How is card centering measured?

Centering compares the border widths on opposite sides of a card. If the left border is 60% of the two side borders added together and the right is 40%, the card is 60/40 left to right. The same is done top to bottom, and graders key their tolerances on whichever of the two numbers is worse.

What centering does a PSA 10 need?

PSA allows up to 55/45 on both axes on the front of a card and up to 75/25 on the back for its top grade. A card outside that cannot reach a 10 on centering alone, however clean its corners and surface are.

Is this centering tool free?

Yes, and there is no limit on how many cards you measure. The photograph is read in your own browser and is never uploaded.

Why does my card measure differently each time?

Almost always the photograph. A card shot at an angle has borders that are wider on the side nearer the lens, and that skew goes straight into the measurement. Shoot from directly above, with the whole card in frame and even light.

Does good centering guarantee a high grade?

No. Centering sets a ceiling. Corners, edges and surface are judged separately and can only take a card below that ceiling, never above it.

Card centering calculator

Photograph a card and both of its borders are found for you — the cut edge and the printed frame — then measured into the left/right and top/bottom percentages a grader works from. Free, unlimited, and the photograph never leaves your browser.

Add a photo of the cardStraight on, whole card in frame, on a background that is not the colour of the border.Choose a photo

Centering is the ratio of the border widths on opposite sides of a card, and it is the one part of a grade you can measure before you send it away. Add a photo and both edges are found for you.

What the number means

Two borders, not one

Centering is the relationship between the border on one side of a card and the border opposite it. A 60/40 card has one border half again as wide as the other.

The worse axis decides

A card can be perfect left to right and badly off top to bottom. Graders take whichever axis is worse, so that is the number that sets the ceiling.

Fronts and backs differ

Every company allows a back to be further out than a front, because backs were cut with less care. The tool switches between them.

Centering tolerances by company

Company	Top grade, front	Top grade, back
PSA 10	55/45 both axes	75/25
BGS 10	50/50 both axes	60/40
BGS 9.5	50/50 one axis, 55/45 other	60/40
SGC 10	55/45 both axes	70/30
CGC 10	55/45 both axes	70/30

Published centering tolerances. Each company judges corners, edges and surface separately, and a card can fall below these limits for reasons that have nothing to do with the cut.

Common questions

How is card centering measured?: Centering compares the border widths on opposite sides of a card. If the left border is 60% of the two side borders added together and the right is 40%, the card is 60/40 left to right. The same is done top to bottom, and graders key their tolerances on whichever of the two numbers is worse.
What centering does a PSA 10 need?: PSA allows up to 55/45 on both axes on the front of a card and up to 75/25 on the back for its top grade. A card outside that cannot reach a 10 on centering alone, however clean its corners and surface are.
Is this centering tool free?: Yes, and there is no limit on how many cards you measure. The photograph is read in your own browser and is never uploaded.
Why does my card measure differently each time?: Almost always the photograph. A card shot at an angle has borders that are wider on the side nearer the lens, and that skew goes straight into the measurement. Shoot from directly above, with the whole card in frame and even light.
Does good centering guarantee a high grade?: No. Centering sets a ceiling. Corners, edges and surface are judged separately and can only take a card below that ceiling, never above it.