No parent, no ID
We do not authenticate loose swatches without a documented parent. The map starts with the intact garment or not at all.
Home/How it works
Protocol · Eight steps
Eight steps. No mystery cut.
SourceWorn’s authority is documentary. We photograph the parent before it is cut, publish the plan, witness the cut, and issue every piece an ID that resolves to a public record. Every step leaves something you can check.
Before · During · After
The order is the point.
Steps 1–5 happen while the parent is still whole. A parent can only be photographed intact once — so the capture, the grid, and the cut plan are fixed before anything irreversible happens.
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01Step 1 of 8
Classify
Before anything is photographed, the parent gets one label from the published standard: Game-Worn, Game-Used, Player-Worn, Event-Worn, Team-Issued, or Unverified. If the claim is weak, the label is Unverified — we can still map the cloth.
On the record- Label from the six-label standard
- Evidence it rests on, by source
- Default down when evidence is thin
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02Step 2 of 8
Ingest certs
Existing proof stays on the record. MLB holograms, MeiGray tags, Resolution matches, PSA/DNA, and auction LOAs are recorded as inherited certificates. We do not replace them.
On the record- Issuer and certificate number
- Marked “inherited”, with its source
- Updated if the issuer revokes
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03Step 3 of 8
Capture
Front, back, interior, tags, seams, and repairs are photographed with a colour card and scale in frame, before any cut is approved. Optional UV for wear.
On the record- Full capture set per face
- Colour card + scale in every frame
- Tags, seams, repairs, wear
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04Step 4 of 8
Lock the grid
The overlay is pinned to landmarks — collar, numerals, seams — so the map survives later photo crops. Coordinates are fixed before anyone draws a zone.
On the record- Landmark pins
- Column / row coordinates
- One locked grid per face
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05Step 5 of 8
Publish the cut plan
Premium zones are disclosed before a blade touches fabric. The plan is public before the cut. No surprise logoman harvest.
On the record- Every planned zone, by coordinate
- Reserved areas kept whole
- Planned population
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06Step 6 of 8
Witness the cut
Video plus stills. Each piece is photographed on the parent, then off it, then in its sleeve, so the chain from cloth to child is continuous.
On the record- Cut video
- On-parent / off-parent / in-sleeve stills
- Who cut, who witnessed
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07Step 7 of 8
Issue the ID
Each child receives a human-readable Relic ID, a QR COA, and a public Source Map page — with its population: how many children this parent produced.
On the record- Relic ID + QR COA
- Location-grade or Parent-Only
- Public lookup page
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08Step 8 of 8
Keep the log
Who held it, where it sat, who cut, who shipped. Dated and signed. Corrections are logged publicly, never silently edited.
On the record- Dated, signed custody entries
- Public correction history
- Shipping and return
If two operators cannot place a child piece on the parent photo, SourceWorn does not issue a location-grade ID.
The piece can still receive a Parent-Only ID — cut from this garment, zone uncertain — and the record says so. How the grid and ID grades work.
Lines we hold
What the protocol refuses.
The protocol is only worth something if it is applied the same way every time — including when the answer is inconvenient.
No unpublished cuts
Zones not in the published cut plan are not cut. Premium zones are disclosed in advance, every time.
No softer language
If the history is not established to standard, the record says Unverified — even when the map of the cloth is perfect.
No outcome-based fees
Fees are paid for process. The same fee applies whether the result is Game-Worn or Unverified.
No dealing
Services only in the pilot. We take temporary custody, document, and return the children with IDs. We do not sell mapped relics.
No overwriting certs
We are not a grader or a photo-match lab. Their results are inherited on the record, never replaced.
What the owner receives
Out of one parent, a public record set.
Source Map
Public parent page with the full capture set, locked grid, and cut plan.
Relic IDs
One per child, with a QR COA and its own lookup page.
Cut footage
Witnessed-cut video and on/off-parent stills for every piece.
Custody log
Dated, signed entries from intake to return.
Ready to map a parent?
Send photos of the intact parent, existing certificate numbers, and whether you intend to cut. We will tell you which steps apply.