What is the photo size? What formats and sizes of photographs exist, how to choose the right one? Photos for documents

We are often asked: - “Can you print A4 photos?”

Of course, we can print photos in almost any size, but this issue requires clarification.

Photo paper formats differ from international ISO formats, but most often in everyday life we ​​operate with terms and sizes that are familiar to us, such as A4, Whatman paper, etc. Although photo paper and regular paper formats are quite similar, they are still different from each other.

Major photo formats have aspect ratios similar to those of modern digital cameras, 1:1.5 (2/3) or 1:1.33 (3/4). Standard international paper sizes have an aspect ratio of 1:1.4142, meaning they are not the same proportions. When printing on Noritsu minilabs, photo standards are used. The familiar photo frames and photo albums for storing photographs also meet photo standards.

This table shows the ratio of the photo formats we print to standard paper.

Now let's look at each of the photo formats in detail. The popular 10x15 format is 2 mm smaller on one side than standard A6, and 5 mm larger on the other. Therefore, if you need exactly A6, you should order a 15x21 photo and trim off the excess manually.

Below you see how the 10x15 format compares with the well-known A4.

A 15x21 photo will be slightly larger than an A5 sheet. On one side by 5 mm, on the other by 1 mm. Therefore, if you need A5, feel free to order a 15x21 photo, you will cut off the excess.

Below you see the ratio of 15x21 to A4.

The 20x30 format is almost A4, but the photo is 6 mm smaller on one side and 9 mm larger on the other than A4. 20x30 and A4 are disproportionate.

Below is the ratio of a 20x30 photo to A4.

If you need A3, then choose a 30x40 photo. 30x40 is 9 mm on one side and 1 mm on the other more than A3. Feel free to order and cut it yourself =).

Below you see the ratio of 30x40 and A3.

Photo 30x45 is larger than A3. This can be seen in the picture below.

A 30x60 photo is difficult to compare with regular paper. 30x60 is significantly smaller than A2 (whatman paper) and significantly larger than A3. But this does not prevent 30x60 images from being popular among photographers.

Below you see the ratio of a 30x60 photo to A3.

Below is the relationship between photo formats.

Photography is one moment of life that remains in memory for many years. Whatever happens, when you take a photograph in your hand, time seems to go back. Yes, you can’t return the past, but no one forbids you to remember!

Not a single person can imagine his life without photographs. Every important event should be captured on photographic paper. Even those who don't like taking photos for their own use can't refuse to have them on their documents. Sooner or later, everyone goes to a photo salon to take a passport photo or make a portfolio.

What are the sizes of photographs for printing?

Due to different purposes, there are several sizes of images, each of which performs a separate function. What are the sizes of photographs for printing? Since the popularity of this procedure is growing, there are, accordingly, quite a lot of formats. We are talking about small sizes - this is a passport photo in 3 by 4 format or a regular photo for a photo album 10 by 15 or 13 by 18.

Photography is not a vital thing. You can live without pictures, because all memories are stored in memory. But, thanks to advanced technology, we still have the opportunity to look at captured moments and remember the moments. It's amazing that such ideas appear in our heads.

To prolong a happy moment, they take a snapshot, be it a wedding or the birth of a child - everything is captured. Afterwards, you just need to print out the received photos and put them in your album. More recently, people used film, but now digital technologies have pushed it out of the sales market. The big advantage of progress is that the resulting image is visible immediately, that is, there is no need to wait and think about how the photo turned out.

Photos for documents

The most common type of photo is a passport photo, which has several requirements that must be met. One of the main ones is a 3 by 4 photograph. The size must comply with the standards, otherwise the documents will not be accepted for consideration.

When submitting a package of documents, government agencies require two photographs. This photo is taken within a few minutes and is completely ready for further use. In addition to the passport, photographs are often taken with student documents or a driver's license. A 3 by 4 photograph is printed, the size of which is identical to the passport version. Although it is worth considering that sometimes a 3.5 by 4.5 photo is accepted for a passport.

The photo salon knows all the regulations, so no need to worry. You just need to tell us which document you need to take a photo on. After all, photographers know what sizes photographs are available for printing. Professionals in their field have a full hand, dozens of people pass through them every day.

