Digital Image Size And Printing Digital Photos
y Jill Costello, 11th June 2005. Copyright The Scrap Witch. No part of this article may be reproduced or otherwise used without prior written permission.
Digital Image Size
It might surprise you to learn that many images taken with a digital camera differ in size from those taken with a traditional film camera. Images taken with a digital camera often have a size ratio of 4:3, whilst images taken with a traditional film camera have a size ratio of 3:2. (It should be noted here that some of the newer digital cameras offer a 3:2 resolution setting. Check your camera manual to see if your camera has this setting.) Why is this ratio thing important? It isn’t really, unless you want to have digital prints made from a professional printing service, that is.
A Simple Illustration
Take a look at the image to your left, it shows a digital image that has been re-sized to fit within the traditional 6″ x 4″ print size (indicated by the red frame). The digital image fits the height but falls short of the width. This explains why some of you may have had digital prints come back with curious white edges.
It is possible to resize your digital images so that they fill up the entire 6″ x 4″ frame (see below). There is still a residual problem however, as the digital image now fits the frame width-wise, but not height-wise. This extra height is lost or “cropped” when printed in the 6″ x 4″ format.
Image Cropping
The results of cropping can be good or bad. Most professional labs ensure that your digital image is centred within the 6″ x 4″ frame so that an equal amount is cropped from the top and the bottom. This balanced approach to cropping can be quite successful if there is nothing close to edges of your photo (as in our example). At times you may get poor results back. For example, if someone’s head is close to the top of the photo, they may end up with their head chopped off.
Digital Specific Print Sizes
Some photographic labs are now offering digital specific print sizes. These are sizes that have the 4:3 ratio. For example, the 5.33″ x 4″, 6″ x 4.5″ and 8″ x 6″ sizes. No cropping is required with these sizes.
Ensuring Good Results
What can you do to ensure that you get good results with your digital prints?
- Before you employ a professional printing service, find out how they resize and crop your digital images. Find out what services are standard and which cost extra. Some labs offer the “fit within the frame” or “no crop” service as standard, others offer the “fill the whole frame” or “crop” service. Make sure you know which one you’re getting.
- Print your images at home. You then have precise control over the sizing and cropping of your images. Some inkjet printers now have inks that last as long as those produced by professional labs.
- Resize and crop your digital images prior to sending them to a professional printing service. (You need to ensure that your images are of an appropriate resolution. A resolution of approx. 300 dpi is required for high quality prints through a professional service.)
- Where available, order digital specific print sizes, rather than traditional film print sizes.
