No, while utilizing phones might be the most convenient solution for most, some users have opted to use everything from webcams to DSLR and mirrorless cameras. 

We provide the hardware to move the cards and mount your phone. What app you use is up to you! We currently view ManaBox and Delver Lens (Delver MTG on iOS) as the most reliable apps.

Note: Due to the nature of how many of these apps scan, sequentially repeating cards may not be recognized. On Delver Lens you can set the "keep scanning" setting to 0 to bypass this effect.

It is best practice to make sure no two cards repeat back-to-back in your stack if you want maximum accuracy.

Although our device focuses primarily on MTG, many of our user's scan Pokemon cards. They primarily use Delver's Pokemon app or Collectr.

We have recently expanded our sales locations to Canada and Europe. As demand grows in different regions of the world we will look to expand. Please let us know where you live and we will work towards expanding to your region!

This depends on a combination of things. The app you decide to use, the phone you are using and the lighting in the enviorment. In our workshop with modern smartphones we get over 99% scan recognition of normal cards. Foils generally are scanned in without issue but will often not be marked as foils.

Note: It might take new users some experimentation to get the scanning results they desire. Our discord has many users who are scanning at very near 100% accuracy. We highly recommend joining our discord and talking to active users about their best practices.

Indirect or diffuse light works best. To optimize scanning reliability you should minimize both shadows and glares in the bin. Natural diffuse room lighting works very well. Some users have opted to purchase ring lights or diffuse LED desk lamps and have had good results. You can find light recommendations on our Discord. 

The CS100 GEN2 has a built-in display of a card counter. So if the scanning application misses a card you will see a discrepancy in the number reported by the CS100 and the app you are scanning with. Missed scans can be minimized by optimizing your setup.

Scanning reliability is a balance of speed. The CS100 GEN2 has a built- in speed control to allow the user to set the speed of the device, anywhere from 2 cards per second to one card per 30 seconds.

Although they are rare our system will detect card jams and most double card passes. It will pause scans as necessary to try to protect cards. In the case of double card passes the system will try to split the 2 cards and try again. If it fails to separate the 2 cards in a few attempts it will pause the process and wait for user intervention.

Damaged cards are rare but with any automated process there is a risk of card damage. This risk is taken on by the user and we will no be held liable for any damaged cards. It is highly recommended to use bulk cards when first optimizing your device.

No, the system is designed to scan non-sleeved cards. If you accidently put a sleeved card into the system it will in all likelihood pause the scan when it gets to the sleeved card. It is highly recommended to ensure you do not put sleeved cards into the machine.

Some users have seen their phones begin to overheat when scanning. This can cause phones to become unresponsive and card scanning can suffer. If this happens it is recommended to remove the phone case when scanning. If this does not alleviate the issue you can also use a fan to blow air over your phone.

It is normal for stepper motors to heat up, even when idle. It is important to unplug the device when not in use to allow the motor to cool. 

We do not know of any users who have been able to get the CS100 working with QL. We are working on improvements that we hope will allow future QL integrations.

Reliable scanning with your particular phone will likely take a bit of experimentation on your end.  The things to experiment with in the order of most importance are:

Lighting - experiment with different lighting conditions.  Minimize shadows and glare in the bin.  Natural diffuse lighting works best.  If you do not have that available to you some users have found great success with ring lights or diffuse LED rectangular lights. 

Speed Adjustment - Try slowing the speed to get more reliable scanning.

Phone position - ensure your phone is positioned centered over the exit bin.  Experiment with phone stand extenders to move the phone further away.  The phone position will have large impacts on scanning reliability.

Camera selection- many of the modern phone scanning applications let you select which camera you use. Experiment with different cameras.

Try pre-sorting by set and using the set lock feature in ManaBox or Delver to increase scanning accuracy.

Use a white background underneath the CS100, this can be a plain piece of paper or a white silicone mat if you want to prevent the device from sliding.

If you notice you are having issues scanning foils, remove them from your scans and scan foils separately.

Remove repeating duplicates.  The apps generally will miss the second of 2 of the same card in a row.

To speed up scanning on Delver you can disable image storage in the settings.

Join our Discord and ask!

Discord Server