Note - Some of these articles will be moving to my Photography Blog.

Sizing your Photographic prints from digital images

Ever lost part of an image when you had prints made?  Wondered why?

One of the challenges you may face when printing digital images is getting the right size print from the original image file.  Many (most?) digital cameras have an image sensor that captures images at a 2:3 ratio.  What this means is that one side is typically 1.5 times the other side.  How does this impact prints?  If you want a 4x6 print (or some even multiple of the 2:3 ratio like 8x12, 16x24, etc.) then you will get a 'full frame' image.  If you want an 8x10 print then some cropping will occur (you will have to discard ~17% of the original image, usually from the top and bottom and/or sides.)   

The photographic film print business relied on standard sized prints for years (and most of us are already accustomed to these print & frame sizes) but the arrival of digital images is both creating new print sizes as well as bringing some possible confusion into the mix.  Since most prints are destined for framing (esp. larger prints) then it makes some sense to simplify the matching of print to frame by using standard sizes for both images and frame mats.  Some terms:

• Full frame image:  all of the image data is used

• Cropped image: only parts of the image data is used

• Print image size: what are the actual dimensions of the printed image vs the dimensions of the paper on which the image is printed; sometimes these are the same

Standard frame sizes usually include standard mat openings - when you print then you need to consider the size of the opening (unless you intend to cut a custom mat for each print - lots of work.)  It is simpler to use standard sized prints for standard sized mat openings.  In general you should subtract .5" from each side of the print size to reach a mat size that will cover your print & paper size.

Pre-cut Mat	Mat Opening	Size of Print Area	Print Paper Size **
8x10	4.5x6.5	5x7	8.5x11
11x14	7.5x9.5	8x10	8.5x11
12x16	7.5x11.5	8x12	11x14
16x20	10.5x13.5	11x14	13x19

** Print paper sizes will vary for custom prints; print paper size for commercial prints is usually the same as the print size, i.e. the image size of a full-frame 4x6 print is 4x6.  It is common to print with large borders on ink-jet papers, i.e. an 8x10 image on 11x14 paper would have 1.5" left and right borders with 2" top and bottom borders.  For large prints this allows space for an artist signature or other print-related information.

How does print size impact Image Capture & Editing?

As a photographer I consider the possible cropping scenarios when I capture images.  When working with a group I may add a fudge factor when framing the image in the camera (i.e. allow some space on the sides of the image so that a standard sized print can be easily cropped from the image.)

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