The surface properties of carbon materials are very important since many complex physical and chemical reactions take place on their surfaces. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) test is one of the most significant characterization methods to analyze the surfaces. The carbon species and banding energies for several typical kinds of carbon materials (graphite, carbon black, graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbides, and polymers) were summarized with typical XPS spectra. It can be found that carbon materials with different preparation methods, analytical methods or storage times possess quite different carbon species and banding energies. Meanwhile, classical XPS figures and analysis results of every carbon material were illustrated, which provides the researchers an intuitive understanding of the related analytical method. Therefore, much more accurate results of XPS spectra for related carbon materials can be obtained.