| name | centering-measurement-discipline |
| description | Use when measuring centering before submission, or auditing a grade you disagree with. Covers 55/45, 60/40, 65/35 thresholds across graders.
|
Centering Measurement Discipline
Centering is L/R · T/B ratios. Measure inner-border to inner-border, divide smaller by larger, take the worse axis as your grade.
Threshold table
| L/R or T/B | PSA cap | BGS cap | SGC cap |
|---|
| 50/50–55/45 | 10 | 10 Pristine | 10 |
| 55/45–60/40 | 9 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| 60/40–65/35 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| 65/35–70/30 | 7 | 8.5 | 8 |
| Worse than 70/30 | 6 or qualifier | 8 | 7 |
Set-specific quirks
- Topps Chrome / Refractors: factory shift 2–3mm common
- Panini Prizm: notoriously off-center; aim 55/45 minimum
- Pokemon Modern: graders look at INKED border, not holo field
- MTG M15+: corner cuts can fool measurement — measure to printed frame
The 1mm rule
On a 2.5" × 3.5" card, 1mm ≈ 1.5% of width. Anything visible to the naked eye is already off a 10 candidate.
Where this fits in the X3 empire
Used by the CardPrepAI Concierge tool to pre-screen submissions. Saves customers $25-50 per off-center card they would have submitted blind.
