Lorcana Card Centering Guide: Where to Measure for a PSA 10

Lorcana cards are graded to the same centering standards as every other trading card: for a PSA 10 the front must be within approximately 55/45 and the back within 75/25, with the worst axis deciding; a PSA 9 allows approximately 60/40 and 90/10. BGS wants 55/45 both ways on the front for a 9.5 and a true 50/50 for a Pristine 10. TAG's Gem Mint 10 is ~55/45 front and ~65/35 back for TCG cards. None of the graders publishes a Lorcana-specific rule.

What is Lorcana-specific is where you put the ruler. A regular Lorcana card has no plain contrasting border like a Pokémon card's yellow edge. Instead, a decorative frame in the card's ink color runs out to the cut edge and surrounds a clearly bounded interior — the art window above and the text box below. Your reference is the inner frame line, the boundary where frame ends and art or text begins, measured from the cut edge on all four sides. Enchanted full-art cards have no frame at all, so you measure to design elements and lean heavily on the back.

This guide covers the Lorcana frame and back design, exactly which edges to measure on regular, foil and enchanted cards, the tolerances for every major grader, a worked example with real arithmetic, and a straight answer to "which tool should I use before I submit?"

Anatomy of a Lorcana card for centering purposes

Lorcana cards are standard size, 2.5 × 3.5 in (63.5 × 88.9 mm), so every grader's tolerances apply without adjustment. The layout that matters for measurement:

Regular cards (common through legendary, non-foil and foil). The outer region is a decorative frame tinted in one of the six inks — amber, amethyst, emerald, ruby, sapphire or steel. The frame runs to the cut edge. Inside it is the art window in the upper portion of the card and the text box below it, with the name and version banner between them. The ink-cost hexagon sits in the top-left corner and breaks into the frame; the collector number, set information and artist credit sit in the lower frame below the text box. Foil versions use the same frame with a foil treatment, so the reference lines are identical; only glare changes.

Enchanted cards. The chase rarity. Full-art alternate artwork that extends to the cut edge, with a foil treatment and the name banner and text box overlaid on the art. There is no outer frame, so the usual reference disappears.

Location cards. Landscape orientation. The same frame logic applies; rotate the card and measure the long axis as left/right.

The back. A single symmetrical design shared by every card, with a central emblem and a symmetrical patterned field inside a thin inset border line. Because the back is identical across the game and symmetrical by design, it is the most reliable surface for a clean measurement — and it has its own tolerance at every grader.

Where to measure on regular Lorcana cards

Measure from the cut edge of the card to the inner frame line — the clean boundary where the decorative frame meets the interior panel.

• Left/right: from the left cut edge to the left edge of the art window (or the inner frame line running down the side of the card), and the same on the right. The sides are designed symmetrical, so a perfectly centered card reads equal on both.
• Top/bottom: from the top cut edge to the top of the interior panel, and from the bottom cut edge to the bottom of the text box or the frame line beneath it. Check a few well-centered copies of any Lorcana card and you will see the bottom margin of the design carries the collector information, so do not assume the top and bottom frame widths are designed to be identical in millimeters. The safe move is to measure to the same type of line top and bottom (frame line to frame line), then sanity-check your result against the back and against a known well-centered copy.

Two traps specific to this frame:

1. The ink-cost hexagon. It intrudes into the top-left frame. Measure the top border away from it, toward the center or right of the top edge, and measure the left border below it.
2. Frame texture. The decorative frame has filigree and shading. Use the crisp inner line as your reference, not the softer edge of the colored region, and measure at two points per side so a slightly rotated print (tilt or diamond cut) shows up as two different readings rather than one misleading average.

The formula is the same as for any card: larger border ÷ (both borders combined), expressed larger-first. A worked example with hypothetical but realistic numbers:

• Left frame 3.1 mm, right frame 2.5 mm → 3.1 ÷ 5.6 = 55.4% → 55/45
• Top frame 2.2 mm, bottom frame 2.8 mm → 2.8 ÷ 5.0 = 56% → 56/44

Worst axis: 56/44. On PSA's published numbers that is just outside "approximately 55/45" for a 10 and comfortably inside the 60/40 line for a 9. The word "approximately" means PSA could go either way; the same card measured at ACE (better than 60/40 for a 10) clears with room to spare, and at BGS the front fails 55/45 "both ways" for a 9.5. That is why one measured card can have three different ceilings — see the centering tolerance by grade table.