Amateur photos

Among the common types, amateur photography is also distinguished. These are simple photographs that depict both people and nature. The most popular format is a 10 by 15 photograph. A standard size in which the outline of a person or object is clearly visible. Ideal for decorating a photo album.

These are not all formats. But the question arises, what are the sizes of photographs for printing. There are quite a lot of them, for example, you can select an A4 landscape photograph, or, speaking in the language of a photographer, 21 by 30 centimeters. This size is used for large photographs, usually with the aim of creating a portfolio, since all the features of a person are clearly visible on it. Photography 13 by 18 is also in demand - this is a slightly smaller format. Typically used to frame a portrait.

How do pixels affect the quality of a photograph?

Pixels are the smallest unit of size, in other words, the number of dots in an image. When there are few such points, the picture turns out blurry, with unclear contours. A large number of pixels makes the photo bright and clear; it can be enlarged to almost any size, for example, in 21 by 30 format.

The quality of the photograph and its size depend on the maximum resolution. Today there are almost no devices left that take low-quality pictures. Since even the most ordinary phones have a camera with two pixels in their arsenal.

This indicator determines in what format the photo can be printed in the future. Although such a standard size as 10 by 15 works anyway. The fewer pixels, the worse the quality of the photo. If the most ordinary photograph can be easily framed in size 10 by 15, then, for example, it will not be possible to enlarge it, since the picture will not be clear.

If you want to take high-quality professional photography, you need to contact a photo salon. A photographer, like no one else, knows how to direct the light correctly and will help you choose a beautiful pose. A professional will adjust the photo to the required format and print it on photo paper.

How to print a photo of the required size?

There are also two options for printing a photo. Although now such a service is in less demand, since many people are just on the computer. But, you can see that these are completely different feelings. After all, when you hold a photograph in your hand, it’s as if you are getting closer to the depicted moment.

In order to hold a photo in your hand, you need to print it, and this can be done in two ways: at home or in a salon. At home, photos are most often printed in a standard size of 10 by 15. But photos of a larger format cannot always be made of high quality, because this depends on the size of the photo paper and the capabilities of the printer.

Why are there so many photo sizes?

The fact is that various events happen in life that you would like to remember for a long time. The most ordinary photo format cannot convey the entire atmosphere. When you take a larger photo, for example in a 21 by 30 format, you immediately become a participant in those happy moments.

Time tirelessly runs forward, but thanks to the photo, a person remains unchanged. So you can experiment and frame the photo in different formats, then see which photo will fit most harmoniously into an album or apartment interior.

Standard Paper Sizes

(GOST 5773-76)

North American standard

Serie A

The largest standard size, A0, has an area of ​​one square meter and an aspect ratio of 1:√2. The long side of the sheet has a length of approximately 1.189 m, the length of the short side is the inverse of this value, approximately 0.841 m, the product of these two lengths gives an area of ​​1 m².

Size A1 is obtained by cutting sheet A0 along the short side into two equal parts, resulting in the same aspect ratio. This allows one standard paper size to be produced from another, which was not possible with traditional sizes. Preserving the aspect ratio also means that when scaling an image from one format to another, the proportions of the image are preserved.

Serie B

In addition to the A series of formats, there are also less common B series formats. B series sheets have the same aspect ratio as A series. Only B0 has a width of 1 m. The area of ​​B series sheets is the geometric average of the two subsequent A series sheets. For example, B1 The size is between A0 and A1, with an area of ​​0.71 m². As a result, B0 has dimensions of 1000 × 1414 mm. Series B is almost never used in the office, it has a number of special applications, for example, many posters are published in these formats, B5 is often used for books, and these formats are also used for envelopes and passports.

Series C

Series C is used for envelopes only and is defined in ISO 269. The area of ​​series C sheets is equal to the geometric average of series A and B sheets of the same number. For example, the area of ​​C4 is the geometric average of the area of ​​sheets A4 and B, with C4 slightly larger than A4, and B4 slightly larger than C4. The practical meaning of this is that an A4 sheet can be placed in a C4 envelope, and a C4 envelope can be placed in a thick B4 envelope.
C6 162 x 114 mm - the main postal envelope format of the Soviet period.

