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Card centering calculator

Line the guides up with the card's edges and the inside of its border, or type the four border widths. You get the left-to-right and top-to-bottom split and the highest grade PSA, BGS, SGC and CGC publish for that centering.

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Front centering60/40 · 55/45
  • PSA
    9
  • BGS
    8
  • SGC
    9
  • CGC
    9

BGS: centering subgrade. Front only. Switch to Back and measure it to include the reverse.

Tap a line to select it, then tap the photo or use the arrows to move it.

Lime lines sit on the card's outer edges, violet lines on the inside edge of the border. Drag a line, or select it and tap where it belongs.

Left / right

60/40

Borders 3.6 mm / 2.4 mm

This axis sets the grade

Top / bottom

55/45

Borders 3.3 mm / 2.7 mm

 

A split within 51/49 counts as 50/50, about as fine as a photo can measure.

Card centering is the wider border's share of the two borders on one axis. A card with a 3.6 mm left border and a 2.4 mm right border measures 3.6 ÷ 6.0 = 60%, written 60/40. PSA allows about 55/45 on the front for a Gem Mint 10 and 60/40 for a Mint 9, so that card tops out at PSA 9 however sharp its corners are.

How the ratio is worked out

3.6 ÷ (3.6 + 2.4) = 0.60 → 60/40

3.3 ÷ (3.3 + 2.7) = 0.55 → 55/45

Measure the border on both sides of one axis, add the two together and divide the wider one by the total. With a 3.6 mm left border and a 2.4 mm right border, the total is 6.0 mm and 3.6 ÷ 6.0 is 0.60, so the card is 60/40 left to right.

Do the same from top to bottom. On the sample card, a 3.3 mm top border and a 2.7 mm bottom border give 3.3 ÷ 6.0 = 0.55, or 55/45. The standards apply to both axes, so the card is held to the worse one, and here that is 60/40.

Millimeters, pixels and ruler ticks all work, because the units cancel out. What breaks the result is measuring the two sides at different zoom levels or in two different photos.

Front centering limits by grader

Each row applies one split to both axes and shows the highest grade whose published front tolerance it meets. Grades with no published centering figure, such as SGC 9.5 or CGC 8.5, are skipped rather than guessed.

Highest grade allowed by front centering at PSA, BGS, SGC and CGC, from each company's published scale, checked October 9, 2026
Front splitPSABGSSGCCGC
50/501010Pristine10Pristine10Pristine
55/451091010
60/409899
65/35878.58
70/30767.57
75/256566
80/206454.5
85/155344.5
90/103233.5

BGS 9.5 asks for 50/50 one way and 55/45 the other, which a split applied to both axes cannot show; the calculator above handles it. PSA writes most of its figures as approximate and may allow a small variance for eye appeal.

The back has its own limits

Graders hold the reverse to a looser standard. PSA's Gem Mint 10 allows about 75/25 on the back and every grade from 9 down to 3 allows 90/10, so a card cut 70/30 on the reverse can still be a 10. Beckett is stricter at the top, asking for 60/40 on the back for a 10 or a 9.5.

SGC publishes no reverse figure at any grade. CGC gives one only for its Gem Mint 10 (75/25) and its 9 (90/10).

Highest grade allowed by back centering, from each company's published reverse figures, checked October 9, 2026
Back splitPSABGSSGCCGC
60/401010PristineNot published10
70/30109Not published10
75/25108Not published10
80/2098Not published9
90/1097Not published9
95/5Below 36Not publishedBelow 9

At BGS it is a subgrade, not a ceiling

Beckett scores centering, corners, edges and surface separately and builds the final grade from all four, so the BGS figure here is the centering subgrade. PSA, SGC and CGC print a single number, and their figure is the highest grade the centering allows.

A Black Label is four 10 subgrades. On centering that means 50/50 on the front and 60/40 or better on the back, the strictest centering standard any of the four companies publishes.

When a measurement goes wrong

Most bad readings come from the photo, not the arithmetic.

  • 01

    A tilted phone

    If the phone is not square to the card, the near border photographs wider than the far one. Shoot straight down, let the card fill most of the frame, and retake the photo if the outer guides cannot sit on all four edges at once.

  • 02

    Thin borders magnify small errors

    With 3 mm borders, placing one edge 0.3 mm off turns a 50/50 card into roughly 52/48. Zoom the photo or use the arrow buttons before trusting a result that sits right on a grade line.

  • 03

    Diamond cuts

    A border that tapers from one end to the other gives two readings. Measure at both ends and use the worse one. Beckett also lists diamond cutting as a separate allowance at each grade.

  • 04

    Cards with no plain border

    Full-art, borderless and many chrome cards have no plain frame to measure. Pick a printed line that is meant to sit square, such as a frame edge or a name bar, and measure from the card's edge to it on both sides.

  • 05

    Approximately means approximately

    PSA's own wording is approximate, and its standards let a grader allow a small variance for eye appeal. A 61/39 card can come back a 9, and a 55/45 card can come back an 8 for reasons that have nothing to do with centering.

Centering is one of four

A card that measures 55/45 with a soft corner is not a 10. Graders look at corners, edges and surface as well, and surface is the category a phone photo misses most often, because hairline scratches only show at an angle under strong light.

SnapCard measures centering from photos of the front and back, checks corners, edges and surface, and puts an estimate on the PSA scale beside what that grade has recently sold for. It is free to download on iPhone.

Download SnapCard free

Centering questions

what centering do you need for a psa 10

About 55/45 or better on the front and 75/25 or better on the back, from PSA's published grading standards. PSA may allow a small variance for strong eye appeal.

Is 60/40 centering good?

It is the front limit for a PSA 9, an SGC 9 and a CGC 9, and it earns a BGS centering subgrade of 8. On a card whose PSA 10 sells for several times its PSA 9, a 60/40 front is a reason to keep it raw.

does back centering matter for grading

Yes, on a looser scale. PSA allows about 75/25 on the back for a 10 and 90/10 for grades 9 through 3. BGS asks for 60/40 on the back for a 10 or a 9.5. SGC publishes no back figure.

how do you measure centering on a card without borders

Measure from the card's edge to a printed line meant to run parallel to it, such as the frame or the name bar, on both sides of the axis. Then divide the wider distance by the total, as with a bordered card.

How accurate is a centering calculator on a phone photo?

As accurate as the photo is square. Shot straight down with the card filling the frame, a careful measurement lands within a percent or two, which is why this tool counts anything within 51/49 as 50/50.

what centering is needed for a bgs black label

A Black Label needs a 10 in all four subgrades. The centering 10 requires 50/50 on the front and 60/40 or better on the back.

Sources

Tolerances were read from each company's grading scale on October 9, 2026.