Judging centering of borderless cards

peterredshoes

Something I've been wondering about for some time is how one goes about determining whether a card with an irregular or only partial border is well-centered or not. I'm thinking especially about modern premium cards in which little more than the player's name is superimposed on the photo. For some issues I've encountered it's possible to improvise by measuring various "floating" images on top of the photo's distance from the edge of the card. For others, however, this is difficult either due to lack of objects or the fact that such objects are designed to be off-center, and the question then remains as to exactly how off center they're supposed to be.

As an extreme example I've shown a card from the 1992 Stadium Club set, in which the only border object is positioned left of center along the bottom edge. Any thoughts on how to judge the centering of this card or other designs with similar challenges?

Peter G.

interchanges

Kinda like 1969 FB, 1st series. I think you have to compare them against each other. I had about 6 Larry Wilson's from that set and when you compare them against each other, you are able to tell.
If you just look at one out of nowhere, it would look centered.

helionaut

This is one of the details of grading that I wish the card companies would publish actual guidelines on, especially since so many modern sets are borderless or asymmetrical. When I made my first submission to BGS, I called and had about a 20-minute conversation with a CSR about this very issue. The bottom line was something along the lines of "the graders know, but they can't explain it". That was pretty unsatisfactory, especially since I am paying them for their unbiased, empirical opinion. I'm guessing that it comes down to aesthetics. Your Trammell card I think is "centered" well. If the name seemed too close to the bottom edge, or the stadium logo was too close to the left, you would sense it. "Too close" in this case is not something that can be agreed upon by anything less than a millimeter measurement, and an opinion from the designer.