Uploading Cards
Learn how to upload card images individually using drag-and-drop, the file browser, or your phone camera.
Overview
Uploading cards is the first step in the RocketVault workflow. Once uploaded, RocketAI automatically identifies each card, extracts all metadata, and assigns pricing — typically in under 30 seconds.
The Upload page (Vault → Upload) keeps the current batch and its results together on desktop:
- Upload — drop images or a ZIP and configure how filenames pair.
- Pair Preview — thumbnails from the most recently submitted batch. An older batch that is still processing never replaces the newest preview.
- History — collapsible batch rows with pipeline stages, retry controls, and mutually exclusive New / Existing / Merged / Failed counts.
On mobile, the center camera action opens one intent-first capture experience; the desktop drop zone remains available from the web Upload page.
Before You Upload
Best Results
Photograph both the front and back of each card. Mobile capture and Scan for a Deal require a complete pair before processing because the back usually supplies the card number, product line, copyright year, and serial evidence needed for accurate comps. Use good lighting and a contrasting background.
Image Pairing Convention
RocketVault automatically pairs front and back images using filename suffixes that you define under Settings → Naming:
- Front suffix — defaults to
_F(e.g.,card001_F.jpg) - Back suffix — defaults to
_B(e.g.,card001_B.jpg) - Separator — the character that separates the base name from the suffix
You can change these conventions at any time. A live filename preview on the Settings page shows what your settings will match. If your files don't follow any naming convention, you can manually pair images after upload.
Filename stems are scoped to the submitted batch. You can reuse scanner names such as card001_F.jpg and card001_B.jpg in a later batch without replacing or inheriting the identity of an older card.
Numbered scans (even/odd)
If your scanner or camera names files with a running number instead of _F/_B suffixes — 001.jpg, 002.jpg, 003.jpg, 004.jpg… — switch the Pairing Mode to By number (even/odd) in the upload settings (or under Settings → Naming).
In this mode RocketVault sorts your files by number and pairs each two in a row into one card — (001, 002), (003, 004), and so on. You choose which side each is:
- Even = front — even-numbered scans are fronts, odd are backs (or)
- Odd = front — odd-numbered scans are fronts, even are backs
Keep the numbering gap-free
Because cards are formed from consecutive numbers, a missing scan (or an odd total number of files) shifts every card after it. If a scan is skipped, the leftover image is flagged as an unpaired card so you can fix it.
Uploading on Desktop
Step 01
Go to the Upload Page
Click Vault → Upload in the left sidebar, or use the UPLOAD button in the Dashboard's actions queue.
Step 02
Drag and Drop
Drag your card image files directly into the drop zone on the left pane. You can drop multiple files at once.
Alternatively: Click the upload zone to open your file browser and select images manually.
If the whole upload is going onto one shelf or row, enter its optional Storage location before uploading. A code such as A1 is saved on every card in the batch and can be changed later from the card detail page or Bulk Edit.
ZIP upload is available on paid RocketVault web plans
On the current RocketVault web app, Collector, Seller, Pro, and Enterprise plans can also drag a ZIP of paired images into the drop zone. ZIP upload is web-only; use image upload or Multi-Card Scan in the installed mobile apps.
Buying at a show or shop?
Open More → Vault → Scan for a Deal instead. Scan for a Deal keeps Add to Vault, Buy, Trade, Watch, and Pass live while it checks ownership, comps, max offer, and active listings. Its ungated Batch mode is a manual-shutter front/back-pair review stack; an unpaired photo cannot be priced.
Step 03
Watch Processing
After uploading, Pair Preview switches to the newest batch. History shows a per-batch metrics panel (Uploaded / Run / Queued / New / Existing / Merged / Failed) and a progress bar split between successful, errored, and currently running cards. A retried card is counted as Existing, never as both successful and failed. RocketAI extracts:
- Player name
- Card year and set
- Card number
- Parallel/variant information
- Team
- And more
You can navigate away — processing continues in the background.
Step 04
Review Results
Once processing completes, cards appear in your Available tab inside Vault → All Cards. Cards that RocketAI couldn't fully identify show an attention chip on the row — click it to fix the flagged fields in Quick Edit. See AI Card Identification for the full attention triage flow.
Uploading on Mobile
On mobile, tap the center camera action and first choose Add cards to Vault or Check a card's price. Only then does RocketVault offer the camera, photo library, or a saved session to resume.
