What print size is common for you?

[pete_s.]

<p>I have a question for those of you that deliver a tangible product like prints, albums with prints, coffee table books or similar.<br /> What images size or sizes (in inches) are most common for you?</p>

<p> </p>

[HuskyMason1]

<p>mostly 5X7</p>

[mbbrown]

<p>I find that we get a lot of orders for 4x6 prints, some 5x7 prints, then there's not a lot between that and the big prints we sell...16x20 and larger.</p>

<p>We offer a lot of "full frame" sizes like 4x6, 6x9, 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36...trying to get people to think outside the box in terms of prints sizes.</p>

<p>But, it hasn't worked that well yet. Although we are starting to see a lot of 6x9 orders.</p>

<p>Books? We offer 10x10 and 9x9 books. I like the square format for a variety of reasons. A lay-flat two page spread of one shot is, in effect, a full frame print.</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>Most common size for me is 8x10, though I never crop to that until its ready for print. Following that are 5x7 and 11x14.</p>

[fotografz]

<p>7" X 10", 8" X 10", 8" X 8", 5" X 10" for traditional albums ... then 17" X 22" display prints ... pretty much in that order.</p>

<p>I almost never make smaller prints than the above.</p>

[William Michael]

<p>7X5; 8X8; 10X8 are most common album print sizes; 14X11, 20X16 are the common framed print sizes. Nothing smaller than 7X5. Print sizes are inches and listed by size, not qty. of sales.<br>

WW</p>

[think27]

<p>Typical order is somewhere between 40 and 70 4x6's (but I've had as much as 150), 30 to 50 5x7's and 2 to 6 8x10s. Sometimes there is one very special shot that is ordered on B&W art paper in 11x14. </p>

[pete_s.]

<p>Thanks guys. It's interesting to see the variance between the most common size sold. Do you think it is demographical or just depending on what the photographer offers?</p>

[William Michael]

<p >I think it is more on what is offered rather than where you are offering it – but for the record I am in Australia. I think there is usually an history which might includes necessities, inertia or an economy. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >From my point of view: I used to shoot film - mainly 135 and 645 (some 6x7). Generally the 645 were the Formal Portraiture and Similar more posed shots which were the most likely to be framed & displayed and also the most likely to be wall hangings. For the first albums we made, we did a volume deal with 7x5 and 10x8 CU mats. About one year into the business I saw the value (differentiation) of also having 8x8, so we bought a truckload of those mats, too.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >I did a printing deal on hand finished and lacquered enlargements with my lab if I kept the orders to only 11 x 14 and 16 x 20, so we offered those framed prints, in our packages. Obvioulsy we sold more 16 x 20 than 11 x 14, because we priced them to that suit that strategy. So, we "fell" into system whereby the all the 645 negs mostly went to 10 x 8 or 16 x 20 - and the 135 negs went to 7 x 5.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >From there, we were in a good position to do a deal with hand printing with full colour correction: If we shot in “sections” (regarding lighting changes) the lab would give us an allowance to print all 645 to 10 x 8 and all the 135 to 7x5 and Colour Balance to the first frame of each set - so we set about to keep our shoot success rate quite high and hand everything as a full custom print, on the first run.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Thus there developed an huge economy of scale to offer 5x7, 10x8 in albums and mainly 20 x 16 for enlargements, also, we obviously then tended to frame / compose 5x7 in our 35mm cameras and use the 10x8 grid on the 645's.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >That then just became an habit – and as the studio grew and Photographers changed we still kept the same formula regarding Print sizes – the chap who owns the business now, still offers those sizes in the album packages – I guess there is an inertia of the business and also a customer expectation, for example for the Parents’ Albums of two sisters want it a bit similar for each Daughter, but different.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >***</p>

<p > </p>

<p >I think it would be different for someone beginning, but perhaps with all the album outsourcing now and even the fewer albums being sold and the more discs being sold, there is less strategic thinking behind what size to offer – I don’t know - I really haven’t thought it through as to what I would offer now, if I were starting up today and offering albums tomorrow.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >WW </p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

 

[fotografz]

<p>About 40% to 50% of my clients select a traditional slip in album with either 16 pages, 32 enlargements ... or 21 pages, 42 enlargements. I make the prints based on the mat openings offered by my album supplier.<br>

I never do multiple smaller images on a page, preferring to have the impact of at least a 7"X10". If a client wants more photos and/or smaller ones added in, I refer them to one of the coffee table type books which does that job much better. 7"X10" is the most common size in my traditional albums because it is really close to the aspect ratio of 35mm DSLR cameras (7"X10.5").</p>

<p>I differ from many wedding photographers in that I select the images and flow of the photos in an album, and print them myself. After the wedding, the next time the couple sees me is to pick up their album and materials. After 10 years now, only two clients asked for a slight change.</p>

<p> </p>

[pete_s.]

<p>Thanks William and Marc for taking the time!</p>