Printing Irregular Shaped Photo

<p>I want to print my photos but they are not the size that will be printable on the regular 8x10 format. Does anyone know a good way to get a good quality photo printed for irregular shaped photos such as square formats or panoramic photos? I know printing places do print photos like posters but they don't seems to be a good photo quality.<br>

Thanks for your suggestions!</p>

<p>Jun</p>

<p> 8x10's have an aspect ratio of 4:3 (square-ish). If your shots won't fit that, you must be shooting in the 3:2 aspect ratio (rectangular). The closest you could get would be 8x12.<br>

If you must print a 3:2 AR photo within a 4:3 boundary, you can print the image smaller so that the horizontal length fits. You'd be left with a larger white border at the top and bottom.<br>

If you want to fill the entire 8x10 with the image, you have to crop some off of one or both ends. You could also force it to fit (the exact method would depend on what editing software you were using) without cropping, but the perspective would be affected -- the picture would be sort of squished towards the center which would stretch everything in the vertical dimension.</p>

<p>Take a look at Mpix. They have several sizes they print in and maybe they can provide what you are looking for. I've had square format portraits done there and like their work.</p>

<p>I had this very problem today! I have a panoramic photograph that I cannot get printed correctly at normal places. I came across Ezprints.com and they do panoramics. Haven't tried them yet, but they will not crop your photos, and are pretty cheap... I'm going to try them out, I guess I'll let you know... :)</p>

<p>Awesome, I'll look at those places you mentioned. Thanks for your advices!<br>

Jun</p>

<p>Sometimes I will take my image and drop it on a 8x12 or the appropriate larger standard print size plain background and merge/flatten the two images. I then have the 8x12 print made and when I get home I just trim of the excess. An example would be to put an 8x8 picture on a 8x12 background. Then when you get home just trim off the 4 inch border. I use a fabric cutter (handle with a round blade) and a straight edge (from my Logan matte cutting kit) to trim the pictures. I used my wifes fabric cutter for a while but she soon tired of it and bought me my own and told me to leave her cutter alone. Now she always wants my spare blades.</p>

<p>Ross, you're a genius. That sounds so much simpler! Why didn't I think of that! I'll definitely try that next time! Thanks!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Our lab, millers, which is the parent company of mpix, will print any size I want. There is a fee to trim the print to size, but especially for bigger prints that are harder to cut, its worth the fee to have them do it perfectly. </p>

<p>On top of that, they have a lot of sizes that most people don't realize are out there as standard sizes for them (5x10, 6x9, 7x10, 8x8, 10x10, etc.)</p>

<p>Jun, it is pretty simple. Also if you have enough extra space you can drop another image in there. Some wallet sizes for instance. Maybe you would like a panoramic, then you can put two 8x20 images on a 16x20 print or say a (1) 12x20 panoramic which leaves room for a row of 4x6 prints...Also there is no law that a 4x6 print cannot be 3.9in x 4.0 inches or whatevere makes sense to you. The fabric cutter and straight edge make perfect sharp cuts. A couple practice cuts the first time and your good for life. Just don't cut on your kitchen table without a backing. I also use a fabric cutting board for a backing but other things would work well. Since my wife is a quilter there was an extra one laying around that I could have. I cut and trim a lot of prints and frame/matte a lot of prints. Keeps me busy during my down time. Only 6 kids and a full time job so I have plenty of free time for my hobby. LOL.</p>

<p>As much as I hate to recommend any company that imposes a peel ad at the top corner of this forum and hogs the search box, I'd have to recommend Adorama. You can specify exactly how you want something printed. Odd sized images can be printed on standard size paper with no cropping specified. For instance, let's say you want to make an 8x8 print. Print it on 8x10 paper, and check the box that keeps them from cropping. You'll get an 8x8 with wide borders on the long ends.</p>

<p>There may well be other companies that do this. I'm happy using Adorama.</p>