North American standard

Currently used American sizes are based on traditionally used sizes, and are defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The most commonly used formats in daily activities are “Letter”, “Legal” and “Ledger” / “Tabloid”. The source of the "Letter" format (8.5 × 11 inches or 216 × 279 mm) goes back to tradition and is not exactly known.
North American paper sizes are government standards in the United States and the Philippines (however, Philippine "legal" is 8.5 x 13 inches, which is different from American "legal"), and are also widely used in Canada, Mexico and some South American countries.
Unlike standard A4 paper, which is a geometric subset of the range of paper sizes based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard, the origins of "Letter" paper sizes are lost in tradition and are not clearly documented. The American Forest and Paper Association states that the dimensions originate from the days of hand-made paper, and that the 11-inch page length is a quarter of the "average maximum arm length of a skilled worker." However, this does not explain the width or aspect ratio.

Publication formats

GOST (5773-76)

To determine the format of a book block, it is necessary to decompose the value of the sheet fraction (/16, /32, etc.) into two largest factors (16 = 4x4, 32 = 4x8), then divide the larger side of the sheet by a larger factor, the smaller side by a smaller factor .
For example: 84x108/32 => 32=4x8 => x => 21x13.5
If we now subtract 1 cm from the larger value, and 0.5 cm from the smaller one, we get the block format after trimming (for publications with landscape imposition, subtract 1 cm from the smaller value, and 0.5 from the larger one).

Vintage book and writing paper formats

The publication format is the size of the book block (in length and width) after three-sided trimming.
The format is determined by the type and type of publication, its volume, circulation, the nature of the illustrative material contained in it, the reader's purpose, terms of use, etc.
The term “book format” apparently arose in the era of machine production, when there was a need to unify book sizes for its mass production and commodity exchange.
The results of measurements of dozens of Russian books of the 11th-13th centuries showed that they did not have stable sizes. The format of the future book was chosen by the scribe based on its purpose, as well as in accordance with the tastes of the customer and his own desires. Altar gospels, richly illustrated and large books (prologues, collections, etc.) were made, as a rule, of large size (the height of the book block is more than 30 cm). These are, for example, the oldest handwritten books: the Ostromir Gospel (1056-1057), Izbornik Svyatoslav (1073), twelve volumes of the “Great Menaion of the Readings” (1547-1563), written on the initiative of Metropolitan Macarius, and others. Books intended for everyday use , had relatively small formats, and were distinguished by their simplicity of external and internal appearance. An example of this kind of book is the Archangel Gospel (1092) - a cheap book, apparently rewritten by order of the parish church of a peasant churchyard (small four format).
With the beginning of the use of paper for making books, their formats were based on the size (share) of a paper sheet. However, there were still no firmly established paper sizes, since they depended on the mesh dimensions of the paper sheet, which were set arbitrarily by the paper manufacturer. Over time, papermakers settled on two main sizes: the smaller one - 30x50 cm; the larger one is 50x70, which, however, was not strictly observed.
To indicate the format of Russian handwritten books, a conventional unit of measurement was used - dest (Persian dest - right hand).

DIN formats (metric)

Notes:

1. The area of ​​A0 format is 1 sq.m.

2. The “+” sign in the format designation indicates the presence of an allowance compared to standard sizes. The amount of allowance may vary.

3. For roll paper, the width corresponds to the narrow edge of the format, i.e. A1 means 594mm wide roll. The length of a standard roll for copying machines is 175 meters.

Anglo-American standards formats

Formats of other international standards.

The calculators in this article are devoted to the topic of printing digital photographs.

The first calculator helps you select a photo format for printing an image of known dimensions. Let's formulate the problem.

Given: We have a digital image of sizes known to us, for example, 3264 by 2448 pixels, and a set of standard formats offered by photo printing services. The format determines the linear dimensions of the photograph, for example, a 10x15 photograph has dimensions of 102 by 152 millimeters.

Required: Select from a set of formats the largest possible on which you can still print the image without losing quality.

To set photo formats, I created a separate reference book Photo formats, which can be expanded if necessary.

