Unwanted cropping.

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Green Steve

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Steven
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Hi everyone.
Need a bit of advice. I look through my viewfinder, frame the shot and take it.
I took the shot at 12mp aspect ratio 4.3.
Go to get a print from local high-street store and frustration. No matter what size print I want, it gets cropped. On top of that, I find out the high-street stores printer doesn't print as high as 4,000mp x 3,000mp.
Different size prints get cropped by different amounts. It isn't good, if I cannot rely on what I will get, when I press the Shutter Button!
What should I do, to get full 12mp prints with no cropping? I don't want to pay a fortune for my prints. Hope someone can help.
 
Welcome to TP :)

What size were the prints? 6x4in is the standard postcard size and if a 4:3 image is to fit on that size paper, then it either has to be cropped, or it will have white borders at each end. 8x6in is 4:3.

For max resolution (not the same as sharpness, but leave that for now) the output medium, ie paper prints here, is the limiting factor until you get at least above A4. Don't confuse dpi with pixels, but at 300dpi (the highest standard) an A4 print equates to under 9mp on sensor. Then you will need a very good lens, at optimum aperture with immaculate technique, to realise the sensor's full potential.
 
A few options.

#1, resize so that when the printers crop the images they only crop off the white borders
#2, print at home so you have full control over any cropping
or (my favourite) #3, talk to the machine operator and see what he/she can do to eliminate/reduce the cropping.

As Richard (Hoppy) has said above, 6x4 is the "traditional" standard print size (since it corresponds to the 36mm x 24mm dimensions of 35mm film) although the rise in popularity of 4:3 aspect ratio cameras should be filtering down to the High Street by now and they should be catering to the "new" format.
 
As above, there's a heap of confusion in your post. So I'll start with clarifying the basics.

Is this a DSLR? If so the ratio is 3:2 not 4:3. Other camera types have different ratios.

To add to that, different print sizes are different ratios. Oddly most of these stem from pre 35mm film so aren't 3:2 either. Most commonly 5:4,

If you have real concerns, shoot looser to allow different image cropping choices later. Shooting tight compositions means printing only at the native ratio, and 3:2 frames and mounts can be a pain to find.
 
Hello and a big thank you to everyone who replied so quickly. My camera is a Panasonic FZ200. I changed the aspect ratio to 3:2 and took a photograph today. Went and had a print made at 6 x 4 and hey presto! The print was exactly the photograph I had taken.
Thanks to everyones help here, I knew what questions to ask, so did some more research. I now know What aspect ratio is and how it affects my photographs. What a relief! My images should be much improved now.
 
Phil V said:
As above, there's a heap of confusion in your post. So I'll start with clarifying the basics.

Is this a DSLR? If so the ratio is 3:2 not 4:3. Other camera types have different ratios.

To add to that, different print sizes are different ratios. Oddly most of these stem from pre 35mm film so aren't 3:2 either. Most commonly 5:4,

If you have real concerns, shoot looser to allow different image cropping choices later. Shooting tight compositions means printing only at the native ratio, and 3:2 frames and mounts can be a pain to find.
Click to expand...

Some minor corrections:

1) There are 4:3 DSLRs and 2) 35mm film is 3:2 in stills cameras, print ratios have nothing to do with that. 5x4 would be a possible ratio on 120 film. :thumbs:

To the OP: You're confusing several different terms I suspect. Hoppy nailed it - it's the aspect ratio you want to concentrate on, IE 4:3 etc. If you want to keep the proportions you see in the viewfinder then you need to order prints in multiples of this aspect ratio, 4x3, 8x6, 12x9 etc.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Some minor corrections:

1) There are 4:3 DSLRs and 2) 35mm film is 3:2 in stills cameras, print ratios have nothing to do with that. 5x4 would be a possible ratio on 120 film. :thumbs:

To the OP: You're confusing several different terms I suspect. Hoppy nailed it - it's the aspect ratio you want to concentrate on, IE 4:3 etc. If you want to keep the proportions you see in the viewfinder then you need to order prints in multiples of this aspect ratio, 4x3, 8x6, 12x9 etc.
Click to expand...

