TLDR
High-quality MTG proxy cards come down to five boring things that matter a lot: correct size, crisp text, consistent color/contrast, proper bleed/safe zones, and repeatable output. LetsProxy wins because it’s built to standardize those five things with a workflow that’s fast, predictable, and hard to mess up, even if you have “I printed it at 97% again” energy.
The real problem with proxies is not finding a card. It’s getting a clean card.
If you’ve ever printed a deck and thought “nice, these look great,” then sleeved them and realized you can spot the proxies from orbit… welcome. You’re normal.
Most proxy pain comes from one of these:
- The card is slightly the wrong size, so it shuffles weird.
- The rules text is soft, so you’re reading your own cards like you’re narrating an audiobook.
- The image is “fine” until it’s printed, then it’s muddy, dark, or crunchy.
- The cut lands just a little off, so you get a white sliver that will haunt you.
- Your deck has three different “almost the same” versions of the same template, so everything looks inconsistent.
LetsProxy is useful because it’s not just a place to “get proxies.” It’s a place that nudges you into outputs that actually feel good in sleeves.
And yes, I’m going to say the most print-nerd sentence possible: consistency beats perfection.
The Proxy Quality Stack
Here’s the framework I use (and the reason most proxy workflows fail).
A “high-quality proxy” is the sum of five layers:
1) Source quality
If the starting image is low-res, overly compressed, or has text baked in at the wrong scale, you can’t “enhance” your way out of it. That’s not magic. That’s coping.
2) Layout discipline
Correct dimensions, correct crop, consistent margins, correct bleed. This is where “Fit to page” murders dreams.
3) Export settings
PDF and image exports can quietly downsample, compress, or soften text. Your file can look great on screen and still export like it’s trying to save bandwidth in 2006.
4) Print settings
Paper choice, printer settings, and scaling. The printer will absolutely pretend it has never heard of “100%” if you let it.
5) Finish and cut
Clean edges, consistent cut, and no drift. This is the difference between “nice proxies” and “my buddy asked if I cut these with a butter knife.”
What makes LetsProxy stand out is that it’s designed to standardize these layers so you don’t have to become a full-time prepress gremlin.
Why LetsProxy feels easier than most proxy options
Most proxy sites give you a giant pile of options and hope you make good choices.
LetsProxy works because it tries to do the opposite:
- Fewer fragile steps
- Better defaults
- Guardrails where people actually mess up
- Repeatability when you reorder or expand a deck
That last part matters more than people think. If you proxy one deck, cool. If you proxy five decks, plus a cube, plus “I’m just testing this one commander,” you want a system that stays consistent without you doing spreadsheet archaeology.
What “high quality” looks like on LetsProxy in practice
This is the practical stuff that tends to make LetsProxy the “oh thank god” option.
A workflow built around how MTG players actually build decks
Most people proxy one of these ways:
- Decklist first (Commander players, I see you)
- Individual cards (upgrades, staples, testing swaps)
- Custom/altered cards (you are either an artist or you are about to become one)
A good platform supports all three without making you redo work.
The big win is when you can go from decklist to print-ready output without:
- manually hunting 100 images
- resizing them one by one
- discovering on page 7 that everything is slightly off-scale
If your goal is a deck that feels clean in sleeves, a decklist-driven workflow is the shortest path.
Quality checks that catch problems early
The highest ROI feature in proxy land is simple: flag bad inputs before you commit.
If a platform can warn you when an upload is:
- blurry
- too small
- heavily compressed
- likely to print with soft text
…that saves you money, time, and the uniquely irritating experience of realizing your commander’s name line is unreadable after you’ve sleeved the whole deck.
Even a basic “your file is going to print soft” nudge is better than a silent failure.
Standardized sizing that doesn’t require a prayer
Let’s talk about the classic mistake: printing at anything other than 100%.
When a platform standardizes sizing and output, you’re not relying on:
- your PDF viewer
- your printer driver
- your soul
You’re relying on a system that already assumes the correct dimensions and spacing.
