diff --git a/backend/app/utils/phash.py b/backend/app/utils/phash.py
index b92f991..4592b3a 100644
--- a/backend/app/utils/phash.py
+++ b/backend/app/utils/phash.py
@@ -122,6 +122,31 @@ def fingerprint_path(path) -> Image.Image | None:
         return None
 
 
+def fingerprint_diff(
+    a, b, *, changed_level: int = FINGERPRINT_CHANGED_LEVEL,
+) -> tuple[float, float] | None:
+    """(mean absolute difference, fraction of pixels past `changed_level`) for
+    two fingerprints. None if either is missing or the comparison fails.
+
+    This is the MEASUREMENT behind `fingerprints_match`, split out so the
+    calibration report (scripts/phash_gate_report.py) can show how far a pair
+    sat from the limits instead of only which side of them it fell on. The
+    constants were chosen without a real-library sample; the numbers this
+    returns are what moves them.
+    """
+    if a is None or b is None:
+        return None
+    try:
+        diff = ImageChops.difference(a, b)
+        hist = diff.histogram()
+        total = sum(hist)
+        if not total:
+            return None
+        return (ImageStat.Stat(diff).mean[0], sum(hist[changed_level:]) / total)
+    except Exception:
+        return None
+
+
 def fingerprints_match(
     a, b,
     *,
@@ -132,20 +157,11 @@ def fingerprints_match(
     """True when two fingerprints are the same picture: no large global
     drift AND no meaningful local region that differs. False on any
     failure."""
-    if a is None or b is None:
-        return False
-    try:
-        diff = ImageChops.difference(a, b)
-        if ImageStat.Stat(diff).mean[0] > max_mean_diff:
-            return False
-        hist = diff.histogram()
-        total = sum(hist)
-        if not total:
-            return False
-        changed = sum(hist[changed_level:])
-        return (changed / total) <= max_changed_fraction
-    except Exception:
+    measured = fingerprint_diff(a, b, changed_level=changed_level)
+    if measured is None:
         return False
+    mean, changed_fraction = measured
+    return mean <= max_mean_diff and changed_fraction <= max_changed_fraction
 
 
 def aspect_matches(
diff --git a/scripts/phash_gate_report.py b/scripts/phash_gate_report.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c193986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/phash_gate_report.py
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+"""What the near-duplicate gates would decide about a folder of real artwork.
+
+Read-only. Opens image files, touches no database, imports nothing from the
+app but `utils/phash.py` itself — so what it reports is what the importer
+would actually do, not a re-implementation that could drift from it.
+
+## Why this exists
+
+Issue #4223 replaced a single 64-bit pHash comparison with three gates
+(threshold -> aspect ratio -> pixel confirm). The threshold is the operator's
+dial and the aspect tolerance mirrors the video path, but the three pixel
+constants — FINGERPRINT_MAX_MEAN_DIFF, FINGERPRINT_CHANGED_LEVEL,
+FINGERPRINT_MAX_CHANGED_FRACTION — were chosen without ever measuring real
+artwork, because FC verifies in CI and CI has only synthetic fixtures. This
+prints the measurements those constants should have been chosen from.
+
+Point it at a folder whose right answer you already know — a variant set that
+should stay whole, or an image you have at two resolutions that should
+collapse — and read the MARGIN column. A pair that lands just inside a limit
+is the one that will flip on the next slightly-different file.
+
+## Usage
+
+    python scripts/phash_gate_report.py <dir> [--threshold N] [--recursive]
+    python scripts/phash_gate_report.py <file_a> <file_b> [...]
+
+No local Python environment needed — run it inside the published image, which
+already has PIL and imagehash, with the folder mounted read-only:
+
+    docker run --rm --entrypoint python -e PYTHONPATH=/app \
+      -v /path/to/art:/data:ro -v "$PWD/scripts":/scripts:ro \
+      git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/fabledcurator:dev \
+      /scripts/phash_gate_report.py /data
+
+(The image ships `backend/` at /app but not `scripts/`, hence the second
+mount and PYTHONPATH. The `:ro` on the art folder is the point — this reads.)
+
+`:dev` is the rolling channel this branch publishes to (rule 147) — the same
+bytes that would run in the app, without merging anything to main.
+"""
+
+import argparse
+import itertools
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import imagehash
+from PIL import Image
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent))
+
+from backend.app.utils.phash import (  # noqa: E402
+    ASPECT_TOL,
+    FINGERPRINT_MAX_CHANGED_FRACTION,
+    FINGERPRINT_MAX_MEAN_DIFF,
+    HASH_SIZE,
+    aspect_matches,
+    compute_phash,
+    find_similar,
+    fingerprint,
+    fingerprint_diff,
+    fingerprints_match,
+)
+
+IMAGE_EXTS = {".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".gif", ".webp", ".bmp", ".tif", ".tiff"}
+DEFAULT_THRESHOLD = 24
+
+
+class Shot:
+    """One image, measured once."""
