DAY 301

PHOTOGRAPHY 101

What Is a Cropping Ratio?

HINT: NOTHING TO DO WITH FARMING

The last step in preparing your work to be printed is to crop it. Cropping is the method of removing part of the image; however, you must be careful to crop the photo so that it will fit the paper size you wish your final print to be.

A cropping ratio is a mathematical designation that compares the photograph’s width to its height. Digital camera file ratios are all 4:3, which means that most prints you make should be cropped in some fashion.

The standard ratios are:

1:1 Length and width of the photo are equal, resulting in a square photograph.

2:3 One side is 2/3 the measurement of the other. For example a 4 × 6 print is a 2:3 ratio, as is an 8 × 12.

4:5 This is a traditional format used by portrait photographers for many years. This is also the same ratio that an 8 × 10 is, so everything that you see on a 4 × 5 proof will be shown in an 8 × 10 final print.

5:7 This ratio is most often used for finished photographs to be printed as 5 × 7s.

Digital photograph files can be cropped within photo-editing software, or you can send your file directly to the lab; just hope it doesn’t crop off an important element. —CWN