Storing card collections for preservation and making them accessible when you want to appreciate them have often been at odds, with collectors having to choose one over the other when prioritizing storage options. That started to change with card binders, which often protect in ways that still make it easy to peruse the entire catalog. Binders can be space-intensive, though.
Storage Boxes vs. Binders
A well-built storage box is capable of holding hundreds or even thousands of sports cards, usually with better protective measures than you would find in an old shoebox. At the same time, though, the pitfalls associated with box storage do not go away just because the box itself is better. While waterproofing and resilient strength protect the cards during storage, handling them is still an issue. Of course, this issue can be sidestepped if you use a sports card scanner to digitize the collection for those times when you want to browse.
The advantages of using binders go away some when you have a full catalogue in color with the storage location, number of copies, and other pertinent information at your fingertips. That lets you slim down the number of cards you keep in a physical binder and saves you a lot of storage space.
Digital Card Scanning
Scanning your cards can provide you with a much easier path to trading or selling them, because everything you need to list a card for sale is at your fingertips when you set up a good digital database. The key to enjoying digitized cards? The quality of the scan. Something like an 8000 series scanner optimized for photographs will be essential if you want to fully capture the photography or artwork of your favorite cards.
Once you have a high-quality image, the next step is cataloguing. While the scan allows you to basically set up a digital binder of photos to browse, the cataloguing process is what elevates your digitized collection, making it a must-have tool for active collectors that are making acquisitions and clearing out extra copies of cards on a regular basis.
Digital Cataloguing
Once you have the cards digitized, you can use either database software that lets you import the images or regular image metadata to keep track of everything from the storage location to the time you’ve had a copy in your possession. That makes it easy to mark out favorites and to track completion on series that you are still finishing. More importantly, it also gives you ways to share the gems in your collection without risking any cards. Simply attach the images and data to messages or posts online to show off what you have.
There’s a lot to be said for having a physical binder of favorites to flip through, but when you have thousands of cards, binders are impractical. Each can only hold a few hundred, and they take up a lot of space on the shelf. That’s why a good photo scanner has become an irreplaceable tool for any card collector. Find yours today.
