[synnyster]

I'm curious what size do you guys normally print your photos. I've noticed that a lot of photos posted here are non standard sizes. I don't imagine you guys crop photos to the standard 4X6, 5X7 print sizes. So do you guys just print to standard sizes with the white/black border to compensate for the empty space? I remember someone saying something about free software that adds the framing borders to pictures, but I cannot remember the name of it. Any insights are appreciated. Thanks.

[mattdm]

Generally I like to frame in-camera, so I print using online print services which offer 3:2 formats like 6×9 and 8×12 or the occassional 12×18. If the image needs a different crop, I pick the size one larger and print with white space and then physically trim it.

[Mike Cash]

I normally print to A4 and crop at a ratio friendly to that. That's the largest my printer goes. Somewhere on down the line I will eventually get an A3 printer. Sometimes I will print either 2 or 4 images to a single A4 sheet, but the nature of the standard means that I crop to exactly the same ratio, so final output size really makes no difference. In the US it will be a bit different for you, of course, since different standard sizes apply.

Depending on the individual shot, I will either print edge-to-edge or with a white border. Edge-to-edge on my printer does a slight crop around the edges. If it doesn't do something odd like cutting off feet or the top of someone's head, I normally go ahead and let it do it. Otherwise I just let a few mm of white remain around the edges. You can add frames/borders if you feel like it. But since the paper is white anyway there is no actual need to do so. And if the photo ends up going in an actual physical frame you'll lose a tiny bit around the edges anyway as it will be concealed by the mat or the edge of the frame itself.

Sometimes I will end up with odd ratio prints. Usually square from shooting 6x6 medium format from a TLR or a folder, or from some odd shape being what I end up with after cropping the crappy part away from an otherwise decent shot. I just go ahead and throw that on a sheet of A4 anyway. I have a little dedicated paper cutting table that I can use to trim away the excess. Got it on sale for about $10 bucks in the office supply aisle of a local chain store. Remember that if you end up with something like that which you wish to frame, you can always custom cut a mat to go with it in a standard sized frame.

It's only in the last year that I actually print anything anyway, since I never had a decent printer until last December. And having a printer with good photo printing capabilities was part of what prompted me to get a nice camera (K100D) this January.

[Miserere]

Funny, I just placed an order online to get some test pics printed.

As for sizing, 4x6 is standard, as that's the 2:3 ratio of your CCD, although from what I've seen from a friend's photos, it's too small for anything other than family shots. 8x12 would be the minimum, I think, but they're more expensive. This place does 8x12 for $3, and they also allow a lot of control when printing; if you have a non-standard size, you can choose where you want the whitespace to go, etc. I haven't used them, but after a lot of searching online they seem to have reasonable prices and are photographer friendly.

[simonkit]

If printing myself I print A4 - limited by the printer I have.

If using online print companies I always go with the 3 x 2 ratios - 15 x 10 inch is the one I use most, big enough to show detail in landscape shots and not too large a frame size (20 x 16inch)

simon