Rapid scan speeds, high-resolution images, and auto-sorting capabilities — yes, you can have it all
Collecting baseball cards is a deeply personal experience. For some, it’s a chance to recapture childhood memories — hearing the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd as you thumb through the cards of your favorite team’s winning season. For others, it’s an opportunity to turn those memories into an investment as you connect rare cards with the collectors seeking them out.
Whatever the reason, digitizing your collection is one of the most effective ways to keep it organized. High-quality baseball card scanners offer significant benefits that help make scanning, sorting, and listing your inventory a breeze. The following guide will outline the must-have features and offer a few tips on how to get the best possible images from whatever scanner you choose.
Need help picking the perfect scanner for your whole inventory? Check out our guide, Preserving History: The Value of a Sports Card Scanner.
Essential baseball card scanner features
Every hobby shop and collector’s digital needs are different. Even so, everyone can benefit from quality standards such as rapid scan speeds and high-resolution images. The best baseball card scanner will have one or more of the following features so you can get the best quality scans in a fraction of the time.
Automatic document feeders (ADFs) designed for scanning common documents often use rollers and other tools to pull paper through at a rapid pace. While this is fine for thin sheets of paper, these tools may cause damage to thicker baseball cards.
Instead, look for scanners with a straight-path automatic document feeder designed to process business and ID cards. These card-compatible ADFs pull and scan an object straight through the device without causing bends or creases. That way, you can quickly make digital copies of your entire baseball card collection without additional damage.
Be sure to check the scanner's “paper weight” (or thickness) limit. For baseball cards, you’ll want the ADF to process at least 1.4mm (0.055in.) thickness. This will allow you to place cards into penny sleeves or 55pt toploaders for additional protection.
High-resolution image output
If you plan to sell your collection online, image quality can make or break your listing. High-resolution scans instill confidence in buyers, giving them all the information they need to pull the trigger on a potentially expensive purchase. Likewise, low-quality scans can blur or obscure details, making it harder to trust that the card someone buys is what they’ll end up receiving in the mail.
The best way to do that is to choose a baseball card scanner with an optical resolution of at least 300 dots per inch (dpi). This will provide a quality image that can be easily shared on the internet without compromising on clarity. Scans of 600 dpi may be even better, allowing potential customers to enlarge the image without degrading its quality. However, 600 dpi scans result in much larger file sizes that are more difficult to store and share online.
Did You Know?:TMC named the RICOH fi-8170 as a Future of Work Product of the Year. TMC recognizes "companies that showcase the most innovative and disruptive products and solutions that have positively supported hybrid work experiences across the globe." Click here to learn more.
Scanning software with image naming and correction features
Look for scanning software that automates much of the work of managing large collections. For example, PaperStream Capture Pro includes automated file naming and indexing processes to simplify sorting and searching your collection. Plus, you can set tags to organize and filter your collection by popular player, team, manufacturer, grade, and more.
Meanwhile, scanners may run into optical issues with chrome or glossy baseball cards. Rather than trying to rescan the card multiple times for the best outcome, check if your chosen software includes image enhancement capabilities to correct for these issues in the final product.
Integration with popular baseball card databases
The larger your collection, the more time-consuming it is to catalog, especially if you’re entering card details in by hand. That’s why many collectors turn to baseball card databases. This software can transform hours of manual labor into mere minutes, thanks to its ability to recognize card details and record them automatically. If you have a scanner with official integration with these solutions, filling out your database is as simple as pressing a few buttons and watching the magic happen.
If you’re already using a baseball card database such as Cardbase, Card Dealer Pro, or Kronozio to manage your inventory, check that your chosen baseball card scanner is compatible with it. If it is, it can automatically crop images and sort them into their respective database listings, making managing large collections easier than ever.
How to scan baseball cards
Every scanner has a unique process. However, there are a few general steps you can take to improve the quality of your scans.
- Clean your cards: Use a can of air to clear away any dust or obvious debris without making contact with the card’s surface. If you need to remove smudges or trickier spots of dirt, use a microfiber cloth instead of a paper towel to avoid scratching the card.
- Sleeve your cards: If you’re using a straight-path ADF scanner, place your baseball cards into penny sleeves and toploaders to prevent the scanner from scuffing the edges. Make sure the card is under the scanner’s paper weight limit to avoid damaging the device.
- Set up the scanner: To achieve the optimal balance of image quality and file size, you'll want to set the scan resolution to 300 dpi. You can set it higher if you’d like more detailed images, though they will take up more space on your computer and any online platforms you use. To speed up scan times, ensure that two-sided scanning is enabled (if your scanner supports it). Set any other parameters, like margins and rotation, as necessary.
- Start scanning: Scan baseball cards one at a time or place multiple cards in a tight stack so the ADF can process them all simultaneously. Double-check the output on your computer screen to confirm that the scanner captured a quality image.
Quotable:“We wanted to build a scanner that made it as easy as possible for card collectors to digitize their collections and list their inventory online with confidence. The snappy, intuitive, and feature-rich RICOH fi-8170 is the result of those efforts.” - Don Caruso, Head of Inside Sales and Sales Operations at PFU America.
Our recommendation: fi-8170
Those in the market for a baseball card scanner have no shortage of options. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing, and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional grade fi and SP series of scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens of thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come.
The RICOH fi-8170 is an ideal solution for hobby shop owners or dedicated hobbyists looking to create a digital database of their physical baseball card inventory. Its straight-path ADF can make hundreds of double-sided scans in minutes, offering an optimal resolution of up to 600 dpi for pristine quality. Whether you’re using the included PaperStream software or integrating with your favorite baseball card database, you’ll be able to digitize your entire inventory in no time. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.
Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only, and shall not be construed, or relied upon, as legal or financial advice. PFU America, Inc. makes no representations about the contents, features, or specifications on such third-party sites, software, and/or offerings (collectively “Third-Party Offerings”) and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of such Third-Party Offerings. Please consult with a licensed professional regarding your specific situation as regulations may be subject to change.
