Photo sizes

[TexKen]

Why aren't there more photo paper sizes for 3x2 photos. Isn't 5x7 and 8x10 a dying breed? So I'm looking for paper sizes I can buy for my Epson printer that don't force me to alter my images. 8x12 anyone?

[Ahh!]

What gave you the impression that 8x10 and 5x7 were facing extinction?

[TexKen]

Originally Posted by Ahh!

What gave you the impression that 8x10 and 5x7 were facing extinction?

Yeah I guess "facing extinction" was strong. I just noticed that mpix and other print labs seem to have options to print at sizes like 8x12, 12x18 which makes sense given that most (or all?) of today's digital SLRs shoot at 3x2.

5x7 and 8x10 just make me a little crazy because I have to crop my photos much differently than they look through the viewfinder. Am I off does it seem more logical for Epson to make photo paper in 6x9 or 8x12 sheets? Frame makers too.

So my choices are... crop my photos unnaturally or have to pay extra for custom frames. Odd...

[KJ Smith]

You can print 6x9 on 8.5x11.5 paper.

Mat it up to 11x14.

Leaves 2.5 inch border all the way around.

[venchka]

5x7 is a nice format for portraits. You crop a LOT less of your image than going to 8x10. Does your camera have crop lines on the LCD? I have mine set to 5x7. A narrow strip top & bottom is all you loose.
You can print full frame on 8 1/2 x 11 with a narrow margin on each end. Say 10 1/2" long x whatever wide. 12x18 on 13x19 paper looks great on the wall.

[Ahh!]

Originally Posted by TexKen

mpix and other print labs seem to have options to print at sizes like 8x12, 12x18 which makes sense given that most (or all?) of today's digital SLRs shoot at 3x2.

Let me take you for a mental walk down memory lane. My first fine camera was a 35mm built over 50 years ago. It was 3x2. I just processed 42 images from a client's inherited negative collection going back to the '30's. They were in 6 different aspect ratios.

Millers has been very savvy in understanding the pro world and the need to dumb it down for consumers, so they spawned mpix to attract that market segment by putting those sizes on the frontline price list.

But they and other pro labs offer all the custom sizes, and a few studios have adopted them in order to get consumers to order the matting and framing thru them, since 3x2 and others like 16x9 are hard to get and can be sold at a premium. Cha-ching!

[venchka]

Don't forget square.
Also remember that the classic print sizes like 5x7 and 8x10 originated as contact prints. Full size prints directly from the negatives.

[Ahh!]

Originally Posted by venchka

...the classic print sizes like 5x7 and 8x10 originated as contact prints. Full size prints directly from the negatives.

So, any size goes. Still.

Which is why I price based on the long side of the paper and custom order all my frames so the client can take a given image and crop it however they like.

[Steve Balderrama]

I personally nearly always crop away from the 3x2 aspect ratio, I just am not a fan of it. much prefer 4x5 and 1x1. I'd love Canon or Nikon to make a full frame square sensor camera.