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How card centering is measured
Centering compares the border on one side of a card with the border on the opposite side. Divide one border by the two added together: a 3.0 mm left border and a 2.0 mm right border is 3.0 ÷ 5.0 = 60%, written 60/40. Do the same for top and bottom. The card has to meet a grade’s limit both ways, so the worse ratio is the one that counts — and graders check the back too, with looser limits.
To measure by hand:
- Use a ruler marked in millimeters (a clear one is easiest) or digital calipers, under good light.
- Measure the left and right borders across the middle of the card, from the cut edge to where the frame or artwork starts.
- Measure the top and bottom borders the same way.
- Enter the four numbers under By hand in the checker, or divide each border by its pair yourself.
Borders on most cards are only a few millimeters wide, so small slips matter: with 2.5 mm borders, reading one of them half a millimeter wide moves the ratio by more than four points. That is why a sharp, zoomed-in photo is often easier to measure than the card itself.
For a photo, lay the card flat on a plain surface and hold the phone parallel to it. Step back and zoom in a little rather than shooting close up, which bends straight edges. If the card still looks tilted, use Straighten before you place the lines. On full-art cards with no plain border, put the pink lines on a printed frame line or design element that should sit evenly on both sides.
Centering standards by grading company
These are the centering limits each company publishes for its grades, checked on September 19, 2026. Each figure is the most off-center a card can be: 60/40 means neither border may be more than 60% of the pair. The limits apply left-to-right and top-to-bottom alike.
PSA centering standards
| PSA grade | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
| Gem Mint 10 | 55/45 | 75/25 |
| Mint 9 | 60/40 | 90/10 |
| NM-MT 8 | 65/35 | 90/10 |
| NM 7 | 70/30 | 90/10 |
| EX-MT 6 | 80/20 | 90/10 |
| EX 5 | 85/15 | 90/10 |
| VG-EX 4 | 85/15 | 90/10 |
| VG 3 | 90/10 | 90/10 |
| Good 2 | 90/10 | 90/10 |
| Fair 1.5 | 90/10 | 90/10 |
| Poor 1 | Not stated | Not stated |
Source: PSA grading standards. PSA qualifies several of these limits, including those for grades 7 to 10, with “approximately”, and notes that graders may allow a small variance for strong eye appeal.
A PSA 10 needs about 55/45 on the front, and a card that misses a grade on centering alone can be given that grade with the OC (off-center) qualifier instead of a lower number.
BGS (Beckett) centering standards
| BGS grade | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
| Pristine 10 | 50/50 | 60/40 |
| Gem Mint 9.5 | 50/50 one way, 55/45 the other | 60/40 |
| Mint 9 | 55/45 | 70/30 |
| NM-Mint 8 | 60/40 | 80/20 |
| Near Mint 7 | 65/35 | 90/10 |
| Excellent Mint 6 | 70/30 | 95/5 |
| Excellent 5 | 75/25 | 95/5 |
| VG-EX 4 | 80/20 | 100/0 |
| Very Good 3 | 85/15 | 100/0 |
| Good 2 | 90/10 | 100/0 or offcut |
| Poor 1 | 100/0 or offcut | 100/0 or offcut |
Source: Beckett grading scale. Beckett’s website was offline for maintenance in September 2026, so these figures come from the archived copy of the page dated May 3, 2026.
Beckett judges centering, corners, edges and surface one by one (its Base service includes subgrades), and it is strict at the top: Pristine 10 needs 50/50 on the front, and Gem Mint 9.5 needs 50/50 one way and 55/45 the other.
CGC centering standards
| CGC grade | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
| Pristine 10 | 50/50 | Not stated |
| Gem Mint 10 | 55/45 | 75/25 |
| Mint 9 | 60/40* | 90/10* |
| NM/Mint 8 | 65/35* | Not stated |
| Near Mint+ 7.5 | 65/35* | Not stated |
| Near Mint 7 | 70/30* | Not stated |
| Ex/NM 6 | 75/25* | Not stated |
| VG/Ex+ 4.5 | 85/15* | Not stated |
| Very Good+ 3.5 | 90/10 | Not stated |
Source: CGC Cards grading scale. * From Mint 9 to VG/Ex+ 4.5, CGC gives these figures for sports and non-sport cards; for trading card games its descriptions of those grades list handling and manufacturing defects instead. So for a TCG card that misses 55/45, the checker can only say “below 10” on centering alone.
TAG centering standards
| TAG grade | Front | Back, TCG | Back, sports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pristine 10 | 51/49 | 52/48 | 54.5/45.5 |
| Gem Mint 10 | 55/45 | 65/35 | 70/30 |
| Mint 9 | 60/40 | 75/25 | 90/10 |
| NM MT+ 8.5 | 62.5/37.5 | 85/15 | 95/5 |
| NM MT 8 | 65/35 | 95/5 | Not miscut |
| NM+ 7.5 | 67.5/32.5 | Not miscut | Not miscut |
| NM 7 | 70/30 | Not miscut | Not miscut |
Source: TAG grading rubric.
TAG publishes separate back limits for trading card games and sports cards, and the TCG ones are tighter. Below NM 7 its front limit keeps loosening half a grade at a time — 6.5 is 72.5/27.5, 6 is 75/25, 5.5 is 77.5/22.5, 5 is 80/20, 4.5 is 82.5/17.5, 4 is 85/15, 3.5 is 87.5/12.5, 3 is 90/10, 2.5 is 92.5/7.5, 2 is 95/5, and 1.5 is 98.33/1.67 — while the back only has to show some border without being miscut.
What is baka centering?
Baka is Japanese for “fool”, and collectors in the Pokémon hobby use “baka centering” for cards printed so far off-center that one border almost disappears. It is slang, not a grading term: no grading company uses it or says where it starts. On the scales above, a card at 80/20 on the front can’t grade higher than PSA 6 on centering, and at 90/10 the ceiling is PSA 3. Past that, the only number left is a PSA 1 — unless PSA grades the rest of the card and adds the OC qualifier.
Why centering matters for value
Centering can keep an otherwise clean card from a 10, and it is the one flaw you can measure precisely before paying a grader. A PSA 10 needs about 55/45 on the front; the same card at 62/38 can’t grade above PSA 8 on centering, however clean its corners are. Graded cards sell grade by grade, so knowing the ceiling tells you which price to compare with the raw price.
Once you know it, look up what the card sells for raw — our Pokémon card value lookup or a scan in TCG Vault will tell you — and what it sells for in the grade its centering allows, then run both through the PSA grading cost calculator to see whether the fee is worth paying. For what each grade means beyond centering, see the PSA grading scale explained.
