Abstract: Apparatus for grading hides, skins, pelts and the like according to thickness and quality includes means, for example a mechanical/electrical transducer, for providing a signal representative of thickness of a selected skin, means, for example manually operated push-buttons, for providing a signal representative of the quality of the skin and means responsive to both these signals for providing a signal representative of a product category for the skin. The product category signal may serve for sorting the skins into batches and preferably controls the application of an area signal for each selected skin in a category to summation means therefor enable control and/or display of total batch area. The skins may pass through the apparatus on an endless conveyor above which are disposed photoelectric scanning means to detect instantaneously the width of each passing skin to provide the area signal and a thickness transducer to bear against the skin to provide the thickness signal.