The installed app captures every side with the full-resolution rear still camera, transfers each photo as a file to a private, short-lived RocketVault upload location, checks the exact bytes sent, then verifies the file and its storage generation before queueing visual AI. If the connection drops, every explicit front/back slot remains in the on-device queue and can be resumed; RocketVault never starts identification from an unverified upload.
One Card at a Time
Step 01
Choose Add cards to Vault
Tap the center camera action, then Add cards to Vault and Add one card.
Step 02
Capture Front & Back
Point your camera at the card front and tap to capture. The app auto-advances to the back. Capture the back side.
Step 03
Review & Upload
Confirm the front/back pair, then submit it. Once the server accepts the upload, the processing page opens immediately and is safe to leave.
Stack Capture
For scanning multiple cards, choose Add multiple cards. RocketVault keeps each card together instead of reconstructing pairs from photo order later.
Step 01
Start a Batch
Choose the camera or photo library. If a saved batch exists, Resume returns to its exact card and side.
Step 02
Capture All Cards
Take Card 1 front and back, confirm that pair, then continue with Card 2. The header shows the current card, expected side, and completed count. You can capture up to 100 photos (50 cards) per batch.
Step 03
Review Every Pair
Retake either side while its card remains isolated from the rest of the batch. On final review, remove or reorder a card, add another, or submit. Submission stays disabled while any card is missing a side.
Step 04
Follow Processing
Submit the reviewed batch. The review screen shows item and byte transfer until the server durably accepts the first upload window. RocketVault then opens the dedicated processing page; any remaining locally saved cards continue uploading there alongside per-card processing. Successful cards remain complete if another fails; retry only the failed card. View in Vault opens the exact new or quantity-merged record.
Card-safe capture
RocketVault enforces the safe rhythm: Card 1 front, Card 1 back, confirm, then Card 2. Retakes and removals never shift another card's pairing.
Supported File Formats
| Format | Supported |
|---|---|
| JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) | Yes |
| PNG (.png) | Yes |
| WebP (.webp) | Yes |
| HEIC (.heic) | Yes (iPhone photos) |
| GIF | No |
| No |
Uploads are optimized automatically
You don't need to resize or compress anything first. RocketVault preserves an OCR-safe, high-detail image, normalizes orientation, and groups uploads by both file count and actual bytes so a large phone batch cannot overload the app or server.
Common Mistakes
Avoid These
- Blurry photos — RocketAI needs to read the text on the card. Hold steady or use a flat surface.
- Glare/reflections — Avoid direct overhead lighting on glossy cards. Angle slightly to reduce glare.
- Multiple cards in one photo — Upload one card per image (front and back separately).
- Very low resolution — Use at least 800×600 pixels for best results.
Troubleshooting
Card shows as "Processing" Processing typically takes 10–30 seconds. Expand the batch in History to inspect its stage and failure reason. The batch row has retry/resume/stop controls so you can re-run a stuck batch.
Wrong card identification If RocketAI misidentified a card, click the attention chip on the row to fix it in Quick Edit, or open the card detail page and click Edit for the full form. You can also click Reprocess to re-run the AI identification.
Missing back image New mobile captures are held until you add the back. For a legacy card that predates this requirement, use Swap/Add Image on Card Detail to add it.
Failed images in a batch Open the batch on the Upload page and click Failed Images to see why each one didn't process. Click Reprocess Failed to retry only the unsuccessful cards.
Automatic image-quality checks
RocketVault checks every direct, camera, batch, and Quick Price image before expensive AI processing. The browser gives immediate guidance, and the server confirms the result using the same stable reason codes.
The check covers resolution, blur, exposure, glare, crop completeness, perspective, suspected multiple-card frames, and front/back side mismatch. The default rollout is observe/warn: quality findings show actionable guidance and the upload can continue. When RocketVault explicitly enables the measured hard-block rollout, inputs classified as unusable are rejected before processing and do not consume AI-processing quota. API clients can explicitly override a server block; RocketVault records that override with the image pair for later false-rejection analysis.
Bulk Uploading Images & ZIP Files
Upload paired card images in batches or, on paid RocketVault web plans, upload a ZIP for background processing.
Multi-Card Capture
Capture each card front and back, confirm the pair, and follow every card into the Vault.
AI Card Identification
How RocketAI automatically identifies your cards, extracts metadata, and detects parallels and variants.
Inventory Management
Browse, filter, sort, and manage your card inventory. Tabbed pipeline view, bulk operations, attention chips, and per-card detail.