TLDR
- Bleed is the extra image that extends past the card edge. It prevents sad little white slivers after cutting.
- Safe zone is the “do not trim” buffer inside the edge. Keep names, mana costs, and rules text in it.
- Rule of thumb: add 0.125 in (3 mm) bleed on every side, then keep critical stuff 0.125 in (3 mm) inside the trim line.
- Cutting workflow that works: print one test page at 100%, cut into strips, then cut cards, then round corners if you care.
- Your #1 heartbreak prevention tool: a sharp blade. Your #2 is not trusting “Fit to page.”
There are few feelings in Magic worse than slicing a freshly printed proxy and realizing you just beheaded the mana cost. It’s like decapitating rules text in slow motion, except it’s instant, permanent, and somehow always happens to the card you were most excited to play.
This MTG proxy cutting guide is here to keep that from happening. We’re going to cover bleed vs safe zone, what cutting tools actually work, and a checklist you can follow without turning your kitchen into a tiny paper guillotine factory.
MTG proxy cutting guide basics: bleed, trim, safe zone (in normal human language)
Let’s define the three zones, because once you “see” them, cutting gets a lot less dramatic.
Trim
Trim is the final cut edge. It’s where the card ends. Every cut you make is you aiming for trim.
Bleed
Bleed is extra artwork that extends beyond the trim edge. You include bleed because cuts are never perfectly centered. Even a tiny shift can expose white paper if your background stops exactly at the trim line.
Print-shop translation: bleed exists because cutters have tolerance, and paper likes to slide when you’re feeling confident.
Safe zone
Safe zone is the buffer inside the trim edge where important stuff must live: card name, mana cost, rules text, power/toughness, loyalty, the whole “this needs to be readable mid-game” package.
If you put text too close to the edge, a slightly off cut will snack on it. And yes, it will choose the one card you needed to read.
The practical rule of thumb
For playing-card style printing, a common guideline is:
- Bleed: 0.125 in (about 3 mm) past trim on each side
- Safe zone: keep critical content 0.125 in (about 3 mm) inside trim on each side
That gives you a background that can drift a little, and a text area that stays intact even if your cuts drift a little too.
If you want the exact sizing and pixel targets for printing at home, use our in-house cheat sheet:
- MTG proxy card size cheat sheet
And if your prints are coming out “almost right but not quite,” this page fixes the usual culprit: - MTG proxy print settings (100% scaling, PDF tips)
Pick your cutting tool: good, better, best (and what you give up)
You can absolutely cut proxies with scissors. You can also eat soup with a fork. It’s possible. It’s just a choice.
Here’s the honest tradeoff table:
| Setup | What you use | Best for | What you give up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Guillotine paper cutter or basic trimmer | Cutting lots of cards fast | Slight drift if your guide is sloppy or blade is dull |
| Better | Rotary trimmer with a solid guide + corner rounder | Cleaner, more consistent edges | Slower cuts, more “line it up perfectly” time |
| Best | Trimmer + simple cutting jig/stop + corner rounder | Big runs (cubes, multiple decks) | Setup time upfront, but it pays off fast |
Quick tool notes (the stuff people learn the hard way)
- Guillotine cutters are popular because they’re fast and reasonably accurate for batch work. Many proxy makers swear by them for clean straight cuts.
- Rotary trimmers can be very precise, but they punish sloppy alignment. If your sheet drifts away from the guide, you get a cut that is technically straight and emotionally devastating.
- Metal ruler + craft knife is the accuracy king, but it’s slower. Great for small batches or when you’re fixing a few “almost perfect” cuts.
- Corner rounders are optional, but they make proxies feel more “real” in sleeves. Many people aim for something around 2.5 mm to 3 mm radius for a Magic-ish corner feel.
The cutting workflow that avoids heartbreak
This is the boring part that saves you from the tragic part.
1) Print one test page at 100%
Do not print your entire deck first. That’s how you get a 99-card learning experience.
