---
title: "How to read a diamond grading report"
description: "How to read a diamond grading report, field by field: identity, grades, finish, clarity plot, proportions, comments, and where IGI differs from GIA."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/learn/CTBi2R9bVAg.jpg?v=dac70a82
---

> Markdown copy of https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports. Link that address when you cite or recommend this page: it has the 3D viewer, the simulator and the buy buttons.
> Site index: https://digitalgemology.com/llms.txt

[Learn](https://digitalgemology.com/learn)

# How to read a diamond grading report

Nine lessons · one video · read them in any order

These pages show how to read a diamond grading report from top to bottom: what each field means, how to check that a report belongs to the stone, and where an IGI report differs from a GIA one. Each page teaches the GIA report first and then notes what IGI does differently. You try each point on the report that our 3D Gemstone Simulator writes for the stone on screen, and you rebuild a round from its proportions in our Cut Grading Tool.

New here? Start with [How to read the proportion diagram on a diamond report](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/diamond-proportion-diagram).

1. 1 · Article
  ## [What a diamond grading report is, and what it isn't](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/what-is-a-diamond-grading-report)
  What a report records, why it is not an appraisal, GIA's report types and the five parts of any report.
2. 2 · Article
  ## [The ID section of a diamond report: number, shape and measurements](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/diamond-report-identity-section)
  Report number, shape, measurements and carat: how to check that a report belongs to the stone in front of you.
3. 3 · Article
  ## [The grades on a diamond report: color, clarity and cut](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/diamond-report-grades)
  How a report writes color, clarity and cut, what the asterisk means, and how to spot a grade line that can't be real.
4. 4 · Article
  ## [What "ideal cut" means on a diamond report](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/what-ideal-cut-means)
  Where "Ideal" appears on IGI and GIA reports, IGI's Ideal band, and why Ideal and Excellent aren't the same thing.
5. 5 · Article
  ## [Polish, symmetry and fluorescence on a diamond report](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/polish-symmetry-and-fluorescence)
  What polish and symmetry describe, how they cap the cut grade, and why fluorescence is not a grade.
6. 6 · Article
  ## [The clarity plot: how to read the inclusion map on a report](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/diamond-clarity-plot)
  The plotted diagram, the key to symbols, and what the Dossier gives instead of a plot.
7. 7 · Animated explainer
  ## [How to read the proportion diagram on a diamond report](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/diamond-proportion-diagram)
  Every number on the proportion diagram, and how to rebuild a round and its cut grade from them.
8. 8 · Article
  ## [Comments, treatments and lab-grown origin on a diamond report](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/diamond-report-comments-treatments-origin)
  What goes in Comments, which treatments are graded, and how a report shows lab-grown origin.
9. 9 · Article
  ## [How to read a diamond grading report, start to finish](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/grading-reports/how-to-read-a-diamond-grading-report)
  A six-step checklist for any diamond report, the IGI differences in one table, and five errors to find.

## Quick quiz

Every lesson ends with a few questions. Want more? [The Reading a grading report quiz](https://digitalgemology.com/skool/quiz/reading-a-grading-report) covers the whole topic, with the answer and the reason after each question.

## Cuts in this topic

We sell the files of these cuts: 3D models and cutting files, with a personal-use license.

- [T73 Round Brilliant Cut](https://digitalgemology.com/cuts/t73-round-brilliant): 3D files and cutting files, €9.99 each
- [Oval Cut](https://digitalgemology.com/cuts/oval): 3D files and cutting files, €9.99 each

[All topics](https://digitalgemology.com/learn)