johnbuckley Posted April 14, 2008 Share #1 Posted April 14, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) The question is why all photographs taken with my M8 don't get printed with the identical aspect ratio as one saw in the viewfinder, as one saw on the LCD, and as one saw in post-processing on the computer. Perhaps this has been covered here 38 times. But since this come to haunt me once again... I could understand if, through cropping, I have some created a new aspect ratio. But why doesn't the aspect ratio of an uncropped shot automatically line up with the parameters of a printer? Please explain for someone who wasn't particularly good at geometry! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 14, 2008 Posted April 14, 2008 Hi johnbuckley, Take a look here Aspect Ratio And Why Printers Screw It Up. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wparsonsgisnet Posted April 14, 2008 Share #2 Posted April 14, 2008 John, if you are cropping as desired, take note of the pixel dimensions in the image you end up with. Use those dimensions when printing. If you are cropping to an 4x5, 8x10, or other fixed size, make sure that the print software has a boundary that matches. I also suggest you use 300, 360, something that divides evenly into the 1440 or 2880 of your printer dpi spec. I don't know if this makes a real difference, but I always do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuckley Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share #3 Posted April 14, 2008 Bill - thank you. I appreciate it. But I'm also curious about what happens when I don't crop at all, but a photo I send to MPix gets cropped by them! Why does that happen, if the aspect ratio is unchanged from camera to computer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarkas Posted April 14, 2008 Share #4 Posted April 14, 2008 If you print in 2:3 aspect print sizes, you won't see any cropping. Some "Full frame" sizes: 4x6 8x12 12x18 14x20 20x30 Sizes like 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 16x24, etc. are not 2:3 aspect ratio and will crop. Personally, I print everything in 2:3 as that is how I composed my shots. 4x6 for the shoebox, 20x30 for the wall. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnwolf Posted April 14, 2008 Share #5 Posted April 14, 2008 John, I'm not sure I fully understand what you are asking. I have not used MPix, but I do use WHCC and know they scale files to the paper size you choose, and they crop if your file is not that ratio. So you need to either choose a 2:3 paper, or keep your photo 2:3 and change the canvas size to the physical dimension of the paper size. So, for example, if you are printing a 12x18" photo, choose a 16x20" print, and make the canvas 16x20. Of course, most printers offer 2:3 paper in most sizes, so that would be the first choice. Am I understanding your issue correctly? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Roberts Posted April 14, 2008 Share #6 Posted April 14, 2008 Bill - thank you. I appreciate it. But I'm also curious about what happens when I don't crop at all, but a photo I send to MPix gets cropped by them! Why does that happen, if the aspect ratio is unchanged from camera to computer? It all depends on your paper size. MPix and other labs just assume that you want your shot to fill the paper size, and I'll bet you don't order paper sizes that are the same original ratio as the shot So they do a "crop and zoom" to fill the page. You have a 3:2 ratio natively in most dSLR and 35mm cameras, right? That 3:2 ratio means if you send in an uncropped file, any paper size with that ratio would result in an uncropped image. So you should get a 6 * 4 back without any missing image or crop. If you could order one (you can in some parts of the world, I know), a 12 * 8 would also let you use all the paper for image. I like that size actually, and only now am I seeing some 12 * 8 frames here in Canada. A lot of traditional paper sizes in NA are based around a 4:5 ratio... so you have 4 x 5 and 8 * 10 and 16 * 20 inch prints as very popular print sizes, but, again, you're going to need to crop and zoom to make them from your M8. 5 * 7 inch prints are inbetween the two ratios; 11 * 14 is close, but not quite, at the 4:5 ratio. There... does that make sense? I don't know where 5 * 7s and 11 * 14s came from, but I'm sure someone here does Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuckley Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share #7 Posted April 15, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I get it. I'm ordering photos printed on 8X10 paper. They crop the image to fit the paper. If I want them not to crop it, I need a different aspect ratio of the paper! Thank you, Jamie. Thank you all. The mystery is cleared up. JB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbuckley Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share #8 Posted April 15, 2008 Okay, just ordered the prints from MPix in a size divisible by 3:2 and it works without cropping. Sheesh, did I mention geometry wasn't my strong suit... Thanks, Jamie. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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