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PSA 8: centering requirements

Read from PSA’s grading standards page. Checked 2026-10-28. Official page.

NM-MT 8: ~65/35 front, 90/10 back — their word: “approximately”

“Centering must be approximately 65/35 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.”

Measure your card against this line →

Either side of it

On the front line alone, a worst axis worse than ~60/40 and up to ~65/35 meets the NM-MT 8 line but not the MINT 9 line. Ratio pages: 65/35.

PSA adds: "A 5% leeway is given to the front centering minimum standards for cards which grade PSA 7 or better." A card inside the published figure meets it; up to 5 points beyond may still pass on strong eye appeal.

PSA, every grade

GradeFrontBack
GEM-MT 10~55/4575/25
MINT 9~60/4090/10
NM-MT 8~65/3590/10
NM 7~70/3090/10
EX-MT 680/2090/10
EX 585/1590/10
VG-EX 485/1590/10
VG 390/1090/10
GOOD 290/1090/10
FR 1.5~90/10~90/10
PR 1——

“~” is the company’s own “approximately”.

Questions

What centering does PSA require for an 8?

NM-MT 8: ~65/35 front, 90/10 back. PSA says "approximately", so the line carries grader discretion. As published: "Centering must be approximately 65/35 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse."

How much better does centering have to be for a PSA 9?

MINT 9 needs ~60/40 front, 90/10 back, against ~65/35 front, 90/10 back for NM-MT 8.

Which centering ratios reach exactly a PSA 8?

On the published front lines alone, a worst axis worse than ~60/40 and up to ~65/35 meets the NM-MT 8 line but not the MINT 9 line. Of the ratios with their own page: 65/35. Corners, edges and surface can hold or lower the grade. PSA adds: "A 5% leeway is given to the front centering minimum standards for cards which grade PSA 7 or better." A card inside the published figure meets it; up to 5 points beyond may still pass on strong eye appeal.

How is the ratio measured?

Compare the two borders on each axis: a card whose left border is 57% of left plus right is 57/43. Services judge the worse axis, front and back separately. SlabbyPrep reads both from a photo and shows each border to a hundredth of a millimetre; on synthetic test photos, 97% of the readings it shows without a warning are within 1 percentage point (the methodology page has the full results).

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