This post helps MTG players (especially DIY home printers) choose cardstock that feels right by translating PT, GSM, and LB into plain English, so your proxies sleeve, shuffle, and stack like a real deck.
TLDR
PT (points) = thickness. 1 pt = 0.001". So 12 pt ≈ 0.012" ≈ 0.305 mm.
GSM = weight per area (grams per square meter). Helpful for comparing papers globally, but GSM is not thickness.
LB (pounds) = U.S. “basis weight” and it’s… a little cursed. 80 lb cover is not the same as 80 lb text.
If you’re home-printing MTG proxies and want a “real card” vibe, you’ll usually be happiest around ~12 pt and ~300–330 GSM (if your printer can handle it).
PrintMTG matches official MTG card weight by default, so you can skip the unit-conversion side quest unless you’re printing at home.
You know what’s fun? Printing.
You know what’s not fun? Buying “110 lb cardstock” and discovering it feels like a wedding invitation, not a Magic card.
The reason this happens is simple: paper specs are written in three different languages (PT, GSM, and LB), and they do not politely translate for you. Let’s fix that.
Why PT, GSM, and LB matter for MTG proxies
When you shuffle a sleeved deck, you’re basically stress-testing thickness consistency. If half your proxies are flimsy and the other half are “premium postcard,” your deck doesn’t just feel off. It handles off. Piles lean. Shuffles clump. Your hands notice, even if you don’t want them to.
And if you’re printing at home, this is where PT, GSM, and LB stop being “printer nerd trivia” and become “why does my deck feel like a stack of receipts.”
PT (points): the one that actually means thickness
In cardstock land, PT is a thickness measurement.
1 pt = 0.001 inches
That means 10 pt = 0.010", 12 pt = 0.012", etc.
If you want it in metric:
mm = pt × 0.0254
So 12 pt × 0.0254 = 0.3048 mm
Here’s the cheat sheet most MTG proxy home-printers actually need:
Proxy-printing reality: bigger cubes make “table feel” matter more
If your cube is 360 and sleeved consistently, you can get away with a lot. At 540/720, you handle the cards more, shuffle more, and the cube lives longer—so the physical experience stops being optional.
Two things matter most:
1) Sleeves + shuffle feel (don’t accidentally build a “sticky cube”)
Use consistent sleeves across the entire cube.
If you’re mixing any home prints, opaque sleeves + a backing card is the classic fix for thickness and feel.
If your cube clumps, drags, or mash-shuffles like wet napkins, it’s usually a sleeve/finish friction issue—not a moral failing.
2) Finish (because sleeves aren’t magic, they’re plastic)
Finish impacts:
friction inside sleeves,
glare under shop lights,
fingerprints/smudging,
and how quickly the cube looks “tired.”
If you’re building a long-term cube, pick a finish you can stick with so the whole stack feels consistent.
A quick “pick your size” checklist
Choose the first line that’s true:
We reliably get 8 drafters and want a tight environment → 360
We draft this cube often and want different drafts without losing the plot → 450
We draft this a lot and want big replayability → 540
We want two 8-player drafts in one night with no repeats → 720
Practical recommendation
If you’re on the fence between 360 and 540, here’s the mildly-opinionated but experience-tested take:
Start at 360 if you care most about clean archetypes and a “designed” feel.
Start at 540 if your group cares most about replayability and you’ll draft it repeatedly.
Go 720 only if you actually do two-draft nights (or plan to). Otherwise it’s like buying a second fridge because you might host Thanksgiving someday.
And if you’re proxying your cube: printing a consistent batch is one of the easiest ways to make the whole experience feel “real” in sleeves—especially once you’re above 450.