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8th October - 2001 Avoiding digital aspect ratio problems
Q. Digital cameras create images with a slightly different aspect ratio than film cameras, yet the stock photo paper that one can purchase conforms to the aspect ratio of film! Is there a “best” way ro resize photos to get perfect borderless 4x6 prints? I can’t seem to discover a method that doesn’t have tons of compromises! (Sent by Barry J. Fishman)
dp-now.com:
The problem is illustrated below. A 35mm full frame image (24x36mm on the film) has an aspect ratio of 1:1.5, as does 6x4 inch photo printer paper. Unfortunately, most consumer digicams use traditional TV display aspect ratio of 4:3 or 1:1 1/3rd, which ever you prefer. This is a legacy of the video camera origins of the digital camera.
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Some digicams do produce 1:1.5 aspect ratio images, like Kodak’s DX3000 range, for example. Pro digital cameras, like Canon’s new EOS-1D make a point of featuring a film-style 1:1.5 standard image aspect ratio.
As for a solution, there is no easy answer. My personal preference is to crop the top and bottom of a 4:3 image and preserve the width. But sometimes that would mean chopping the top off something, like a tower.
Think ahead when taking the photo?
One suggestion is to frame your shots to allow for cropping later. If distortion of the scene would not be noticeable, you could re-size the vertical dimension to fit - but that would be a last resort.
Try printing with roll paper?
Another suggestion is to avoid using 6x4 inch paper. Some recent Epson Stylus Photo printers can take 4 inch roll paper. With this arrangement you can print borderless 4x5 1/3rd inch prints with no wasteage.
The next most common size photo printer paper is A4 (297mm or 11.7 inches by 210mm or 8.2 inches). Even with a printer that would allow full bleed printing (which is rare), you won’t get two full width 6 inch prints lengthways to make four on one sheet, though four 4x5 1/3rd prints would just squeeze in.
It’s an old problem
This photographic puzzle is actually nothing new. Popular paper sizes in traditional photographic printing have not adhered to film frame dimensions; 5x7 inch prints are 1:1.4 ratio and 10x8 prints are 1:1.25 ratio.
If anyone else has some better suggestions - do let us know!
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