Getting Digital Photos Printed

[stevesayskanpai]

I didn't know where to post this, so here it is and feel free to move it to wherever is appropriate!

For the first time I got some of my favourite photos printed off in large size, and framed to be put up in a local cafe. However when I got them back from the shop I realised a significant portion of each photo had been chopped off- they were printed out at 30" by 25", (the files are 3008x2000 pixel taken on a D40), and only a portion of each picture was shown. This was especially annoying for some of the landscape shots, but I'm wondering if its my fault for choosing the size I did.

Basically I'm wondering what peoples preferences are for printed photos- what size they find best, and whether they like a gloss or matt finish (I got mine in gloss (i.e. regular photo paper) without thinking about it)?

[grahamnp]

All SLRs, apart from the 4:3rds kind, take photos in 3:2 so you will need to print at that aspect ratio for the full frame to be printed. 30" by 25" is 6:5 which is why only a portion of the whole frame was printed.

I personally prefer the look of matte but it seems to stick to the glass of the photo frame. Lousy paper perhaps.

[Photoj]

grahamnp is right about the aspect ratios. To prevent the print kissing the glass, get a mount on framing. I print matte or lustre, very rarely glossy, which seems to be what the majority do as well.

[stevesayskanpai]

Duh, thats fairly obvious actually isn't it! I got a bit confused by the options in Japanese, but I still should have realised really. Anyway even "zoomed in" on an area of the image, at 25 by 30 my D40s delivered excellent quality- no "lack of megapixels" complex here!

25 by 30 seems a nice size for framed photographs- it works with a couple of the ones I had done, but with the others my composition has obviously been destroyed by the cutting of megapixels to suit the ratio. Damn it.

As for matte (spelt correctly this time) vs gloss, I'll go for matte next time and compare- it certainly appears to have the benefits of no glare and no smudging.

[Thomas]

Blacks can be deeper on gloss than on matte, as matte reflects light difusely and thus black may appear brighter.
But it all depends on the lighting and reflections.
If you frame it behind glass I think it will not really matter.
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I moved this question to the "Printers" section...

[JakeOConnell]

I don't print matte a lot, but then again I don't frame a lot of my pictures, most of my prints are 4x6's in envelopes all around (actually, they're very well organized but ) Just another thing, photo mats add all the difference to prints when they're framed. I would never give away a photo or sell one that wasn't matted, the only time I don't put photos in mats is when I'm hanging them up in my room.

[fontok]

I get most my prints done at my local Fuji FDi shop - both 4R size (6x4) and enlargements.

If the photo has wasted space round the image that I want to show, I crop it on my computer to the dimesions of the print that I want, BUT ALWAYS leave a bit more on the borders, as I have realised their machine still crops off some of the image, as does my Canon softwre, if I print the odd one at home.