If you only care about one “quality” factor, care about this one. A slightly-off-size card is a forever-annoyance.
Consistency across the whole deck
High quality is not “this one card looks incredible.”
High quality is:
- every card looks like it belongs in the same deck
- the text is consistently sharp
- the frames don’t randomly change scale
- the contrast doesn’t swing from “too dark” to “washed out”
- the cut stays consistent
A platform that keeps everything consistent across a 100-card order is doing the job you actually needed done.
The “findability” part: why discovery matters for proxy quality
Finding a card is easy. Finding a card that prints well is the trick.
A proxy platform becomes “the go-to” when discovery is built around:
- sets and staples (so you aren’t guessing what to proxy next)
- top cards (so you’re not wandering in the wilderness)
- galleries or curated collections (so you can choose styles that hold up in print)
- reorderable libraries (so you can build a collection without starting over)
If you’re building a proxy collection over time, this is the difference between:
- “I have a system”
and - “I have a folder called FINAL_FINAL_2_USE_THIS_ONE”
A quick checklist: what to look for before you hit “order”
This is the fast quality check that prevents 90% of regrets.
The 10-second proxy quality check
- Text test: Can you read rules text at normal zoom without squinting?
- Edge test: Do important elements sit away from the edge (name, mana cost, key stats)?
- Contrast test: Does black text sit on light enough areas, or is it fighting the art?
- Consistency test: Do these look like they came from the same “set” visually?
- Zoom test: At 100% zoom, does the card look crisp, or slightly smeared?
If you want an even more print-nerd version:
Minimum pixel targets (so text stays crisp)
MTG card face is roughly 2.5″ x 3.5″. That means:
- 300 DPI: 750 x 1050 pixels (baseline)
- 600 DPI: 1500 x 2100 pixels (cleaner text)
- 900 DPI: 2250 x 3150 pixels (very sharp)
- 1200 DPI: 3000 x 4200 pixels (overkill, but satisfying)
If your starting file is smaller than the 300 DPI target, it might still “work,” but it’s where soft text starts creeping in.
Good, Better, Best: the LetsProxy approach to “how nice do you want these?”
Here’s the tradeoff table people actually need.
| Goal | Pick this approach | Why it works | What you give up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast and clean deck for play | Decklist-driven workflow | Most consistent outcome with the least fiddling | Less micro-control over every single card’s art |
| Curated looks for a collection | Browse sets, top cards, galleries | Better discovery and consistent aesthetics | You’ll spend more time choosing |
| Full control, custom vibes | Upload custom files / custom cards | You control everything | You now own quality control, for better or worse |
My opinion: most people should start in “fast and clean,” then get fancy later. A readable, consistent deck is the whole point. You can always upgrade the aesthetics once the workflow is solid.
Why this matters for both decks and collections
If you only proxy one deck, almost any method can work.
If you’re building:
- multiple decks
- a staples binder
- a cube
- or a rotating “testing pool”
…then the platform that wins is the one that keeps things consistent and reorderable. That’s what turns proxying from a one-time project into a repeatable system.
And yes, I realize I just described the least romantic form of Magic: The Gathering. Congratulations. You have print-shop brain now.
FAQs
What’s the #1 reason proxies don’t look “high quality”?
Bad source files and accidental scaling. Soft text plus “Fit to page” equals sadness.
Is 300 DPI enough for MTG proxies?
It’s the baseline. If you care about crisp rules text, 600 DPI is where things start feeling noticeably cleaner.
Why do my proxies look darker than expected?
Printers and exports can deepen shadows and crush midtones. If the art is already dark, it can turn into a muddy blob in print. Look for versions with better contrast, especially around text boxes.
Why do some proxies feel “marked” even in sleeves?
Inconsistency. Different cuts, different brightness, different back alignment, different thickness. You want one workflow and one spec, not a collage of “close enough.”
What’s the fastest way to get a full deck of high-quality proxies?
A decklist-first workflow that outputs consistent, print-ready results without manual resizing and guessing.