DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I crop to the composition. It is rarely a standard size. Composition is more important.

If you're going to have the print done by Walmart, Costco, or other general printer, you are going to have to deal with their size, which is usually a standard size. If it's not a standard size they will likely crop to make it one, which will screw up your composition. If that is the case what I do is to add white space to the image to make it a standard aspect ratio. If you get a white border use white space. You then have the option to mat the print in the frame to cover the white space.

If I'm going to frame a photo, I will sometimes add a border to the photo to match the frame or take the place of a mat. The border does not have to be the same width all the way around so you can add to one dimension to ensure a standard size. The border does not have to be white. You can use a black border if you have a black frame.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

So much confusion here. The aspect ratio is just that: a ratio. It is not a final size. If you crop to an aspect ratio of 8x10, then you can print on standard sized sheets of 4x5, 8x10, 16x20, 32x40 without further cropping. If you crop to an aspect ratio of 8x10 and want to print on 5x7, then you will have to do a slight additional crop to get it to fit. Why? Because the 8x10 ratio simplifies to 1.25 while 5x7 is 1.4.

5x7 is an odd-ball. If you want to print to the standard 11x14 size and double the 5x7, you get 10x14.

Moral of the story. Look at those crop sizes not as sizes but as ratios and you will be fine. You do not need to resize the file at all because the printer takes care of that. Just send the cropped file as is and you will be fine.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Regarding my comment above and Walgreen's 4x6 prints which are not really 4x6... 4x5.3 close to 8x10.6 image size or 4x5 with 0.15 on two edges or 0.3" on one edge at the whims of the inner program of the print unit.

To quote Walgreens, "Our True Digital Prints are a 4x5.3 format which allows you to match the dimensions of the photo produced by your digital camera to the dimensions of the print. By opting to change to a True Digital sized print, you eliminate the automatic cropping that will occur when a digital image is converted to the dimensions of a 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, etc.
Please keep in mind that when ordering your 4x6 prints, not all of your images may meet the requirements for the 4x5.3 True Digital print size option. Most compact digital cameras take photos with an aspect ratio of 3:4, resulting in the image being more square and fitting more accurately in a 4x5.3 True Digital print size. Photos that have been cropped, altered, or taken with a different aspect ratio may not have the required aspect ratio and will not automatically register as True Digital images. Please note that the size of the file image should not exceed 10MB."
https://wagcco.secure.force.com/pkb2/articles/Information/What-are-True-Digital-prints-2-0

Walmart 9 cents glossy or matt... 4x6 or 4x5.3
https://photos3.walmart.com/prints/5-prints?product=188-print-4x53-matte

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Depends on the camera format.
My primary camera is a 3:2 aspect ratio, which does make 4x6 un-cropped.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Actually 4x6 is exactly the default ratio for most cameras, 3:2.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

I don't use luminar but there should be a way to select the size of crop, which would be the so called standards. BUT, of you do not like those you can always print a custom size. Your camera has a 3:2 tattoo sensor.

Some one already gave you a link for sizes, but it is easyy to calculate the size you want, of you want custom print without cropping. Just multiply the two numbers by the same multiplier. If you multiply the 3:2 by 4, you get a 12x8 (or 8x12) depending on whether you are in landscape or portrait mode. Multiply by 8 and you get 24x16 (or 16x24), etc.

Bubbee Loc: Aventura, Florida

My Photoshop Elements 18 makes it easy. The guide in the lower left corner can do the appropriate crop for you, also allowing flexibility. And when you print in the Create mode, you again are given appropriate guides.
Works for me.
As I recall, Picasso provided guides, also.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

If you ever want to frame your wall hangers,, stick to conventional sizes

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Including 8x12. They sell 11x14 precut mats for those.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

It's not that complicated, but you have to know the size of the print to start. So lets say you want a print that is 8x10 portrait. (vss. landscape) Most cameras take pictures that are 2x3. 2x3 is the native aspect ratio. 2x3 is the same as 4x6 or 6x9 or 8x12 and so on. So in native aspect ratios, you wouldn't need to change a thing to get a print in one of those sizes. But 8x10 would be the same as 4x5 in aspect ratio terms. You see the math don't you? So if you crop your photo to 4x5 (inches) or 8x10 it is virtually the same thing.

