leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida

When cropping a photo, is it best to crop by ratio or crop by size (like 8 x 10)? If cropped to ratio, what is the best ratio to crop to? I have read 16X9, but I would like other suggestions. I might add, I am thinking in terms of matting and framing photos.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Personal preference. I crop (using a crop mask) to what size paper it will be printed on:4x6; 5x7; 8x10; 8x12; etc..
If you don't crop to the print size, it will have to be stretched or shrunk on one side to fit the paper.

Example: Aspect Ratios and Printing

leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida

If you don't mind telling, what is the best size for selling photos? I am thinking 8 X 12. Would 8 X 12 be the same as a 2 X 3 ratio?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Depends....
Some people like large, some like small, some like medium.

When I donate I print 8x12s and put them in an 11x14 mat.

To figure if aspect ratios are the same, divide one side by the other:
ie.:
8x12 = .666666
2x3 = .666666
The same ratio.

5x7 = .71428
8x10 = .8000

leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida

Thank you very much, you have been very helpful.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

You're welcome.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

It depends on your final intended use. If you are going to print then 4 x 6, 5 x 7, 8 x 10, 8 1/2 x 11, 11 x 17, 13 x 19, 17 x 22, and 17 x 25 are common enthusiast photo printer sizes, but you can get most any size frame you want at framedestination.com. If you are going to social media, then check their websites for standard sizes. For Instagram it's 1:1 (1080 x 1080) for a post and 16:9 (1080 x 1920) for stories. Others recommend different sizes, but portrait mode works better on smartphones, but landscape for tablets, but of course you can rotate both a phone and tablet.

I asked a similar question years ago and a professional responded recommending I frame my images a bit larger than normal to accommodate different cropping requirements. I use to try and get my subject as large in the frame as possible. Now I leave a little extra room. With higher mp sensors, it's not an issue. More recently, you can use AI (I'm using PS Beta) to change aspect ratio. I create an appropriate frame bigger than my image then tell AI to fill it in. The results can be amazing.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

User ID

All this specificity, with numbers and all, just seems very alien to presenting an image for view. And even the concern for framing and matting should never mean that an image must be fitted into some formulaic standard dimensions and ratio.

I just shape the rectangle however looks best to complement the image. I can cut a matt to agree with that shape, or use a precut matt of some "standard" shape. If using a precut standard matt, I print smaller than the matt window so that the image "floats" within the window, with a margin of naked unprinted paper between the image and the matt. A black built-in "self frame", printed as part of the image, is optional.

The "float" method also leaves space for your signature, date, etc between the image edge and the matt.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I just frame and never use a mat even though I have a mat cutter.
I like a larger print for my wall hangers.
Just my preference and I realize most people mat

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I also don't make any adjustments to the file size or pixel dimensions when printing. I let the printer driver handle that. I just tell it what size to print.

I also start with the original, edit it to my liking, save it in the original aspect ratio. That's the master.
Then, cropping or changing the aspect ratio is done for the desired print size.
Any aspect change or crop I save as another file. NEVER over the master.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I was taught a method somewhat different from what has been described here. The process I learned involved printing the entire frame to a size that made the intended final area was approximatemy the correct size. Dry mount was then applied to the entire print and secured wirh the press. Now, a final area was selected and a top mat prepared. The window in the mat was used as a guide to trim the print and dry mount. The print was located on the base mat according to the window in the top mat, then adhered in place using the press. The top mat was aligned, marked, and trimmed.

Please note...doing all this wasn't nearly as difficult as describing it. The idea is that you push irreversible decisions as far as possible downstrean. This allows changing your mind based on trial fitting actual components of the matting materials. It served me well on several occasions where what I actually did was quite different from my original intentions.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

So one would print a 11x14, for example, and use the mat to crop, cutting off what is not needed to fit the 8x10 mat window?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

That would be one way. We cut our own windows in solid mar board, so were not tied to just the standard sizes. Very few of the prints I mounted ended up being exact matches to standard sizes or aspect ratios.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

There are two angles to this question. The answer depends on whether you plan to print or not. If you plan to print I would crop it to the size you plant to print at, like 8x10.

The second point is that this is a matter of personal preference, particularly for viewing at the computer screen. I personally prefer the 3:2 ratio, but I have cropped images at different ratios for various reasons--sometimes even a 1:1 ratio.