Cropping your photos for print

Crop for print

Don’t chop the head off

This is going to be a bit technical and sometimes I don’t fully understand it but here we go….

Cropping for printing. It’s a lot harder than you might think. If this isn’t a huge disappointment, please tell me what isn’t. You get a bunch of your point and shoot pictures printed, only to find out that the top and bottom of every photo has been completely cut off. As you stare at the faces and scenes chopped in half, you’re wondering what could have caused this and whether it is your fault as a photographer. Well, worry no more. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation, and it has nothing to do with an error on your part. Aspect Ratio

The Aspect Ratio is simply the ratio of the width to the height of a photograph. Let’s assume your photo were perfectly square shaped (like in Instagram). If it were, the width would be the same as the height. In that case, the ratio of the width to the height would be exactly 1:1.

Now let’s move onto something a little more complicated. Let’s say you have a rectangle that is 4 inches wide and 3 inches high. If you were to do the math, the aspect ratio of this rectangle would be 4:3. For every one inch of width you have .75 inches of height. The same ratio applies even if the size of the image increases. The aspect ratio of a 12 by 9 inch rectangle is still 4:3.

The reason your photos are printing with the top and bottom cut off (cropped out) is because the aspect ratio for a point-and-shoot camera image is 4:3 whereas the aspect ratio for a printed photo is 3:2. In order to fit a 4:3 image into the 3:2 print, the photo needs to be cropped. Usually they cut the top and bottom. This is true for images you send off to print in place like Walmart or Costco too. I had to learn this the HARD way. So… knowing this and keeping this in mind when you’re out taking photos, plan ahead and AVOID the crazy crop! In other words shoot your photos knowing part will be cropped away. This is probably the easiest and most practical solution to the problem. Just try not to place anything of importance, such as a person’s face, in the upper or lower portions of the photo. What can you place in the those parts of the photo? You can shoot the sky, hills, and other background elements. So long as there is no subject matter in the top or bottom portion, you do not run the risk of cutting that subject matter in half.

Here’s what I suggest, CROP your photos before the printer does it for you. Remember, the printer will take any photo shot with a 4:3 aspect ratio and try to cram it into a 3:2 space. But you can beat it to the chase! Some photo kiosks will show you your photo beforehand, and allow you to select what part of the image to cut. You can move the 'cut marks' around so you don't cut out anything important. You can also use image manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop to crop either the top or the bottom of the photo before you send it to the printer. You can also look for the handy 'crop for printing' option available with some other image editing programs. Read more about cropping a image here.

Good luck and remember to print and share often.