Centring describes the position of the printed image area relative to the four edges of a finished card. It is reported as a left/right and top/bottom percentage, and it is the variable that most often separates a 9 from a 10 in third-party grading. PSA tolerances are tighter on the front than on the back; BGS reports both faces; SGC uses a hybrid system. Vintage tobacco issues are graded on a more permissive centring scale than modern issues, since the printing technology of the period genuinely could not hold tighter tolerances.

Centring cannot be improved post-production. It is set at the cutting stage of the printing run and is a permanent attribute of any individual card.

For collectors quoting centring measurements, the convention is to express the percentage as left/right then top/bottom, with 50/50 representing perfect centring. A 60/40 measurement means one border is sixty per cent of the total horizontal margin and the opposite border is forty per cent. Most graders publish the centring tolerance ranges they accept at each grade tier, and these published ranges are the practical reference for assessing borderline cards before submission. See our grading guide for application in practice.