[porterd2nz]

The first thing to recognise here is that digital cameras take pictures at a different ratio to traditional film cameras. Digital cameras were originally designed to capture images for computer monitors, and as you probably know, these have dimensions typically like 640 x 480 and 800 x 600. If you divide the height by the width, you will find that the ratio is 4:3.

A traditional camera takes pictures that fit perfectly into a 6x4" photo. If you again divide the height by the width, you find that this is a different ratio, 3:2. So what's the problem you ask? Nothing really, but you have a decision to make when you come to print your photos. The standard photo sizes, and frames were designed for film and the 3:2 ratio.

The table below details which commonly available print sizes are best for your images. If you have a digital camera, most probably you will need to choose a print size from the first two columns.

Exact Digital Near Digital Film & 3:2 ratio Digital
6x4.5" 6x4"
5x7"
6x8" 6x9"
8x10" 8x12"


Of course, since the shape of the photo is completely in the hands of the photographer, you can crop to the papers size ratio and have the image appear exactly as you want it to.