How to scan sports cards with a Fujitsu, ScanSnap or flatbed scanner
My Cards AI for Mac and Windows takes the pages from a document scanner or a flatbed, cuts out each card, pairs fronts with backs and reads every card. Here is how to set it up, and what to do when a scan stops partway.
- Tested with the Ricoh fi-8170
- Flatbeds work too
- Watched folder for your own software
- Color, 300 dpi, both sides
Which scanners work with My Cards AI?
On a Mac
The Mac app drives any scanner that macOS Image Capture can see, whether it is plugged in, shared or on your network. The one its help names as tested is the Ricoh fi-8170.
On Windows
The Windows app scans through Windows' own scanner service (WIA), which the Fujitsu fi-8170 and most flatbeds support. It lists every scanner Windows knows.
Any scanner, through its own software
If your scanner's software saves pictures (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP or HEIC) into a folder, the app watches it and every new page comes in by itself.
How do I set up a Fujitsu or Ricoh fi-series scanner on a Mac?
- Install the scanner's macOS driver from the maker's site if you haven't, connect and turn on the scanner, and quit Image Capture: only one app can use a scanner at a time.
- Open My Cards AI Desk and go to Scan Cards. If the first-time setup asks how your cards get in, choose My Cards AI drives my scanner. The app picks a fi-series scanner over a network all-in-one by itself.
- Open the scanner settings (the sliders button beside Scan) and check them. By default Duplex is on, the resolution is 300 dpi, Color is on, Gentle feed is on, and Rotate scans 180° is on for a fi-series scanner, because its feeder turns the cards upside down.
- Load the stack and press Scan.
The app turns off the driver's double-feed detection and blank-page skipping for you when the driver offers those switches. Pages pair in the order they arrive, front then back, and each card is read once both sides are in.
How do I scan cards with a Fujitsu fi-8170 on Windows?
The Windows app's own advice for a feed scanner is to scan with the scanner's own software, PaperStream ClickScan on the fi-8170, and let the app watch the folder it saves into.
- In PaperStream ClickScan (or PaperStream Capture), set the scanner to save JPEGs into one folder, for example Documents\Scans, with the settings further down this page. Turn remove blank pages off.
- In My Cards AI, on Scan Cards, choose Watch a Folder… and pick that folder.
- Under How pages pair, choose Front, back, front, back, the usual choice for a scanner that scans both sides.
- Scan the stack in ClickScan. Each page that lands in the folder comes into the app by itself.
The Recommended settings button on Scan Cards shows the full list. The other way is to scan from inside the app: close ClickScan, then under Scan from the scanner pick the scanner, choose Feeder, both sides at 300 dpi and click Scan. That path starts and stops the feeder for every page, which is why the app suggests the scanner's own software first. If a stack stops partway that way, see the last section below.
Does a ScanSnap iX500 or iX1600 work for sports cards?
We have not tested a ScanSnap with My Cards AI. The route that works for any scanner is the watched folder: if your ScanSnap's own software can save each page as a JPEG into a folder, set it to, with the settings below as far as it offers them. Then point Watch Scan Folder… (Mac, under Scan Cards › Options) or Watch a Folder… (Windows) at that folder.
On a Mac, if your ScanSnap shows up in Image Capture, you can also try the app's Scan button.
Can I scan trading cards on a flatbed?
On a Mac, the Scan button takes one card per page. For several cards at a time, scan with the flatbed's own software into the watched folder and choose Flatbed sheets: fronts, then backs: lay up to 6 cards on the glass, scan the fronts, flip each card in place and scan the backs. Flatbed sheets: fronts only skips the backs.
On Windows, choose Glass and lay cards face down, top edge toward the scanner's top, with a little gap between them; each becomes its own card. Flip them where they lie and scan again for the backs.
What scanner settings should I use for trading cards?
These come from the Windows app's Recommended settings for a scanner's own software. Plain, uncorrected pictures are what the app wants, because it cuts out each card itself.
- Document feeder, with both sides on.
- Color, 300 dpi. Both apps scan at 300 dpi by default and offer up to 600 dpi.
- JPEG, one file per page. Not PDF, not a multi-page TIFF.
- Remove blank pages off. A back the scanner calls blank is dropped, and every pair after it shifts by one.
- Auto-crop, edge detection, deskew, rotation and image correction off. The app maps each card's four corners onto a true rectangle, so a card fed in crooked comes out square.
- Page size Letter or Auto, and one card per page, the same way up.
- A folder for cards only. Misc items go in a different folder.
A line in the same place on every page comes from the scanner itself. The fix runs through the app's own Scan, so the app has to see your scanner: choose Calibrate with a blank sheet (on the Mac in the scanner settings, on Windows under Scan from the scanner › Scan lines) and feed one plain white sheet. The app learns where the lines are and fills them in on every page after.
Can penny sleeves, top loaders and slabs go through the scanner?
- Penny sleeves. On the Mac, Gentle feed for sleeved cards is on by default. It keeps the roller off the next card during a scan so penny-sleeved cards don't dent, at a slightly slower pace. The Windows app has no feed setting of its own.
- Top loaders go on a flatbed, not through a feeder. The crop leaves a small margin past the card's edges, so some of the holder showing is expected.
- Slabs are rigid too, so they go on the glass. The Mac app and the Microsoft Store version of the Windows app do not pick out a slab at scan time.
What happens to the cards after the scan?
They land in a review table. Each card is read for player, year, set and number, you look over anything flagged, then File All Cards saves them into your library. A location or lot set for the batch goes on every card in it. Identifying needs a free account and uses one scan per card; pricing is a separate step. See what a set still needs in the set checklists.
What if the scanner stops partway through a stack?
- Another program has the scanner. Quit Image Capture on a Mac, or ClickScan and PaperStream Capture on Windows.
- The scanner reports a double feed. Card stock can trip it. The Mac app turns it off when the driver allows. On Windows, turn it off in the scanner's own settings; on a Fujitsu fi series that is Software Operation Panel › Device Setting 2 › Multifeed › None.
- A stack scanned from inside the Windows app stops before the end, or the scanner reports a jam with no card caught. Switch to the watched folder: scan with PaperStream ClickScan and let Watch a Folder bring the pages in.
- One card came out badly. In either app, when the app can see your scanner, put the card back in the feeder and press Re-scan Card on its row; the new pictures replace the old ones and what you typed stays.
Still stuck? Contact Support sends your message straight to us, with the app's recent error lines if you choose. On Windows it is under Help › Contact Support; on the Mac, choose Help › My Cards AI Help and press the button there. Or write to support@mycardsai.com. More answers are on the questions page.