How to photograph PSA slabs without glare

Updated 2026-10-26

A PSA slab is a box of clear plastic with a shiny label on top. Every light in the room shows up in it. Most bad slab photos come down to one of three things: a light reflected in the case, the phone held at an angle, or a busy background.

Kill the reflections

• Turn off the overhead light. It sits right above the slab and lands in the middle of the case.
• Shoot next to a window in daylight, with the window to the side, not behind you.
• Turn the flash off. Flash bounces straight back off the plastic.
• If you still see a bright streak, tilt the slab a few degrees away from the light until it slides off the card.

Hold the phone flat

Lay the slab on a table and hold the phone directly above it, parallel to the slab. Turn on the camera grid so you can line the edges up. Use the 2x lens if your phone has one and step back a little. The wide lens up close bends the straight edges of the case.

Tap to focus on the label

Tap the PSA label and hold until the focus locks. The cert number and grade should be sharp. If the label is sharp, the card usually is too.

Clean the case first

Wipe the front with a microfiber cloth. Fingerprints and dust are invisible to your eye and very visible in a photo. Don't use paper towels, they scratch.

Fix the background after

You don't need a lightbox or a backdrop. Take the cleanest photo you can on any table, then drop it into Grailshot. It finds the slab, cuts it out and puts it on a clean background sized for Instagram.