Help in Understanding Centering

ajmoeller81

After examining the 20+ PSA 10 graded cards that I've purchased off eBay, I think I've got corners down pretty well. Next I decided that I should probably investigate centering because I heard that it is a more objective rating. I measured the cards I have and it appears that they are approximately 500 pixels in width. Then I counted pixels to a strip on the left side of the card so that I could compare that measurement with other cards. Of the 6 PSA 10s from the set I'm interested in they measured:

56, 54, 54, 62, 48, 46 (pixels)

I'm confused as to what the limits would be for Gem Mint... I'm actually a little surprised when looking at the (62) and (46) cards as you would assume that one of them would be off center. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks!

phreakydancin

You can't just measure a single border. You need to compare the left border to the right border, and the top to the bottom.

If the left and right are both 40 pixels, you have 50/50 centering.

If the left and right are both 60 pixels, you still have 50/50 centering.

If the left border on a card measures 60 pixels and the right is 40 pixels, the centering is 60/40.

If the left border is 30 pixels and the right is 20 pixels, you still have 60/40.

PSA allows up to 60/40 centering for a Gem Mint 10.

ajmoeller81

Part of the problem is that there is no right border. I should have included some pictures. Here are the 2 examples I mentioned.

The Fitzgerald is 62 pixels to the left border.

The Colbert is 46 pixels to the left border.

Even without magnifying you can see there's quite a difference.