Cropping

 

Aspect Ratio

There are several common aspect ratios cameras today shoot in. Most Point-and-shoots have a 4:3 aspect ratio, most DSLRs have a 2:3 aspect ratio, and most medium format cameras have a 4:5 aspect ratio. This effects how much information you will lose (if any) on certain print sizes. For instance, if you shoot with a medium format camera (takes images at a 4:5 ratio), then an 8x10 crop will have no loss. If you tried to make the same crop to an image taken by a DSLR with a 2:3 ratio, you'll lose about two inches of information (2:3 ratio [2*4]x[3*4] = 8x12 print, cropped to 8x10). While doing the math is always a possibility, we provide you the customer with a Desktop Ordering application that allows the user to view the effects of aspect ratio and show possible crop loss in real time while you order.

Print Bleed and Frame Lip

Small format prints (prints of sizes 8x10 and smaller) are printed borderless. Without going into too much detail, borderless printing slightly enlarges your image to ensure full coverage and thus the last ~1/8" is at risk. In addition, anything framed may lose up to 0.25" behind the lip of the frame, mat, or liner used. We recommend giving all prints at least a 0.25" buffer zone with no vital subject matter (yet still image detail) all the way around to avoid any risk of loss.

Special Cases

Several products here at The Photo Touch require a little more head-room than just the 0.25" for print bleed and frame lip. Products we see the most issues with are our Wallets, Plaqs, and Canvas Wraps. Our wallets are cut from a 2.5"x3.5" to a 2.25"x3.25" size. Because of this, you want to keep vital information such as the subjects head about 0.25" from the edge of the photo to avoid any loss. (You can view the trim marks when ordering wallets through our Desktop Ordering application.) In our plaqing process, the 0.25" bevel along the edge of your plaq is cut from the image as well, so it is advised you keep any images going to plaq with a 0.5" buffer zone around the edge so as to not lose important information. Our canvas wraps actually extend the last inch or inch and a half around the edges. Because of this, it is easy to lose heads or other subject matter over the edges of a gallery wrap. We have several different edge options that deal with the edges slightly differently, but in general it is advised to not have any vital subject matter within about an inch of the edges.

How TPT Crops your images

When a technician here at The Photo Touch recieves an image that has not been cropped to the correct size, it is then up to them to make a crop. For most products the tech will attempt to make a crop that first and foremost minimizes loss of vital information in the photo such as people's heads and arms. If the technician deems that the crop is too destructive (ie cuts off somebodies head), the client is notified and presented with an alternative such as a different print size that has a less damaging crop. If a crop can be made several ways without causing loss of vital information, the crop is at the technicians discretion. Because our technicians are also photographers, they know how to crop with the rule of thirds and watch bleed and handle any other special cases such as those listed above. Decisions regarding what constitutes "vital" information, and how to crop is at the technicians discretion. We strongly advice you to crop your images yourself or use our Desktop Ordering application to avoid any cropping discrepencies.

 

For more information on our Desktop Ordering application, Aspect Ratios, Crops, or anything else please don't hesitate to Contact Us.