Glossary of collectible card restoration

The terms used in a collectible card restoration studio, mostly borrowed from collectors' English. They are the same words you find in Registro's defect catalogue.

Card defects

Whitening

The pale wear along edges and corners, especially on the back: the printed layer wears away and reveals the light card stock underneath. One of the most common defects and one of the most visible at grading.

Crease

A true fold that has broken the fibres of the card stock, often visible as a light or raised line. It differs from warping because it leaves a clear mark.

Dent

A small depression in the surface, without a fold, often caused by localised pressure. It shows clearly only under raking light.

Bend

A curve in the card without any sign of breakage. It can affect one corner or the whole card.

Warping

The whole card waving, usually caused by humidity. Common on holo and foil cards, where the layers react differently.

Holo scratch

A scratch on the holographic surface. On holo and foil cards even a fine scratch stands out, because it breaks the reflection.

Hairline

A very fine scratch, visible only at a certain angle of light. The plural hairlines refers to a network of surface micro-scratches.

Coating scratch

A scratch on the card's glossy finishing layer that does not reach the print.

Edge wear

Wear along the edges: whitening, small chips and irregularities around the card's perimeter.

Corner wear

Wear on the corners: rounding, whitening or small folds of the tip.

Silvering

On cards with a silver border, loss of the silver along the edge, revealing the card stock.

Print line

A line from the printing process: a factory defect, not damage from use. It is not restored: it is documented as a factory defect.

Glue residue

Traces of adhesive left by labels, tape or sleeves. Common on cards kept in old binders.

Ink marks

Pen or marker on the card, sometimes deliberate writing such as names or prices.

Examination and documentation

Diffuse light

Soft, even light without hard shadows. Used to photograph the colours and the card's overall condition.

Raking light

Light coming from far to the side, almost parallel to the surface. It reveals creases, dents and scratches that diffuse light hides.

Macro

A close-up photograph of a single defect. Without a macro of a scratch or a corner, a treatment cannot be quoted seriously.

Centering

The position of the design relative to the card's edges, front and back. It is a printing or cutting defect: restoration does not correct it, but it affects grading.

Card file

In Registro, the record of a single card: identity, defects marked on the photos, treatment plan, work done, final photos and outcomes.

Commission

The batch of cards a client entrusts to the studio, with its shipping, its quote and its payment. A commission holds one or more cards.

Preliminary quote

The estimate made on the photographs sent by the client, before the cards reach the studio.

Final quote

The quote that comes from the diagnosis with the card in hand. It replaces the preliminary quote and must be accepted again by the client.

Report

The final restoration document: defects found, treatments carried out, outcome for every defect and before and after comparison. See the page on the restoration report.

Grading

Grading

The assessment of a card's condition by a specialist company, expressed as a grade and sealed in a hard case. The best-known companies are PSA, BGS, CGC and SGC.

Slab

The sealed hard case in which the grading company returns the assessed card, with the grade label.

Raw

A card that has not been graded, outside any slab.

Altered card

A card showing signs of work: grading companies may reject it or flag it on the label instead of giving it a grade. That is why no serious restorer promises a grade, and why the report documents precisely what was done.