Mr.Ft Loc: Central New Jersey

Hi, I wanted to know which aspect ratio to shoot at to get correct 8 x 10 prints? It seems every time I try to print 8 x 10 prints the software tries to "squish" the photo to fit. If I print 8 x 12 they come out great. Any help will be appreciated!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

5:4, but your camera may not do that.
You can shoot 3:2 (for an 8x12) and keep your composition about 17% less on the long side, then crop it out in an editor.

With a 3:2 you either have to crop out ≈17% or squish the long side.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Yes... You will need to crop some off one or both ends of the "long side" of the image, to change from 3:2 aspect ratio (which is native to many cameras) to 5:4 aspect ratio.

How you crop depends upon the software being used. Most image editing programs offer some means of doing a crop.

Even if your particular camera can be set to do in-camera crops, I don't recommend it. It's almost always much better to do it in post-processing where you have a lot more control over exactly how the crop is applied and a much larger screen to help making fine adjustments to the crop. You can adjust the centering (or off-centering) of the subject and change the composition in other favorable ways in post-processing too. In contrast, in-camera crops are usually just centered, which may or may not be ideal, depending upon the image. The amount of crop (i.e., the percentage of the the image being discarded by the crop) is exactly the same either way.

Some printer software also provides means of cropping... Often a checkbox that gives you choice of whether the image should be cropped to fit the paper or "stretched/squished" to fit it. There's usually not much control over how the crop is applied by printer software, though... So it's still best done in post-processing software.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Most cameras, but not all of them, only shoot 3:2. My friend's Olympus (I think, or might be a different one) does shoot 4:5, which equals the correct size for an 8 x 10 print. The 8 x 12 or 10 x 15 or 12 x 18 print is correct for 3:2. Think 4x6 to visualize the sizing. You can buy 3:2 mats. A 10 x 15 print will fit into a 16 x 20 frame once matted to fit that frame size. If you must have an 8 x 10 print, think about that when you shoot so that you can crop off the un-needed part of the image to fit your idea of a correct format.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

I have a requirement to supply photos in 4x5 aspect ratio. I shoot them in 2x3 and crop them to 4x5 in Post Processing. Lightroom has an available crop setting of 4x5 which makes it easy to do. Moving any one of the crop frame edges automatically moves all the others to maintain that ratio (the image can be slid around inside the frame).

In Lightroom, beginning with a horizontal 3x2 image and changing to a 4x5 crop will initially result in a 5x4 horizontal (landscape) crop frame. To get a 4x5 vertical (portrait) frame, press the "X" key, then do your crop. If your original image is 2x3 (vertical), then you'll get a 4x5 (vertical) crop frame at the start.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Regardless of your specific format you should NEVER fill your screen/sensor. Between editing and then cropping there are many processes that will require you to crop.

Most software allow the creation of guides. You can set those however you want. Numerous videos exist on how to.

Always shoot with the most restrictive ratio in mind with a margin around it to allows for said editing (post processing).

Cropping should also be the last action when editing. Note that you should save the file before cropping and not save after.

Of note: The use of the (PS CC) crop tool is extremely powerful if you use it correctly. It not only keeps a ratio but also allows you to rotate the image at the same time. It is my 'go to' when I need to straighten an image (vertical, horizontal or anywhere in between).

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I shoot native aspect ratio for each of my two cameras (3:2 and 4:3) Cropping is kinda my last option. I print a lot of 8x12s from the 3:2 as I compose as I like, using the viewfinder as my canvas.
(Guess I'm a Lone Wolf.)

As for editing, my RAW editor is non-destructive, so saving any changes there is not a problem.
If I know I will never use the original camera created JPEG after editing the RAW file, when I convert and save, I overwrite the original camera created JPEG. If there is a chance I might use the camera created JPEG (rare, since I use them for perusing), the RAW edit is converted and then saves as a modified JPEG name. Sometimes I wind up with more than one rendition of an image, then I will have multiple JPEG name. If I crop a JPEG, it will have another name when saved.

Genessi Loc: SoCal

What size do you print from the 4:3

Mr.Ft Loc: Central New Jersey

It looks like I'm going to be printing more 8x12 now.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Lightroom also allows rotation while cropping. (I occasionally engage that inadvertently.)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Whatever I want, limited to/by the subject and composition. But it also depends if the image is croppable without loosing too much of my desired image components for the size I might select. It just depends on what I feel like doing (cropping) for the image.

95+% of my images are from my 3:2 camera and I usually print them as 8x12 (for 11x14 mats) , but I definitely do not print everything.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Set a guide for the desired print size and crop to taste.

A 6 MP DSLR will yield very good results at 12X9 with minimal cropping, an 8X10 allows even more.

A 15 MP will do a 20X15 with minimal crop.

IMHO too many people underestimate what their modern DSLR can do.

bleirer

Most images in my opinion can benefit from thoughtful cropping. You can upload full size to your print portal and slide it around the crop window and enlarge the image within the crop window without distorting anything.

In Photoshop cropping is one of my first jobs, but I uncheck 'delete cropped pixels' so it can be recropped as often as desired whenever desired without any loss.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Addendum: Clarification on me using my RAW editor; non-destructive as in I do NOT crop the RAW image, only slider manipulation. The RAW remains the master image. I always do a SAVE AS if I make any unalterable changes.

Bison Bud

I have often wondered why 8 X 10 is apparently a standard and very popular print size when most cameras do not produce that aspect ratio. As others have stated the long side must be cropped considerably to print in this format and I for one find that very annoying!