OK I was wrong about 4:3 DSLR's (nobody's perfect) but where did I say 35mm film wasn't 3:2 (I could've written it more clearly;))?
Phil V said:
...
To add to that, different print sizes are different ratios. Oddly most of these stem from pre 35mm film so aren't 3:2 either. Most commonly 5:4,
...
Click to expand...

5:4 wasn't really a common ratio on 120 film though, was it :thinking:? I recall 1:1 (6x6), 12:9 (6x4.5:love:). 6:7 (6x7) and 3:2 (6x9) off the top of my head (nearly all the TLRs and SLRs I can remember). But then 126 / 127 film was often exposed at 5:4 IIRC (120 film ish) :thinking:

The important point being that most amateur photographers have been living with the problem of cropping to fit common print sizes since the rise in popularity of 35mm film. And like I said, shoot looser and crop for printing.

It's also a bugbear I have with people complaining about 97% viewfinders :cuckoo:, we've rarely seen 100% of our images in print and there's a fair chance that if you hedge your bets squeezing stuff into the edge of your frame, it'll be cropped at the lab. So it's really a bonus not seeing right up to the edge of the frame - that's what you'll get back from the lab on your 6x4s :D.
 
to throw it into the mix, if you don't want much of the borders cutting off use Jessops for your prints.

I use them for all my prints and they allow for variable length and also show exactly what will or wont be cropped from your final image.

hope that may help
 
Phil V said:
But then 126 / 127 film was often exposed at 5:4 IIRC (120 film ish) :thinking:
Click to expand...

126 was always square 1:1 (~26mm x 26mm) and 127 was usually 1:1 40mm x 40mm but rarely some cameras used 30mm x 40mm 4:3 or 60mm x 40mm 3:2.
 
Green Steve said:
Hi everyone.
Need a bit of advice. I look through my viewfinder, frame the shot and take it.
I took the shot at 12mp aspect ratio 4.3.
Go to get a print from local high-street store and frustration. No matter what size print I want, it gets cropped. On top of that, I find out the high-street stores printer doesn't print as high as 4,000mp x 3,000mp.
Different size prints get cropped by different amounts. It isn't good, if I cannot rely on what I will get, when I press the Shutter Button!
What should I do, to get full 12mp prints with no cropping? I don't want to pay a fortune for my prints. Hope someone can help.
Click to expand...

Camera sensors are 4:3.

Common print formats are 3:2 or 5:4. They'll always crop.

Film was even worse - Minox prints anyone?
 
Last edited:
st599 said:
Camera sensors are 4:3.

Common print formats are 3:2 or 5:4. They'll always crop.

Film was even worse - Minox prints anyone?
Click to expand...

SOME sensors are 4:3 but most DSLRs are 3:2.
 
Hello everyone.
What a wonderful and informative response to my problem. As I said, my camera is a Panasonic FZ200. I have decided to have my prints made 8" x 6". If I want bigger prints, I now know how to work out the aspect ratio's to print sizes.
It's a shame this problem isn't more widely explained. It can be so important to a photograph, being how you want it to be.
 
Stupid question: If the camera sensor is 4:3, would it be better to set the camera to 3:2 format or just shoot in 4:3 and crop later?
 
omens said:
Stupid question: If the camera sensor is 4:3, would it be better to set the camera to 3:2 format or just shoot in 4:3 and crop later?
Click to expand...

Crop later in post, no need in throwing stuff away right at the beginning.
 
redddraggon said:
Crop later in post, no need in throwing stuff away right at the beginning.
Click to expand...

Yes, keep your options open. Though when set to 3:2 the camera will show the revised image area on the LCD for more accurate composition.
 
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