A box of Magic cards is easy to fill and slow to catalogue by hand. TCG Actana turns scans or photos into a batch you can review before adding the cards to your collection. This guide follows the workflow with a document scanner, but the same steps apply to image files from other sources.
What you need
TCG Actana is an alpha desktop app for Windows PCs and Apple Silicon Macs. It works with image files rather than a live camera. A document scanner can save each card as a separate file, while photos can be transferred to your computer and imported into the same batch.
Which capture method fits your collection depends on volume and card value. The scanner and phone photo comparison covers the trade-offs, and the Magic card scanner page gives an overview of the current recognition workflow.
Step 1: Get the stack into the app
For scanner output, folder watching can reduce the handling between one scan and the next. Point Actana at the folder where your scanner software saves its files. New images are then added to the batch as they appear.
No scanner? Transfer your photos to the computer, then drag them into the batch or choose them through the file picker. Experimental multi-card input can try to separate several clearly visible cards from one image, but every separated result needs careful review.
Choose Magic: The Gathering for the batch before you begin. The cards will join the same main collection as your other supported games after you have reviewed and added them.
Step 2: Let it match, then review
For every image, Actana tries to identify the card, printing, and language. Clear scans give it more visible information, but similar reprints, promos, and older cards can still need your attention.
When a result is uncertain or ambiguous, Actana shows possible printings instead of silently choosing one. Compare them with the card in your hand and select the right edition. Treat review as a normal part of every batch.
Step 3: Set condition and foil on your copy
Actana does not grade the physical condition of the card in your hand. You choose the condition yourself on the Cardmarket scale from MT to PO and can correct it later if needed.
You also set foil manually. Keeping foil cards in a separate batch can make that part of the review easier, but it is not required.
Step 4: Add the batch to your collection
Once the batch looks right, add it to your collection. Printing, condition, language, finish, and quantity stay with the recorded copy. Check printing and finish carefully before this step; condition, language, and quantity can still be edited in the collection.
The collection view lets you search, filter, group, and organise the cards after the scan. Where matching market data is available, it also shows current values; the dashboard contains the collection-value history. Continue with how to organise a large card collection or see how four supported TCGs fit into one collection.
Optional: continue with TCG PowerTools
If the scanned stack is meant for sale, export the reviewed batch from the Scan view as a CSV for TCG PowerTools. Cards already saved in your collection can also be exported under Settings → Data → Export collection. Actana prepares the file but does not publish listings or upload cards to Cardmarket. The steps are covered in the TCG PowerTools export guide.
Start with a manageable stack
Begin with a small, varied Magic stack rather than your largest box. It is easier to compare the results with the cards in hand, learn the review flow, and describe a problem clearly if something does not look right.