Pokemon Card Size & Dimensions: The Exact Measurements
A standard Pokemon card measures 63 × 88 mm, or 2.5 × 3.5 inches. That is the same size as a regular poker playing card, and it has not changed since the game launched in 1996.
If you only came for the number, that's it. The rest of this page covers the details that actually trip people up: how Pokemon cards compare to other trading card games, which sleeves fit, what dimensions to use when printing at home, and the size myths that cost people money.
The exact measurements
| Property | Metric | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 63 mm | 2.5 in |
| Height | 88 mm | 3.5 in |
| Thickness | ~0.3 mm | ~0.012 in |
| Corner radius | ~3 mm | ~0.12 in |
A note on the rounding: the underlying industry standard is 63.5 × 88.9 mm, which is the exact metric conversion of 2.5 × 3.5 inches. Almost everyone — including sleeve and binder manufacturers — rounds this to 63 × 88 mm. Both numbers describe the same card. If you are designing something to print, use 63 × 88 mm and you will be fine.
Thickness and corner radius vary slightly between print runs and eras, so treat those two as approximate rather than exact specifications.
How Pokemon cards compare to other TCGs
This is where most of the confusion starts. "Standard size" is not universal across trading card games.
| Game | Size | Same as Pokemon? |
|---|---|---|
| Pokemon TCG | 63 × 88 mm | — |
| Magic: The Gathering | 63 × 88 mm | ✅ Yes |
| One Piece Card Game | 63 × 88 mm | ✅ Yes |
| Disney Lorcana | 63 × 88 mm | ✅ Yes |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! | 59 × 86 mm | ❌ **No — smaller** |
| Poker playing card | 63.5 × 88.9 mm | ✅ Yes |
| Bridge playing card | 57 × 89 mm | ❌ No — narrower |
The one that catches people out is Yu-Gi-Oh!, which uses the smaller Japanese card format. Sleeves bought for a Yu-Gi-Oh! collection will not fit Pokemon cards, and this mismatch is the single most common sleeve-buying mistake.
Which sleeves fit
Because Pokemon uses the standard size, you want sleeves sold as standard, regular, or American size — not "Japanese size" or "small size."
| Sleeve type | Approximate inner size | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Standard / regular | ~66 × 91 mm | Everyday play and storage |
| Perfect fit / inner | ~64 × 89 mm | Snug inner layer |
| Japanese / small | ~62 × 89 mm | ❌ Too narrow for Pokemon |
Double-sleeving — a perfect-fit sleeve first, then a standard sleeve over it — is common for expensive cards. It adds roughly 0.2 mm of thickness per card, which matters if you are filling a binder or a deck box to capacity.
Sizes vary a little between brands, so check the listed dimensions rather than trusting the label alone.
Dimensions for printing at home
If you are making playtest cards, the card size is only half the job. You also need bleed and a safe margin.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Trim size (final card) | 63 × 88 mm |
| Bleed | 2–3 mm on every side → 69 × 94 mm total |
| Safe margin (keep text inside) | 3–4 mm from the trim edge |
| Resolution | 300 DPI minimum |
| Pixel size at 300 DPI | 744 × 1039 px (trim) · ~815 × 1110 px (with 3 mm bleed) |
| Scaling when printing | **100% — never "fit to page"** |
That last row is the one that ruins most home prints. Printer drivers default to shrinking the page slightly to fit a printable area, which silently makes every card a few millimetres too small. Turn scaling off and print at actual size.
Nine cards fit on a single sheet in a 3 × 3 grid: 189 × 264 mm of card area. That leaves comfortable margins on A4 (210 × 297 mm) and workable, tighter margins on US Letter (216 × 279 mm).
A dedicated playtest card printing tool and a step-by-step printing guide are both on our roadmap; in the meantime, the bleed, margin and resolution figures above are already set to these dimensions if you would rather build your own template.
One boundary worth stating plainly: cards you print at home are for personal playtesting and practice only. They are not legal in sanctioned events, they must never be sold or passed off as genuine cards, and none of this should involve reproducing official artwork.
Size myths that cost people money
"Japanese Pokemon cards are smaller." They are not. Japanese Pokemon cards are 63 × 88 mm, exactly like English ones — only the back design and text differ. The myth comes from Yu-Gi-Oh!, where the Japanese format genuinely is smaller. If you buy Japanese-size sleeves for Japanese Pokemon cards, they will not fit.
"Old cards are a different size." They are not. A 1999 Base Set card and a card from the newest set share the same footprint. Older cards can feel different because of wear, edge whitening, or slightly different stock, but the dimensions match. This matters when you slot vintage cards into a modern binder — or when you check what a card like Umbreon VMAX #215 is worth, since grading companies use one standard slab size for all of them.
"Jumbo cards fit in binders." Oversized promo cards — roughly 5 × 7 inches — are a different product entirely. They need oversized toploaders and will not fit standard sleeves, pages, or slabs.
In one line
63 × 88 mm, or 2.5 × 3.5 inches. Same as Magic, One Piece and Lorcana; larger than Yu-Gi-Oh!; unchanged since 1996; identical in Japanese and English print runs.