killer detection ✓
Holo surface penalty ✓
Image quality gate ✓

Missing: Per-corner whitening, per-edge whitening, surface scratch detection

Premium Grading (Ximilar Pre-PSA)

~90% PSA alignment
ML + computer vision
All Basic features ✓
Per-corner whitening ✓
Per-edge whitening ✓
Surface scratch detection ✓

Missing: Physical card handling, multi-angle light test

What We Can't Detect (Yet)

To be transparent, there are aspects of professional grading that require physical card handling:

Light test - Checking for internal layer damage by holding the card to light
Bend test - Feeling the card's rigidity and return
Angle-dependent defects - Some scratches only visible at specific angles
Microscopic defects - Details below camera resolution
Card authenticity - Handled by our separate authenticity system

ℹ️ Our Commitment: We're constantly improving our AI models. As computer vision technology advances, we aim to close the gap further between AI and professional grading.

Interpreting Your Results

When you receive your SwapLoom grade, here's how to interpret it:

Understanding Your Grade Report

Overall Grade - The predicted PSA grade (MIN of all subgrades)
Subgrades - Individual scores for Centering, Corners, Edges, Surface
PSA Alignment Info - Shows any caps or penalties applied
Confidence Score - How certain the AI is about the grade (affected by image quality)
Recommendations - Specific advice for improving the grade

When to Submit to PSA

Based on our AI grade, here's our recommendation for PSA submission:

SwapLoom Grade	Recommendation	Reasoning
9.5 - 10	✓ Strong Candidate	High probability of PSA 9-10
8.5 - 9.0	? Consider Value	Submit if card value justifies cost
7.0 - 8.0	? High-Value Only	Only for vintage/rare cards
Below 7.0	✗ Not Recommended	Grading cost exceeds value add

Conclusion

SwapLoom's AI grading provides a reliable pre-screening tool before investing in professional grading. While we can't replace the physical inspection of PSA graders, our methodology closely aligns with their published standards—applying the same centering thresholds, grade killer caps, and surface penalty rules.

Use our Basic grading for quick assessments, and Premium grading when you need the highest accuracy before submitting cards worth $100+ to professional services.

⭐ Get Started: Try SwapLoom's AI grading on your collection today. Upload front and back photos of your card to receive an instant PSA-aligned grade prediction.