Scanning cards with the CardNexus app

The card scanner lives in the CardNexus mobile app (iOS and Android) — free for everyone. Point your camera at a card and it's recognised automatically: no shutter button, no typing. It currently recognises 18 games, from Magic and Pokémon to Star Wars: Unlimited and Gundam.

One thing to know before your first big session: the scanner identifies which card you're holding — its name, expansion and printing. Your card's language, condition and finish are not read from the card; they come from your default settings. See What the scanner reads — and what it doesn't for why that matters.

Before you scan

1. Open the Scan tab in the app

2. The first time, the app asks for camera access and opens the scanner settings — under Game data, download each game you want to scan ("Download games you want to scan"). Each game's card database and market values are stored on your phone

3. Check the Default settings tab: condition, language and finish. Every scanned card will use these — set them to match the cards in front of you

If a game shows Update app, it's a newly supported game that needs a newer app version from the App Store or Play Store.

💡 Tip: Scanning Pokémon or Dragon Ball? Those share a look with a sibling catalogue (Pokémon Japan, Fusion World vs. Masters), so the scanner asks which one to scan for. Your choice lasts for the session — tap the selector any time to switch.

Scanning

Place a card inside the frame. When it's recognised, it lands in your session with a small preview — keep going, card after card. A short interactive guide walks you through everything on your first scan (replay it any time from Scanner options → Settings → Scanner guide).

While you scan:

• The quick-adjust bar at the bottom of the screen (e.g. NM · English · Standard · x1) changes the condition, language, finish or quantity — the change applies to the card you just scanned and becomes the default for the next ones

• Your latest card shows at the bottom of the screen — tap Edit on it to correct anything, including the printing or expansion

• If several versions look alike, the app shows the closest matches and asks you to pick the right one. Prefer speed over control? Turn on Auto-pick best match in the settings

• A card won't scan? Use Add card manually to find it by name and drop it into the same session

💡 Tip: Sorting a single expansion? Tap the padlock button on the right of the scan screen to lock an expansion — the scanner gets faster and more accurate, and anything from another set is rejected instead of slipping in.

💡 Tip: Scanning the same card again right away is blocked ("Card already added to scanned cards") — that's on purpose, so a card left in front of the camera isn't counted twice. For multiple copies, use the quantity control instead.

Reviewing your session: Scanned cards

Nothing touches your inventory until you say so. Every scan goes to Scanned cards, your session's review screen:

• Search, or sort by scan time, price, quantity or name

• Tap a card to edit it, swipe to delete it

• Use the bulk actions to change condition, change language or change quantity on the whole session at once

• The session shows its total market value — instant collection appraisal

Leaving the scanner doesn't lose anything: your scans stay in Scanned cards until you add or clear them.

Adding your cards

Tap Add… and pick a destination:

• Inventory — optionally set a Location and Tags applied to the whole batch (e.g. "Binder 3")

• For sale — go straight to Put for sale: set quantities and selling prices per card, or price the whole batch at once, relative to market value or not (% of market, +/- market, fixed price…)

• Lists — pick or create a list per game, with an optional Also add to inventory so one batch feeds both

Identical rows (same card, condition, language and finish) are merged into one inventory line with the right quantity.

Good to know

• Scanning itself works offline — game data and market values live on your phone. You only need a connection to add cards to your inventory or lists (your scans are saved in the meantime)

• Each scanned card displays its market value, following the market value source and currency in your account settings

• You can start scanning straight into a list: open the list and choose Scan cards to list

• Streamer mode (in the settings) repositions the scanner interface so it stays visible on stream, and you can pick which camera lens to use

💡 Tip: Sorcery Sites and Riftbound Battlefields are horizontal cards — hold them vertically with their text along the right side and they'll scan just as fast.