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Advanced Printing Tips

Already know the basics? Here's how to fix the printing mistakes everyone hits, plus a couple of advanced techniques.

Common Mistakes & Fixes

Cards printing too small or too large

Turn off "Fit to page" / "Scale to fit" in your browser or PDF viewer's print dialog. Proxidex's print file is sized at true card dimensions (2.5" × 3.5") — any auto-scaling option will throw that off. Print at 100% scale.

Colors look washed out or dull

Set your printer to its highest quality setting ("Photo" or "Best", not "Draft" or "Normal") and make sure you're printing on cardstock or photo paper, not plain printer paper — matte/uncoated paper absorbs more ink and mutes colors.

Blurry or pixelated text and artwork

Export at the highest image quality Proxidex offers for your tier. If a card still looks soft, it's usually the printer's quality setting rather than the source image — bump it up before troubleshooting further.

Cut lines are off, corners uneven

Cut on a hard, flat surface with a straight-edge or slide cutter rather than scissors — freehand cutting is the #1 cause of uneven proxies. Round the corners after cutting, not before, so your corner rounder has a clean edge to work with.

Ink runs out fast

Refillable-tank printers (like an EcoTank-style model) cost far less per page than cartridge printers for the print volume a proxy deck needs — see our printer picks below.

Holographic Effect (Sticker Paper Method)

For a subtle holo look on your proxies, print your card fronts on clear or holographic sticker paper instead of cardstock, then adhere the sticker to a plain cardstock backing before laminating and cutting. It adds a step, but for showcase or collection-style proxies it gets noticeably closer to the real thing than a flat matte print. For playtesting decks where speed matters more than looks, plain cardstock (see our cardstock picks) is faster and cheaper — save the sticker method for cards you want to keep.

Printing Double-Sided

Most playtesting proxies only need a front — sleeved over a bulk common, the back is already a real Pokémon card back. If you want fully double-sided proxies anyway (no filler card needed), make sure your printer's duplex alignment is calibrated first with a test page; a few millimeters of drift is enough to make the front and back cut lines mismatch.

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