Here I will post whenever I have a complete holo map for particular patterns of note. Thats it. Share any pro tips and info you want. If you create a complete holo map, I will add it with credit to the original post here for ease of use.
You can use these maps to find where notable parts of the holo pattern may show up on cards for sale where you can’t see the entire holographic patter in the photos. Overlay the images with reduced opacity in an image editor.
This Holographic pattern began with Drifblim BW64 Blackstar Promo and replaced a previous holographic pattern for promos. It has a great variety of swirls and orbs. The pattern measures 6-inches by 6-inches. This means there is no possibility of the pattern repeating on the area of a normal card
Image credit: Solomn Star (contact for more info
Info: This was created by using acetone on several copies of jumbo dragapult prime cards from the pokemon celebrations set. and taped together, then scanned on a Epson v600 scanner. Editing was done to fill in the missing gaps. Contact me for a full resolution .png and the original scan without editing.
I believe there was some research done into holo pattern mapping with regards to certain trophy cards a few years ago.
Obviously each type of holo pattern from different printing facilities will probably vary.
Seems like a cool project though, it would be fun to predict where a swirl could be on a card of yours then do some art project and reveal it.
this is just the start. I have a lot of info locked up in my brain. But I’ll only share the details once I have pretty pictures to share. the map here works on everything in the sword/shield era through into scarlet/violet. I tested it against the early black and white and X and Y era cards, and it seems that it is likely it was slightly revised. But we will get there in time. I just wanted to get the first complete tool out for people. I’ve been using this for a couple years now.
Great link. The early cosmos holo pattern is fairly easy to map out, as you only need one card to figure out the repeating pattern. But the new map shared by @SolemnStar here is pretty neat!
