Print Cropping 101
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN ORDERING DIFFERENT SIZED PRINTS
When you submit a print order through your school gallery, you’ll want to be certain that the crop you selected is not cutting off a significant piece of the image. We don’t shrink or resize any of our files before submitting them to one of our professional print labs. Because cropping is inevitable when ordering certain print sizes, it helps to understand WHY and HOW each image will be affected when printing.
It all boils down to the fact that not all 'standard' print sizes have the same ‘aspect ratio’.
What does this mean?
ASPECT RATIO
Simply put, aspect ratio is the measurement of a photo’s width to height. To get technical, we use fancy cameras that utilize a 3:2 aspect ratio. This matches the aspect ratio of a standard 4x6 inch print.
The problem arises with large prints: 5x7, 8x10, 11x14.
When you preview your Modern School Portraits shown in our gallery, ALL IMAGES are shown with the original, full-frame 3:2 aspect ratio.
For instance:
Every 8x10 print that you order will get cropped.
When we deliver an 8x10 print, you lose a full 2 inches from the original image.
What to do if you absolutely adore every single megapixel from the image and you don’t want anything cropped? You’ll need to order either a 4x6” or 8x12” print to preserve the entire frame and reduce the risk of cropping.
SEE sizing guide SAMPLE:
The above example shows how different print sizes would crop out important parts of the photo. You can see that printing an 8x10 of the photo (5:4 ratio) would cut off the boy’s sweater on the right side (PINK) and overall on both ends of the picture, whereas a 5x7 print would cut off the open space on both the left and right of the photo (YELLOW). You can also see that any print size that has the same aspect ratio as your camera (2x3) will keep the photo entirely intact; nothing will be cut off due to cropping- in this case, a 4x6 (BLUE).
Let us know if you have any questions,
We’re here to help! 🤓