Where to measure on enchanted and full-art Lorcana cards

Enchanted cards remove the frame, and no grading company publishes an official rule for borderless cards. What collectors report — and what matches how graders describe centering in general — is that centering on a full-art card is judged by the cut relative to fixed design elements, not relative to the artwork, which is not designed to be symmetrical anyway.

Practical method:

1. Pick fixed elements that are designed symmetrical. On an enchanted card, the name banner and the text box are placed in consistent positions. Measure from the left cut edge to the left end of the text box and from the right cut edge to the right end; that gives you a left/right reading. For top/bottom there is rarely a clean element at the top, so top/bottom is usually judged from the back or by comparison.
2. Compare to a known well-centered copy. Pull up high-resolution images of the same enchanted card in a top-grade slab and compare where the art's fixed elements sit relative to the edges. Differences of a fraction of a millimeter show up clearly side by side.
3. Measure the back properly. On a card with no front reference, the back is where a grader can measure objectively, and it is the face most likely to cost you the 10. Back tolerances are listed in the table below.
4. Treat foil glare as a measurement error source. Enchanted foil throws highlights that hide edges in a photo. Use diffuse light, shoot straight down, or scan; a scanner's even light is the single biggest improvement for foil cards.

Our guide to measuring centering on full-art and borderless cards goes deeper on reference-point choice, including the three-border reconstruction method ACE describes.

Lorcana centering tolerances: PSA, BGS, CGC, SGC and TAG

All figures are from the graders' official standards pages. Lorcana is a TCG, so where TAG splits sports and TCG, the TCG figure is shown. CGC publishes numeric centering ratios below Gem Mint 10 only for "sports and non-sports cards," and states no ratio for TCG grades 9 and below.

How to read this for a Lorcana card you have measured:

• Front 53/47, back 60/40. Inside PSA 10, CGC Gem Mint 10, SGC Gem and TAG Gem Mint. Fails BGS Pristine (50/50 front, 55/45 back) but is a BGS 9.5 candidate on centering (55/45 front, 60/40 back — right on the back line).
• Front 57/43, back 52/48. Outside PSA's ~55/45 on paper, so a 9 on published numbers with the discretion clause as the only route to a 10; outside BGS 9.5 and TAG Gem Mint; inside ACE's 10 (better than 60/40).
• Front 51/49, back 70/30. Front is Pristine-level everywhere, but the back caps it: PSA 10 still passes (75/25), TAG Gem Mint fails for a TCG card (~65/35), BGS 9.5 fails (60/40), BGS 9 passes (70/30).

The back matters more for TCG at TAG than it does at PSA — the TCG back tolerance for TAG Gem Mint is ~65/35 versus PSA's 75/25. If your Lorcana card has a tight front and a sloppy back, PSA is the kinder scale; if the back is tight and the front is 56/44, ACE is. Full back-by-grader detail is in does back centering matter.

Foil, cold-foil and enchanted measurement tips

Lorcana foils are common in every pack, and the enchanted chase cards are foil by definition. Glare is the single biggest cause of a wrong reading on these cards.

• Scan rather than photograph if you can. A flatbed scanner lights the card evenly and removes perspective. At 600 dpi, 1 mm is roughly 24 pixels, so a pixel-ruler reading is precise to well under a tenth of a millimeter.
• If photographing, shoot straight down with two light sources at low angles from opposite sides, or in open shade. A single overhead lamp creates a hot spot that erases the inner frame line on one side of the card.
• Keep the card out of the sleeve. Penny sleeves add a bright edge and a shadow line that land exactly where you are trying to measure.
• Measure at two points per side and at the same height on both sides. Foil cards are printed on the same sheets and cut the same way as non-foils, so they show the same tilt and diamond-cut issues; two readings per side catch it.
• Check the back with the same care. The symmetrical back design is easy to measure on a matte scan, and on an enchanted card it may be the only face a grader can measure objectively.

Which tool should you use before grading a Lorcana card?