The only special knowledge that you need to have to find the answer is the knowledge that high-quality printing of a digital image requires a resolution of at least 300 dots (pixels) per inch (300 dpi), and more or less acceptable printing is possible with a resolution of at least 150 dots per inch. inch (150 dpi). Everything else is simple mathematical operations.

Graphically, the task is shown in the figure below.

The logic of finding the answer is simple - the linear dimensions of each format are converted into inches and then into pixels, based on the fact that there are 300 (150) pixels in one inch. Next, the resulting number is compared with the size of the image (there are certain nuances related to the ratio of height and width, but more on that in the second part). If the format size in pixels is larger than the size of our image (in the picture - the format to the right of the photo), then it will no longer work, because the photo will have to be stretched, and we will get a resolution worse than 300 (150) dpi. If the format size is smaller than the size of our image (in the picture - the format to the right of the photo), then it will fit - the photo will have to be compressed, and we will get a resolution better than 300 (150) dpi.

Of all the suitable formats, the calculator selects the maximum size format (there are no problems with printing smaller images - as far as I understand, you can print with a resolution of 1200 dpi).

Format size in pixels for 300 dpi resolution

Format size in pixels for 150 dpi resolution

The second calculator uses the dimensions of the already printed photograph and the dimensions of the original image to help determine the resulting resolution of the photograph and the part cropped out when scaling. Let's formulate the problem.

Given: An image of known dimensions is printed on a photograph of known dimensions. Since the value of the ratio of the height and width of the image and the value of the ratio of the height and width of the digital image, as a rule, do not coincide, when printing the image is scaled, obviously while maintaining the proportions. This is shown graphically in the figure below.

When scaling, as you can see, two options are possible:
the first is scaling with loss of part of the image,
the second is scaling, preserving the entire image, but leaving empty space in the image.
As an esthete, I chose the first option for calculations.

Thus, the first thing is required: to find the resulting resolution of the image and the part of the image that was not included in the image. Second, accordingly, this will be the difference between the used width (height) and the original width (height) of the image.

Width of the printed image, cm

Height of the printed image, cm

Let's get acquainted with some terms that are used in the world of digital photography.

Linear photo size is the width and height of the printed photograph in millimeters. The linear size of a photograph can be obtained by measuring it with a regular ruler. For example, the linear size of a 9x13 photograph is 89x127 mm.

Pixels- these are the points that make up the image. Just as a mosaic is made up of pieces, a digital photograph is made up of pixels. The more pixels, the finer details can be seen in the image.

Size in pixels is the width and height in pixels of a digital image. For example, digital cameras take pictures of standard sizes 640x480, 1600x1200, etc., and the number of pixels displayed on a computer monitor is 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024.

Permission is a number that relates the size of the image in pixels and the linear dimensions of the print. It is measured in the number of pixels (dots) per inch (1 inch = 25.4 mm) - dpi (dots per inch). The recommended resolution for printing high-quality photographs is 300 dpi. Practice shows that the minimum acceptable resolution for printing photographs is 150 dpi.

In most cases, you print photos of standard format 9x13, 10x15, 13x18, 15x20, etc. Each format corresponds to strictly defined linear dimensions. For each format, you can calculate the recommended dimensions of the source image in pixels so that the resulting print has a resolution of 300 dpi or more.

For example, the linear dimensions of the 9x13 format are 89x127 mm. Multiply the height of the photo (87 mm) by the resolution (300 dpi) and divide by the number of millimeters in one inch (25.4 mm), the result will be the number of pixels of the original image in height

89*300/25.4=1027 pixels.

Same for width

127*300/25.4=1500 pixels.

Thus, for any image whose size is larger than 1027x1500 pixels, when printed on a 9x13 format, the resolution will be greater than 300 dpi. In practice, it often happens that a photograph with a resolution of 150 dpi looks no worse than the exact same one, but with a resolution of 300 dpi, it depends on what is shown in the photograph and from what distance it will be viewed.

When placing an order online, the system automatically determines which formats are recommended for printing the uploaded photo. If you have chosen a format other than the recommended one, then a corresponding message is issued, and The administration is not responsible for the low quality of the printed photograph.

Table of standard formats and corresponding linear dimensions.