Printing Size Question

[BigScott]

I have been trying to print a few of my shots lately and have run into a little trouble. I am using a Nikon L100 and when I try to print a small picture such as 4x6 part of the photo gets cut off. How can I fix this? Will resizing the image work? Grandparents want pictures of grandkids for their desks!! As always your help is appreciated.

[CaptainNH]

Digital cameras produce files with an aspect ratio of 4:3, whereas a 4 by 6 print has an aspect ratio of 3:2; an 8 by 10 has an aspect ratio of 5:4.

If you maintain the same aspect ratio as the camera, you can either do 6 by 4.5, resulting in a half inch being clipped, or you could do 4 by 5.333, resulting in a blank strip along the edge of the print.

This needs to be taken into account when you're composing your shots - called "shooting for the crop", so you don't miss anything important out of the print.

I'd suggest reprinting them at 4x5.3333 (you should able to do this at the print lab by selecting "no crop / resize". You can then manage the blank strips with the framing.

Good luck!