Collectors in Lorcana groups regularly ask what centering tool to use before deciding whether a card is "a 9 or a 10." The honest comparison:

A sensible workflow: screen every candidate quickly with a photo tool, then re-measure anything within about three points of a grader's line by scan or caliper before you pay a grading fee. The free card centering calculator measures both axes from a photo and maps the result to PSA, BGS, CGC, SGC and TAG thresholds, with manual guide lines you can drag onto the inner frame line yourself — which is exactly what you want on a Lorcana frame, where automatic edge detection can grab the wrong line. The same thresholds are laid out on our grading standards guide, and the general step-by-step is in how to measure card centering.

Step-by-step: checking a Lorcana card for a 10

1. Take the card out of the sleeve and lay it on a dark, matte surface.
2. Scan it at 600 dpi, or photograph it straight down in even light with no hot spots on the frame.
3. Front, left/right: measure from each cut edge to the inner frame line at two heights; average each side; compute larger ÷ total.
4. Front, top/bottom: measure cut edge to the interior panel line top and bottom, away from the ink-cost hexagon; compute larger ÷ total. If the card is enchanted, measure to the text box ends for left/right and rely on comparison plus the back for top/bottom.
5. Back: measure cut edge to the inset border line on all four sides; compute both axes.
6. Write down the worst front axis and the worst back axis.
7. Place both on the table above. A card at or inside ~55/45 front and 75/25 back meets PSA's published 10 standard; at or inside 55/45 both ways and 60/40 back it meets BGS 9.5; inside ~55/45 and ~65/35 it meets TAG Gem Mint for TCG.
8. If either worst axis is within two or three points of a line, re-measure with a scan or caliper before deciding — that is the band where "approximately" and grader discretion decide the outcome.

Bottom line

• Lorcana cards are held to the standard tolerances: PSA 10 is ~55/45 front and 75/25 back; BGS 9.5 is 55/45 both ways and 60/40 back; TAG Gem Mint is ~55/45 front and ~65/35 back for TCG; CGC Gem Mint 10 is ~55/45 and 75/25.
• On regular and foil cards, measure from the cut edge to the inner frame line where the ink-colored frame meets the art window and text box, at two points per side, avoiding the ink-cost hexagon.
• Enchanted full-arts have no frame: measure to fixed elements like the text box, compare against a known well-centered copy, and measure the symmetrical back carefully.
• Foil glare is the main error source; scan, or shoot straight down in diffuse light, with the card out of the sleeve.
• A ruler is too coarse near the 55/45 line on a frame only a few millimeters wide; use a scan, a caliper or a photo tool with adjustable guide lines, and re-measure anything within three points of a threshold.

Frequently asked questions

What centering does a Lorcana card need for a PSA 10?+

PSA's published Gem Mint 10 standard is centering within approximately 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the back, with the worst axis governing. A PSA 9 allows approximately 60/40 front and 90/10 back. Lorcana is graded to the same standards as any other trading card; there is no Lorcana-specific tolerance.

Where do you measure centering on a Lorcana card?+

On regular cards, measure from the cut edge to the inner frame line, the boundary where the decorative ink-colored frame meets the art window and text box, on both sides and top and bottom. On enchanted full-art cards there is no frame, so collectors measure from the cut edge to consistent design elements such as the name banner and text box, and lean on the symmetrical back.

How do you check centering on enchanted Lorcana cards?+

Enchanted cards are full-art, so there is no outer frame to measure to. Collectors report graders judge the cut relative to fixed design elements rather than the artwork. Measure from each cut edge to the same edge of the name banner or text box, compare against a known well-centered example of the same card, and always measure the back, which has a symmetrical design.

Does the back of a Lorcana card matter for grading?+

Yes. PSA allows 75/25 on the reverse for a 10, BGS Pristine 10 requires 55/45 or better on the back and a 9.5 allows 60/40, CGC Gem Mint 10 allows 75/25, and TAG Gem Mint allows about 65/35 on the back for TCG cards. The Lorcana back is a symmetrical design, so it is usually the easiest face to measure.

What is the best tool to check Lorcana centering before grading?+

For a quick screen, a flatbed scan and a pixel ruler or a photo-based centering calculator give better precision than a ruler, because a 0.5 mm ruler mark is a large fraction of a frame that is only a few millimeters wide. A digital caliper is the most precise hand tool. Whatever you use, measure out of the sleeve, flat and square, at two points per side.

Sources & further reading

• PSA Grading Standards
• Beckett Grading — BGS Grading Scale
• CGC Cards — Grading Scale
• SGC — Grading Scale
• TAG Grading — Grading Rubric