What are the best scanner settings for scanning trading cards to sell?

These are the settings we use in our own shop with a Ricoh fi-8170 document scanner on a Mac, shown step by step in our scanner video tutorial. The principles are the same for other document scanners with an automatic feeder. Updated October 2026.

The settings at a glance

• Colour: always colour. Buyers want to see the real card.
• Resolution: at least 300 dpi. 300 to 400 dpi saved as JPEG is plenty for card detection and listing photos; we use 600 dpi for the sharpest listing photos. Keep every file under 20 MB, the upload limit per image.
• Duplex (both sides): on, if you want the back of each card as an extra listing photo.
• Blank page skipping: off. If the scanner drops a page it considers empty, every front and back after it shifts by one.
• File format: JPEG (or PNG), one file per side. No PDF and no multi-page files: NeoSatoshi accepts images only (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP).
• Destination: both sides into one folder.
• Cropping: automatic. In our setup a small part of the edge is cut off now and then, mostly on the back. If that matters to you, turn cropping off and compare.
• Image correction: none. A brightness preset ("bright" in our setup) gave us the cleanest images.
• File names: a new name for every scan run. In our Mac setup, scanning again under the same name produced duplicate file names.
• Orientation: match the way you feed the cards. If you feed them upside down, rotate by 180 degrees in the scan software.

Sleeves and feeding: protect your cards

• Scan in sleeves. We only feed sleeved cards, to avoid marks on the cards.
• Open end first. When the closed end of the sleeve goes in first, the rollers can push the card out of the sleeve. In our test, cards came out half unsleeved. Fed the wrong way, we have also had a card crushed.
• About 30 cards or fewer per load. With too many, the feeder jams and pulls in nothing.
• A stiffer sleeve for the last card. The last card of a stack is where we saw sleeves crumple and cards slide out. Putting only that card in a harder, stiffer sleeve solved it for us.
• Hardware tweaks: for sleeved cards we removed one removable part inside the fi-8170 and taped over a sharp plastic edge, as shown in the video. Only do this if you are comfortable with it, and keep the part.
• Very valuable cards: if you are unsure, photograph them with your phone instead. A phone photo carries no feeding risk.

Ricoh fi-8170 on a Mac: the setup we use

1. Connect the scanner with its USB cable (a MacBook needs a USB-C adapter). On the Mac the scanner works over the cable.
2. Download the scanner driver for the fi-8170 and your macOS version from Ricoh's download page and choose the Image Capture driver.
3. Open Image Capture, select the scanner and set: colour, 600 dpi, duplex, your scan folder, a file name, JPEG, image correction none, automatic cropping.
4. Start a scan with the Scan button in Image Capture or with the button on the scanner.

On Windows the scanner comes with its own scan software. The settings above apply the same way; NeoSatoshi only needs the image files in a folder.

From the scan folder to listings in NeoSatoshi

1. Open Listing Cards in desktop Chrome, Edge, Brave or Opera and choose the card game.
2. Tick "Upload card backs" if you scan both sides.
3. In the "Watched scan folder" panel, click "Watch a scan folder", choose your scanner folder and allow access. Choosing "Allow on every visit" saves you reconnecting next time.
4. Answer "Which side does your scanner save first?". Our Ricoh setup saves the back first, so we choose Back.
5. Scan. New files appear within a few seconds. Detection never starts by itself: click "Detect them".
6. Review the matches, set the condition, assign storage locations and export or list on Cardmarket (via TCGPowerTools CSV), eBay or Shopify.

• NeoSatoshi only reads the folder. It never changes or deletes your files.
• Fronts and backs are paired by order: front, back, front, back. The backs are attached as extra listing photos; they are not detected and cost no scan.
• NeoSatoshi checks whether all backs look alike and warns if the sides look swapped or if the pairs seem off from a certain point (usually one scan missing or one too many). It never reorders by itself; "Swap all sides" fixes a whole batch.
• The watched folder expects one card per scanned sheet. For a flatbed scan with several cards on the glass, drag the file into the upload box instead.
• A batch holds up to 400 cards (a front and back pair counts as one). In Safari, Firefox or on a phone, drag the scan files into the upload box.

Checklist

1. Colour, 300 dpi or more, JPEG or PNG, one file per side, under 20 MB.
2. Duplex on if you want backs; blank page skipping off.
3. Both sides into one folder, new file name per scan run.
4. Cards sleeved, open end first, about 30 or fewer per load, a stiffer sleeve on the last card.
5. Watched scan folder set to the same folder, first side answered correctly.
6. Stack kept in scan order until the cards are listed and stored.

What NeoSatoshi does and does not do

• It works with any document scanner that saves JPEG or PNG files into a folder. It does not control the scanner itself.
• It identifies each card (set and card number, plus name, rarity and language) and adds market prices. It does not detect condition: a sharp scan helps you judge the card, but you set the condition.
• It does not accept PDF or HEIC files.
• The watched scan folder works in desktop Chrome, Edge, Brave and Opera, not in Safari, Firefox, on phones or inside the Shopify admin.

Frequently asked questions

What dpi should I scan trading cards at?

At least 300 dpi. 300 to 400 dpi is enough for detection and listing photos; 600 dpi gives sharper photos with bigger files. Stay under 20 MB per file.

Can I scan cards in sleeves with a document scanner?

Yes, that is how we scan. Feed the open end of the sleeve first, keep the loads small and use a stiffer sleeve for the last card of the stack.

Which scanner do I need?

We use a Ricoh fi-8170. NeoSatoshi works with any document scanner that saves image files into a folder, because it reads the folder, not the scanner.

Why are my fronts and backs mixed up?

Usually blank page skipping dropped a side, the first side is answered wrong, or two scan runs used the same file name. Turn blank page skipping off, check "Which side does your scanner save first?" and use "Swap all sides" or the per-card swap to fix a batch.

Does scanning cost card scans?

Each detected card uses one card scan; card backs cost nothing. Everyone gets 10 free card scans a day to try it.