Have you ever uploaded a photo for printing and discovered that it doesn’t fit your 5×7 or 10×8 template? Or, in your printing of an image, realise you need to crop it to fit your frame? Well, I thought I’d write up a little something on that which may help you…
Photographic Dimensions
When you take a photo or buy a Jpeg image it has a particular dimension compared with that of your classic 10×8 and 5×7 inch print. Despite the move to digital, our standard print frames are mostly 5×7 and 10×8 inches. So with that in mind, you need to think about your print for printing.
The Dilemma
It’s easier to show you with a photograph. I took this portrait recently of the lovely Maria and Jean. The camera pixels were 5184 x 3456, which differs to the classic 10×8 inch dimension.
So you can either fit the image to the 10 x 8 crop, leaving you with white space looking a bit silly on your 10 x 8 frame.
Or you have this problem…
Her nice pregnant belly gets cut off from the frame. Now often a little crop doesn’t hurt the image at all, but in cases like these you may need a little help by adding more background so it all fits nicely into the print dimension.
So in the above image some more background has been added to ensure the client had the best results and her proud bump can be seen and celebrated. Much nicer.
Printing Pleasure
I like to tell my clients to be aware of this when they purchase a Jpeg image from me. Especially when creating a canvas print, that can take a good inch away from your image. It might be an idea to inform your photographer that it’s something you’ll want, or get said photographer to arrange this effort for a small fee. Your final prints are those you will cherish. Important memories need to look good for your reminder of those special moments.
If you’re not savvy with post production, either ask me or your designer to help. I don’t charge an extra on prints you buy from me that are taken in the studio setting. I want them to look good!
Happy Snapping!
Sophie
Contact Sophie Sheinwald about her bespoke fine art portrait photography. You can see some of her portraiture examples.