Is your card centred?
Check Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic and sports card centering. Move the guides. See the ratios. Keep your photo private.
Start with a photo of your card.
Keep all four edges visible. A straight-on photo gives the most useful result.
or drop an image here · JPG, PNG, WebP · up to 20 MBYour photo stays in this browser. No account, upload or image storage.
How to use the card centering checker
- Photograph one side, straight on. Place the card on a flat, contrasting surface. Leave a little space around every edge. A sleeve or holder should not obscure the cardboard.
- Choose the photo. The image opens on your device. It is never submitted to a grading service or an image-processing server.
- Unwrap the card, or skip. Position the four numbered corners clockwise around the physical card and choose Flatten card. The selected outline becomes a rectangle. Skip if your photo is already straight on.
- Set the outer edges. Drag the solid lime lines to the straight edges of the card. Use the straight portions of the edge, not the rounded corners.
- Set the printed border. Move the pink dashed lines onto the same printed boundary on opposite sides. The relevant boundary depends on the card design.
- Zoom and fine-tune. Hold a line to see a magnified view, then drag it into place. The magnifier helps you place each guide precisely. Measure the other side with a separate photo.
- Read both axes. Check the left/right and top/bottom ratios, then save an annotated copy if you want to keep a record.
Inner guides are starting points, not detected borders. After unwrapping, outer guides follow the corners you selected; if you skip, all guides start as placeholders. The tool does not automatically detect or authenticate your card. You choose the edges being measured.
How card centering percentages are calculated
Card centering compares the space between a physical card edge and a consistent printed border on the opposite sides of a card. A 50/50 result means those two spaces are equal. It does not mean that half of the card is blank.
Top % = top border ÷ (top border + bottom border) × 100
The right and bottom percentages complete their pairs to 100. Keep the direction when recording a result: 60/40 left/right means the left border is wider, while 40/60 means the right border is wider.
What our border balance score means
For each axis, we calculate 100 minus the difference between the two border percentages. The displayed score is the lower of the two axis scores. For example, a card measuring 55/45 left/right and 60/40 top/bottom has a border balance score of 80%. This makes the weaker axis visible instead of averaging it away.
This is a symmetry indicator, not a professional grade. The one-decimal display helps you see line adjustments; it does not mean a phone photograph measures the physical card with that accuracy.
Take a better photo before measuring
Keep the camera parallel
If the top of the card looks narrower than the bottom, perspective is changing the apparent borders. Stand directly above the card or use a flatbed scan. The four-corner unwrap step corrects perspective for a flat card. A square-on photograph remains preferable when corners are hidden or the lens visibly bends straight edges.
Give the edge some contrast
Use a plain background that differs from the card border. Avoid strong overhead glare and shadows that look like an extra edge. Keep your phone steady and let it focus before taking the shot.
Choose a real boundary
On a bordered Pokémon card, look for the transition into the printed design. On Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic, inspect the outer printed frame. Do not measure a text box simply because it has a convenient straight line.
Check front and back separately
The reverse can have different alignment from the front. Keep separate annotated results, labelled by side. A well-centred back does not prove that the front is centred too.
Centering and card grading: what the result can tell you
A centering check helps you compare copies and describe their border balance before buying, selling or considering grading. It cannot assess scratches, dents, edge wear, corners, alterations or authenticity.
As checked on 21 September 2026, PSA publishes approximate PSA 10 centering limits of 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the reverse. Check both axes. The reference table below concerns the front; the reverse has a different tolerance. PSA also considers other condition factors and grader judgement. Read the official PSA grading standards before interpreting a result.
PSA Centering Standards
Front-centering reference: the PSA 10 limit is verified against PSA’s published standard. The lower-grade labels and thresholds below follow an unofficial reference chart; they are not verified PSA standards or a grade prediction.
| Grade | Centering tolerance |
|---|---|
| Gem Mint 10 | 55/45 or better |
| Mint 9 | 60/40 or better |
| NM-MT 8.5 | 65/35 or better |
| NM-MT 8 | 70/30 or better |
| EX-MT 7.5 | 75/25 or better |
| Below 7 | Worse than 75/25 |
We do not convert the measurement into a promised grade or a “chance of a 10”. When a result is close to a threshold, repeat the measurement using a clearer photograph. Learn more in our graded vs raw card guide, or explore the graded-card collection.
A private centering tool for collectors
Your photo and guide positions remain in this page’s memory. The tool does not upload images, write them to browser storage or record measurement events. Clearing the photo or leaving the page discards the working copy. If you choose “Save annotated result”, the browser downloads it directly to your device.
The checker works with clearly bordered Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: The Gathering and sports cards. Asymmetric artwork, damaged edges and borderless designs may not support a meaningful measurement. In those cases, a careful visual review is more useful than a precise-looking number.
Card centering questions
Choose a straight-on photo with all four card edges visible. Use the optional four-corner unwrap step if the photo is angled. Put the four outer guides on the physical edges, then put the inner guides on the matching printed border. Read left/right and top/bottom separately. The same method works on the reverse when the blue border is clear.
The photo editor and result download are free. You do not need an account or a subscription. Choose a JPG, PNG or WebP image to begin.
No. The checker reads the image into this browser and calculates measurements locally. It does not send the photo, filename or measurements to our server, and it does not store them in cookies or browser storage. Clear photo or leave the page to discard the working image. Saving an annotated result downloads a file to your own device.
One border accounts for 60% of the combined width of two opposite borders; the other accounts for 40%. A 3 mm left border and a 2 mm right border give 60/40 left/right. This describes border balance, not the proportion of the entire card occupied by the artwork.
PSA currently states an approximate limit of 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the reverse. Both axes need checking. These are centering references, not a promise of a PSA 10: surface, corners, edges, printing and grader judgement also matter.
Read PSA’s grading standardsYes, where opposite borders have a repeatable printed boundary. Use the outside of the printed frame, not an internal artwork box unless that box is intentionally centred. On an asymmetrical or borderless design, equal visible margins may not be the intended layout.
Only if you can identify comparable boundaries on both sides of the axis. Do not invent an inner border from an arbitrary feature in the illustration. If the front is unsuitable, check the reverse separately and leave the front unmeasured.
A photograph can give a rough measurement if it shows the actual card square-on and all edges are visible. Slab plastic, sleeve seams, reflections and perspective can distort or hide the borders. Align to the card itself, not the holder. Request a clearer photo if those edges are ambiguous.
Yes. In the optional unwrap step, place four points on the card corners and choose Flatten card. The tool maps that outline to a rectangle locally before you align the borders. Skip this step for a straight-on photo. Accurate corner placement matters: this cannot repair curved cards, lens distortion, blurred edges or hidden corners.
Borders can be only a few pixels wide in a small photo, so a small line movement can change their ratio substantially. Hold a guide to inspect the magnified view, drag slowly and repeat the placement. Avoid treating a borderline result as precise to a tenth of a percent.
No. It is sealedstash’s simple symmetry measure for the less balanced axis. Equal borders give 100%, a 55/45 split gives 90%, and a 60/40 split gives 80%. It is not a professional grading-company grade, nor a probability of receiving one.