+
+    def __init__(self, path: Path):
+        self.path = path
+        self.phash = None
+        self.width = 0
+        self.height = 0
+        self.fingerprint = None
+        self.error = None
+        try:
+            with Image.open(path) as im:
+                self.width, self.height = im.size
+                self.phash = compute_phash(im)
+                self.fingerprint = fingerprint(im)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            self.error = str(exc)
+
+    @property
+    def ok(self) -> bool:
+        return self.phash is not None and self.fingerprint is not None
+
+    @property
+    def label(self) -> str:
+        return f"{self.path.name} ({self.width}x{self.height})"
+
+
+def collect(paths, recursive: bool) -> list[Path]:
+    found: list[Path] = []
+    for p in paths:
+        p = Path(p)
+        if p.is_dir():
+            walk = p.rglob("*") if recursive else p.glob("*")
+            found += sorted(f for f in walk if f.suffix.lower() in IMAGE_EXTS)
+        elif p.is_file():
+            found.append(p)
+    return found
+
+
+def verdict(a: Shot, b: Shot, threshold: int) -> tuple[str, str]:
+    """Run the REAL find_similar for "a is being imported, b is in the
+    library". Returns (verdict, the gate that decided it)."""
+    rel, _ = find_similar(
+        a.phash, a.width, a.height,
+        [(b.phash, b.width, b.height, 1)],
+        threshold,
+        confirm=lambda _: fingerprints_match(a.fingerprint, b.fingerprint),
+    )
+    if rel == "larger_exists":
+        return ("DROP", f"{a.path.name} dropped; {b.path.name} kept (>= in both)")
+    if rel == "smaller_exists":
+        return ("SUPERSEDE", f"{a.path.name} replaces {b.path.name}'s file")
+    # Not a match — say which gate refused, cheapest first, since that is the
+    # constant to move if the answer is wrong.
+    dist = imagehash.hex_to_hash(a.phash) - imagehash.hex_to_hash(b.phash)
+    if dist > threshold:
+        return ("KEEP BOTH", f"hash distance {dist} > threshold {threshold}")
+    if not aspect_matches(a.width, a.height, b.width, b.height):
+        return ("KEEP BOTH", "aspect ratios differ")
+    return ("KEEP BOTH", "pixels differ")
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__.split("\n")[0])
+    ap.add_argument("paths", nargs="+", help="a directory, or two or more files")
+    ap.add_argument("--threshold", type=int, default=DEFAULT_THRESHOLD,
+                    help=f"phash_threshold to simulate (default {DEFAULT_THRESHOLD})")
+    ap.add_argument("--recursive", action="store_true", help="walk subdirectories")
+    ap.add_argument("--limit", type=int, default=60,
+                    help="refuse more than this many images (pairs grow as N^2)")
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+
+    files = collect(args.paths, args.recursive)
+    if len(files) < 2:
+        print(f"Need at least 2 images; found {len(files)}.", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 2
+    if len(files) > args.limit:
+        print(
+            f"{len(files)} images would be {len(files) * (len(files) - 1) // 2} "
+            f"pairs. Narrow the folder or raise --limit.", file=sys.stderr
+        )
+        return 2
+
+    print(f"hash_size={HASH_SIZE} ({HASH_SIZE * HASH_SIZE} bits)  "
+          f"threshold={args.threshold}  aspect_tol={ASPECT_TOL}")
+    print(f"pixel limits: mean <= {FINGERPRINT_MAX_MEAN_DIFF}, "
+          f"changed <= {FINGERPRINT_MAX_CHANGED_FRACTION:.1%}\n")
+
+    shots = [Shot(f) for f in files]
+    for s in shots:
+        if not s.ok:
+            print(f"  ! unreadable, excluded: {s.path.name} — {s.error}")
+    shots = [s for s in shots if s.ok]
+    if len(shots) < 2:
+        print("Not enough readable images.", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 2
+
+    print(f"{'verdict':<10} {'dist':>5} {'mean':>7} {'changed':>8}  pair")
+    print("-" * 78)
+    counts: dict[str, int] = {}
+    rows = []
+    for a, b in itertools.combinations(shots, 2):
+        v, why = verdict(a, b, args.threshold)
+        counts[v] = counts.get(v, 0) + 1
+        dist = imagehash.hex_to_hash(a.phash) - imagehash.hex_to_hash(b.phash)
+        measured = fingerprint_diff(a.fingerprint, b.fingerprint)
+        mean, changed = measured if measured else (float("nan"), float("nan"))
+        rows.append((v, dist, mean, changed, a, b, why))
+
+    # Closest pairs first: the interesting decisions are the near-misses at
+    # both limits, not the obvious strangers at the bottom of the list.
+    for v, dist, mean, changed, a, b, why in sorted(rows, key=lambda r: r[1]):
+        print(f"{v:<10} {dist:>5} {mean:>7.2f} {changed:>7.2%}  "
+              f"{a.label} vs {b.label}")
+        print(f"{'':<10} {'':>5} {'':>7} {'':>8}  -> {why}")
+
+    print("\n" + "  ".join(f"{k}: {n}" for k, n in sorted(counts.items())))
+    print(
+        "\nRead the margin, not just the verdict. A pair you consider the SAME "
+        f"image should sit far under mean {FINGERPRINT_MAX_MEAN_DIFF} / changed "
+        f"{FINGERPRINT_MAX_CHANGED_FRACTION:.0%}; a pair you consider DIFFERENT "
+        "artwork\nshould sit far over. Anything that only just cleared a limit "
+        "is what will flip on the next file, and is the reason to move a constant."
+    )
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())