A proxy is a stand-in card you use in place of a real Magic: The Gathering card for playtesting and casual games — same dimensions, same role at the table, just not an official printing. To make one at home, design the card, export a print-ready file sized to standard card dimensions, print it at 100% scale (with "fit to page" turned off), trim it to 2.5 × 3.5 inches, and sleeve it. That's the whole job, and the rest of this guide walks each step in detail.
What a proxy is and when to use one
A proxy stands in for a card you don't physically own so you can keep playing. The legitimate uses are everyday ones:
- Playtesting your own designs. If you're brewing custom cards, a printed proxy lets you actually shuffle the idea into a deck and see how it plays instead of evaluating it on a screen.
- Trying a deck before you buy it. Proxying an expensive list lets you test whether you enjoy it before spending real money on the staples.
- Replacing a damaged card in casual play. A creased or water-damaged card that's no longer tournament-legal can be proxied so the original retires safely to a binder.
In all three cases the proxy is a tool for play, not a counterfeit. Keep that distinction and you'll stay on the right side of both the rules and your playgroup.
Designing the card in PipGlyph
Before you can print anything you need a card to print, and PipGlyph is built to produce print-ready files. Open the card editor and fill in the card: name, mana cost in pip notation like {2}{R}{R}, type line, oracle text, and power/toughness or loyalty. Upload your own art, and the MTG card maker renders everything as a finished card in a live preview.
If you're proxying a real card to test a deck, recreate its text as closely as you need to — for a playtest, a legible, correctly-sized stand-in is all that matters. If you're designing something original, this is where the actual design work happens, and our guide on designing balanced custom MTG cards covers how to cost it so it plays fairly.
When the card looks right, open the download menu. PipGlyph exports two things that matter for printing:
- A high-resolution PNG at roughly 1500 × 2100 pixels — enough detail to print crisply at card size.
- A print-ready PDF laid out to standard card dimensions, 2.5 × 3.5 inches (63 × 88 mm).
For home printing, reach for the PDF. It's already sized correctly, so it takes the guesswork out of scaling — the single most common place proxies go wrong.
Print settings that actually matter
The most important setting is the simplest one: print at 100%, or "actual size." Turn OFF "fit to page," "scale to fit," or "shrink to printable area" in your print dialog. Those options resize the page to your printer's margins, which shaves your card down a few millimeters — just enough that it no longer matches a sleeved real card. The PipGlyph PDF is already the right size; your only job is to stop the printer from "helpfully" resizing it.
A quick pre-print checklist:
| Setting | Set it to | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | Scale | 100% / Actual size | Produces a true 63 × 88 mm card | | Fit to page | OFF | Prevents the printer from shrinking the card | | Paper size | Letter or A4 | Matches the PDF layout | | Orientation | Portrait | Cards are taller than wide | | Quality | Best/High for final, Draft for tests | Draft saves ink while you iterate | | Color | Color (not grayscale) | Keeps mana and frame colors readable |
After the first print, measure the card with a ruler before you commit to a batch. If it isn't exactly 2.5 × 3.5 inches, scaling snuck back in somewhere — fix it and reprint one before running the rest.
Paper and materials
What you print on decides how the proxy feels and how opaque it is. There's no single right answer; pick based on how much the deck matters and how long it needs to last.
| Material | Cost | Durability | Best for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Plain printer paper | Cheapest | Low (sleeve it) | Quick playtests and iterating fast | | Cardstock (~200–300 gsm) | Low | Medium–high | Proxies you'll reuse for a while | | Sticker/label sheet | Medium | High (applied) | Premium feel and full opacity |
Plain paper is the workhorse. It's flimsy on its own, but sleeved in front of a real card it disappears into the deck. Cardstock is sturdier and shuffles better unsleeved, though check that your printer accepts the weight you buy. The sticker route gives the best result: print the card on a full-sheet label, cut it out, and apply it to the face of a real basic land. That gives you a genuine card's opacity, weight, and back — a proxy that's indistinguishable from the rest of the deck in hand.
Cutting and sleeving
Once it's printed, you need clean edges. A craft knife and a steel ruler work, but a guillotine paper trimmer is far faster and straighter for more than a card or two, and a corner rounder punch gives the proxy real rounded corners so it sits flush in a sleeve. Cut just inside the card's border for the tidiest edge.
Sleeving is what makes a paper proxy actually playable. A bare paper card is thin and see-through — opponents can read it from the back, and it won't shuffle with the rest of the deck. The fix: slide your trimmed proxy into a sleeve in front of a real card or a basic land. The land behind it supplies weight and opacity so the proxy is the same thickness as every other sleeved card and shuffles identically. Use the same sleeve brand across the deck so the backs match and nothing stands out.
Color and printer tips
A few small things separate a proxy that looks decent from one that looks washed out:
- Run a draft first. Print in draft mode while you're still tweaking — it's faster and saves ink — then switch to best/high quality only for the final copy.
- Mind your ink. Inkjets render frame gradients and art more smoothly; laser printers are crisper on text and don't smear if the card gets damp. Either works.
- Calibrate if colors look off. If reds come out orange or the frame looks dull, your printer's color profile may need attention — print a test page and adjust saturation or color balance in the print dialog. Because PipGlyph renders exports with the same engine that draws the preview, the file itself is accurate; any color drift is happening at the printer.
- Let ink dry before sleeving, especially on glossy or label stock, so nothing smudges.
Bringing it back to playtesting
Printing is only half the point — the reason to make proxies is to play with your ideas. A stack of printed customs turns a screen-bound design into something you can shuffle, mulligan, and lose to. Once your proxies are cut and sleeved, our guide on how to playtest custom MTG cards covers how to run games that actually tell you whether a card is fun and fair. And if you hit a snag with the export itself — formats, sizing, or print scaling — the exports and printing FAQ has the specifics.
FAQ
Are proxies legal?
For casual and playtest use, proxies are widely accepted as long as your playgroup agrees to them — always ask before bringing them to a table. They are not legal in sanctioned or competitive tournament play, where every card must be an authentic printing. Selling proxies or passing them off as real cards is never acceptable and crosses into counterfeiting.
What size are MTG cards?
Standard Magic: The Gathering cards are 2.5 × 3.5 inches, or 63 × 88 mm. PipGlyph's print-ready PDF is laid out to exactly these dimensions, so as long as you print at 100% scale your proxy will match a real sleeved card and shuffle in without standing out.
Why does my printed proxy come out too small?
Almost always because "fit to page" or "scale to fit" is enabled in the print dialog. Those options resize the page to your printer's margins and shrink the card. Set scaling to 100% / actual size, turn fit-to-page off, and measure the first print with a ruler before printing the rest.
Do I have to sleeve paper proxies?
For real play, yes. A bare paper card is thin and partly see-through, so it doesn't shuffle or hide like the rest of the deck. Sleeving the proxy in front of a real card or basic land gives it weight and opacity, making it feel and shuffle exactly like every other card in hand.