Figuring out your print size so you do not crop anything important out of your prints
So what print size will you be able to print without cropping any of the image?
I get this question almost daily.
Or another question that I get is “Why when I get a 8×10, 11×14 or 16×20 print made I have some of the image cut off”?
The answer to print size problems
Film, slides, digital camera sensors or a camera phone sensor is NOT the same proportions as many of the common print sizes that people order.
Why are those “strange” print sizes so popular?
The sizes that we have come to know as “normal”, 4×5, 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, etc, became popular sizes because photographers in the old days printed these sizes from their 645 or medium format film. These sizes fit this format perfectly, not cropping off any of the negative.
Then we moved to 35mm film, digital cameras and smart phones and these are proportioned differently. Some of the more common sizes for these formats are 4×6, 8×12, 11×16, 12×18, 16×24. Printing these sizes will give you the full image without cropping any of your image.
Don’t rule any print size out till you check with me. Cropping can be a good thing if you plan for it. It can allow you to get closer to the subject and eliminate “extra” areas of the picture that you do not want to see. But, for other images it is ruins your pictures by cropping out important parts.
Imagine a picture of a large family and the people are from one edge of the image to the other. Then you ask for a 16×20. Well you now have to choose who in the family that you are going to cut out.
Print size & cropping
The sample image below, The subject takes up the majority of the frame. In this situation a 4×6, 8×12 or other full format sizes would be preferred so you do not crop off any of the subject.
But many people will come in asking for a cropped print like a 8×10 or 11×14. To crop this image to fit those proportions you would crop off some of your subject. No matter how you move the crop box something will be lost.
So what should you do with print sizes?
When shooting images imagine that you have crop lines in your viewfinder. Then leave space around your images when you shoot them for the cropping to the more common size prints. Or, be revolutionary, step out of the box and instead of trying to fit your images into old fashion print sizes, try ordering some full frame image sizes so your files do not have to be cropped.
Being artistic
If you want to do something artistic like shooting an image to print to 24″ x 8″ make sure that you leave room to crop the image. This can take a lot of trial and error.
Oh no, I made a mistake
If you do mess up, and crop too tight for the print size that you want printed, you can add some space using a program like Photoshop. If you are unsure of how to add space ask when ordering, I will help you with it.
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