So bottom line is first to determine the size of the print you want and then see if that number can be reduced to a smaller fraction. When I use Lightroom, they don't give a choice to crop at 8x10. But they do have a choice to crop at 4x5. So this is why you simply reduce the fraction to the smallest fraction. But in Photoshop, you can actually change the crop dimensions to whatever you like. If you want 8x10, simply type those numbers into the crop dimension box and then grab the crop handles and move your crop box to capture the portion of the photo that you want printed. Sometimes, if you took a picture that is too tight, if you crop the picture, then some parts will be cropped off and not print. This is why it is recommended to leave a fair amount of a margin when you take pictures. You'll learn this which experience, usually the hard way.....

FotoHog Loc: on Cloud 9

In PaintShop Pro you can crop and print your photos to your own exact specifications with the utmost ease. Just click Print and set the long edge of the image to the desired print side and the software will set the aspect ratio automatically. It's a cinch and works like a charm. I expect that your software has the same capability. . . . Good luck.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I have all all my prints, maybe 20, 16 X20 no mats.

lwerthe1mer Loc: Birmingham, Alabama

When I edit photos from my SD card in ON1, I can crop to an aspect ratio, usually 4x6. Then when I export from ON1 to JPEG format, ON1, i must fill in a a lengthy and width. These numbers refer to # of pixels. Higher #s mean more pixels and greater resolution. The numbers are in the -000’s. I don’t understand these numbers and what would be appropriate for an amateur photographer printing 16x24s for personal use.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

A is to B as C is to D...

A square peg won't fit in a round hole. A 3:2 aspect ratio image from your Nikon won't fit in an 8x10 space because it requires a 12" by 8" area (3x4=12 and 2x4=8).

The usual way people solve this is to compose loosely at the camera so the image will fit the aspect ratio of the targeted frame size, after cropping. You have a D850, which has overkill resolution for anything smaller than 20" wide.

Another way people solve this is by padding the cropped image with additional "canvas" (blank image area, which can be any color). Photoshop and other applications can extend the canvas around images. This has the added benefit of allowing space for titling, copyright information, signatures...

If you are sending files to a lab, you can avoid charges for custom printing by choosing the next size up and padding the canvas to fill part of the area. Alas, if you don't want to see that added canvas, you will be in for a custom matting charge if you frame the print.

I've attached a sample of canvas padding below. This image would print on 8x10 paper. It was cropped square from a horizontal composition. The image is a digital macro copy of a 35mm Kodachrome 64 slide. While 8x8 is a standard print size at some labs, if you're doing your own home printing, you may want to use a sheet of 8.5x11 photo paper and print an 8x10 image in the center of it. Trimming the 8x10 out of the 8.5x11 will fit an 8x10 frame... obviously.

A few companies make viewfinder masks for digital cameras that have removable finder screens. One company I know is still active:

https://www.viewfindermasks.com

When I was in the school portrait business, I designed a mask for our Canons that looked like the illustration below. I lost the explanation key for all the lines, but every one of them meant something. The outer rectangle is a trim mark. The mask you would see is the rectangle in side that enclosing guides for 20x8, 30x10, 10x8, 7x5, full length portraits, and head&shoulders portraits.

>

EPCOT Spaceship Earth, August, 1983

(Download)


(Download)

dandev Loc: Enumclaw, WA

I often find that the best composition for a particular image does not fall into a standard photo size. (8 x 10, 8x 12, etc.) For those instances a custom mat can be used. Local stores will do a custom mat for around $30.