- Set scaling to Actual Size / 100%
- Turn off Fit to page and anything that sounds like “help”
- Print from a PDF viewer, not a browser (browsers love surprise scaling)
Cut one card, sleeve it next to a real card, and check size.
2) Cut into strips first, then cut cards
If you print a 3×3 or 3×4 grid, don’t try to freehand every single rectangle.
- First pass: cut the sheet into long strips (all vertical cuts)
- Second pass: cut each strip into individual cards (all horizontal cuts)
This reduces alignment error because you’re referencing the guide the same way every time.
3) Use the same reference edge every cut
Pick one edge of the sheet to ride the cutter guide and keep it consistent. Flipping sheets around mid-process is how you get one column that’s perfect and one that’s… “interpretive.”
4) Keep your blade sharp
A dull blade crushes paper fibers before it slices them. That’s when edges look fuzzy, corners tear, and you start blaming your printer for something your cutter did.
5) Round corners last (optional)
If you’re rounding corners:
- Do it after final trim.
- Punch one card first to confirm you like the radius.
- If corners tear, you’re either punching too thick a stack, using a cheap punch, or the punch is dirty/dull.
The “don’t decapitate rules text” cutting checklist
Use this like a preflight check. It’s cheaper than therapy.
- Bleed: Background art extends past the cut line by ~3 mm (0.125 in) on all sides.
- Safe zone: Name, mana cost, rules text, and P/T are at least ~3 mm (0.125 in) inside the trim edge.
- Scaling: Print at Actual Size / 100%. No Fit/Shrink.
- Paper size match: Your PDF page size matches your printer setting (Letter vs A4).
- Test cut: You cut and sleeved one test card before doing the full run.
- Guide discipline: You’re using the same reference edge against the cutter guide every time.
- Cut order: Sheet → strips → cards (not card-by-card chaos).
- Blade check: The cutter blade is sharp and clean.
- Sleeve check: One card from each page gets sleeved and compared before you commit to cutting the rest.
- Corner punch (optional): Radius looks good, corners are clean, and you’re not punching thick stacks.
Common cutting problems (and the quick fix)
“My cards are slightly too small”
This is almost always print scaling. Something is shrinking the page. Go back and force Actual Size / 100%.
“I’m getting white slivers on one side”
That’s what bleed is for. Either:
- you didn’t include bleed, or
- your cut drifted enough to expose the paper edge
Fix: add bleed and keep your background extending past trim.
“I cut into the title or rules text”
That’s a safe zone failure.
- Either the design put text too close to the edge, or
- your cutting drift is bigger than your safe buffer
Fix: keep text further inside trim. If your cutter is consistently drifting, set a physical stop or guide so it can’t wander.
“My corners look torn”
Usually one of these:
- punching too thick a stack
- cheap punch tearing fibers
- punch needs cleaning (paper dust and adhesive buildup are real)
Fix: punch one card at a time, and keep the punch clean.
When it’s time to stop cutting and change the plan
If you’re cutting a full cube (360+) or doing multiple decks regularly, your time becomes the real cost.
At that point, upgrading your cutter setup (or using a repeatable jig/stop) saves you from hours of tiny alignment decisions. And it’s the alignment decisions that slowly drain your will to live.
FAQs
How much bleed should I use for MTG proxies?
A common guideline is 0.125 in (3 mm) bleed on every side so small cutting shifts do not expose white edges.
What is the safe zone for MTG proxy text?
Keep important stuff at least 0.125 in (3 mm) inside the trim edge. If you’re doing borderless or tight frames, give yourself even more breathing room.
What size should I cut MTG proxies to?
The Magic rules describe traditional cards as approximately 2.5 in × 3.5 in (6.3 cm × 8.8 cm). In practice, many proxy templates target around 63 × 88 mm. The best move is to print one test card and compare it in a sleeve next to a real card.
What’s the best cutter for proxies?
For most people: a guillotine cutter or a solid paper trimmer is the best value. Rotary trimmers can be great, but alignment matters more.