ChartStandard dimensions — nothing to enter.
Most photos come out of a camera at 3:2 and off a phone at 4:3, and almost no print size matches either. Here is what each size is, and what gets cut off.
| Print size | Ratio | Fits without cropping | Frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 6 | 3:2 | Any DSLR or mirrorless photo | 4 × 6, or 8 × 10 matted |
| 5 × 7 | 7:5 | Nothing — crops a 3:2 photo | 5 × 7, or 8 × 10 matted |
| 6 × 8 | 4:3 | Any phone photo | 9 × 12 matted |
| 8 × 10 | 5:4 | Nothing — crops both | 8 × 10, or 11 × 14 matted |
| 8 × 12 | 3:2 | Any DSLR or mirrorless photo | 12 × 16 matted |
| 8.5 × 11 | 11:8.5 | Letter documents | 8.5 × 11 |
| 9 × 12 | 4:3 | Any phone photo | 12 × 16 matted |
| 11 × 14 | 14:11 | Nothing — crops both | 11 × 14, or 16 × 20 matted |
| 12 × 18 | 3:2 | Any DSLR or mirrorless photo | 18 × 24 matted |
| 16 × 20 | 5:4 | Nothing — crops both | 16 × 20, or 20 × 24 matted |
| 20 × 30 | 3:2 | Any DSLR or mirrorless photo | 24 × 36 matted |
| 8 × 8 | 1:1 | Square crops | 8 × 8, or 12 × 12 matted |
| 12 × 12 | 1:1 | Square crops | 12 × 12, or 16 × 16 matted |
Ratio is width to height in landscape. A photo printed at a ratio that does not match the file is cropped by the lab, usually from the long edge, unless you ask for white borders instead.
Cameras shoot 3:2, phones shoot 4:3. Full-frame and APS-C cameras produce a 3:2 image, which is the shape of a 4 × 6, 8 × 12, 12 × 18 and 20 × 30 print. Phone cameras default to 4:3, which matches 6 × 8 and 9 × 12. Neither matches 5 × 7, 8 × 10 or 11 × 14, which is why those three crop.
The most popular sizes are the ones that crop. 5 × 7 and 8 × 10 are the two best-selling print sizes in the US and neither matches any camera. An 8 × 10 from a 3:2 photo loses about an inch and a quarter off each end of the long edge, so anything near the edge of the frame is at risk.
Check the long edge before you order. Look at what sits near the left and right edges of a landscape shot, or the top and bottom of a portrait one. A hand, a foot or a horizon that touches the edge will be cut. Crop it yourself first and you decide what goes; leave it and the lab decides.
Enlarging does not change the shape. Going from 8 × 10 to 16 × 20 changes nothing about the crop — both are 5:4. If a size crops badly at small, it crops the same at large.
4 × 6 inches. It is the cheapest print, and it is the only common size that matches a camera's native 3:2 shape, so nothing is cropped.
Because 8 × 10 is a 5:4 shape and your photo is not. A camera file is 3:2 and a phone file is usually 4:3, so the lab trims the long edge to make it fit. Crop it yourself before ordering if anything important sits near the edge.
6 × 8 or 9 × 12, both of which are 4:3, the default shape of most phone cameras. If your phone is set to shoot 16:9 or square, none of the standard sizes match and you will be cropping either way.
7:5, or 1.4:1. It sits between the 3:2 of a camera file and the 5:4 of an 8 × 10, which is why it crops a little off every source.
Most labs will cut a custom size, but you pay for it twice — the print costs more, and the frame has to be custom too, because ready-made frames only come in the standard sizes. Sticking to the standard sizes is what keeps framing affordable.