How to Crop Photos for Printing (4×6, 5×7, 8×10)

Print Sizes and Their Aspect Ratios

Metric print sizes vary by lab; check the exact dimensions your lab uses.

Why Your Camera's Ratio Matters

Most DSLR and mirrorless cameras shoot 3:2, which matches 4×6 prints exactly. Most phones shoot 4:3, which doesn't match any of the most common print sizes, so phone photos nearly always need some cropping for 4×6. That's why people are surprised to find the top and bottom of a phone photo trimmed on a 4×6 print.

What is an aspect ratio explains ratios in more depth.

How Many Pixels Do You Need?

For prints viewed up close, 300 pixels per inch (PPI) is the usual target for excellent sharpness. Many photos still look good at 200–250 PPI, and large prints viewed from a distance can go lower.

To check, multiply the print size in inches by the target PPI:

8 × 10 in at 300 PPI → 2400 × 3000 pixels
8 × 10 in at 200 PPI → 1600 × 2000 pixels

Cropping reduces pixels, so check the size after cropping. A tight crop of a small part of a phone photo may fall below what an 8×10 needs. How to crop an image without losing quality shows how to keep as many pixels as possible.

Cropping for a 4×6 Print

1. Open the photo in the 3:2 image cropper.
2. If the photo opened sideways, rotate it first. Note that the 3:2 frame is landscape; for a portrait 4×6 (2:3), use an editor's custom-ratio crop or the lab's own crop step.
3. Position the frame so faces and key details aren't near the edges. Print labs trim a sliver off the edges, so leave a little breathing room.
4. Set the output size: 1800 pixels on the long side is enough for 300 PPI, or keep the full crop size if it's larger.
5. Download as JPG at high quality. Most labs accept JPG; PNG files are much larger with no benefit for photos.

The cropper also has 4:3, 3:4 and 1:1 frames, and runs in your browser, so your photos aren't uploaded.

Cropping for 5×7, 8×10 and Other Sizes

For sizes whose ratios aren't among the cropper's presets (5:7, 4:5, 11:14, A4):

• Use your photo editor's crop tool with a custom ratio entered as width and height, for example 4 and 5.
• Or use the print lab's own cropping step, which usually lets you drag the frame; just make sure you actually check it rather than accepting the default centre crop.
• If you're printing an 8×10 from a 3:2 photo, about 17% of the long side will be removed; decide whether to trim top, bottom or both.

Borders Instead of Crops

If you don't want to lose any of the picture, choose a print option with white borders (sometimes called "fit" or "no crop"), or pad the photo onto a canvas of the print's ratio yourself. The full image prints smaller, surrounded by a border.

Printing at Home

• Set the printer to the actual paper size you loaded.
• Turn off "fit to page" if your image is already the exact size, or turn it on if you want automatic scaling with borders.
• Use the printer's photo paper setting for best colour and sharpness.

For prints bigger than your printer's paper, such as posters or stencils, tiling across several sheets is an option; how to print a large stencil on multiple pages covers the technique.

Summary

Know your print's ratio, crop deliberately to it, and check that the cropped image has enough pixels for the size. 3:2 photos fit 4×6 perfectly; most other sizes need a planned crop or a border.