Exact size for an A4 print please-3rd attempt (1 Viewer)

christineredgate · Dec 9, 2009

Please can anyone advise on an exact size for printing an A4 photo(landscape).I have struggled with this so many times.All of the image does not appear in the print out.I use Windows picture and fax viewer for the printing,re the HP printer(easier than Elements),but I do the re-sizing in Elements 4.I have had this prob so many times,esp in landscape.This is a copy of a shot,I am trying to print on an A4 sheet,borderless,and I really would like to fit the entire shot onto the paper.
thankyou.
Christine.
this is a smaller size,not the original,so that it meets with BF's specifications

dbradnum · Dec 9, 2009

A4 paper is 210 x 294 mm... but I'm not sure if that's what you're asking?

John Fleet · Dec 9, 2009

dbradnum said:
A4 paper is 210 x 294 mm... but I'm not sure if that's what you're asking?

No, it's not. A4 is 210 mm x 297 mm.....

PWG · Dec 9, 2009

christineredgate said:
This is my 3rd attempt to add this post.please can someone tell me if there are exact sizes for the printing of A4 landscape shots.I have struggled with this prob ,many times.All of the image does nor fit onto the paper.I use Windows picture and fax viewer,via the printer for printing,but re size in Elements 4.0.
Will have another try at downloading a copy of the image.

The simple answer is no..

Each printer has a print area, the area of the paper it can actualy print on. A lot now have a borderless setting. The book or disk should include the size it will cover. When you know the area for your printer you can chose how high a quality you want (more dots per inch the higher the quality setting) then multiply the print area by the dots. So 300Dots x 10inches = 3000.

MalR · Dec 9, 2009

christineredgate said:
This is my 3rd attempt to add this post.please can someone tell me if there are exact sizes for the printing of A4 landscape shots.I have struggled with this prob ,many times.All of the image does nor fit onto the paper.I use Windows picture and fax viewer,via the printer for printing,but re size in Elements 4.0.
Will have another try at downloading a copy of the image.

Hi, Christine. I'm no expert at this, but I'll offer some suggestions. If I click on the A4 borderless option in Page setup in Photoshop Elements it gives the dimensions as 29.7cm x 21cm. The image you have posted is 29.7cm x 15.58cm. Clearly, you will not get all of this image on to an A4 print without distorting its proportions.

In Elements 4, if you open an image then select the crop tool then choose "custom" under the aspect ratio option, you can type in the above dimensions, which will then allow you to crop an image to A4. It will then fit the paper perfectly. Just as an example, I did that with the image you posted. You can see the result in the attached pic. Obviously, you could have chosen a different section of the image to crop to A4, but the proportions would have to remain the same.

Hope that makes sense.

Malcolm

MSA · Dec 9, 2009

Basic question, but are the proportions of the landscape picture 210x297? Most pics are proportioned 6x4 or 7x5, maybe that's the problem?

christineredgate · Dec 9, 2009

MSA,yes,perhaps this is the problem.I have a digi photo frame,and cannot fill the frame,even with a shot straight from the camera.But,I do not understand these ratios,etc,is there not just a size in measurements,that one can type into the resize box,so that the image will fit exactly onto the A4 sheet?.I did have a photo here,it has vanished,will find it.I have resized this shot,so it meets the specifications for BF.a friend wanted this image as a present,but would like to include the whole shot in the frame,but part of the sides do not fit in,this happens with most landscape shots I try to print.

mike nesbitt · Dec 9, 2009

Hi,
As far as I'm aware in Elements, If you select the crop tool you will get the option in the tool bar to resize to 12 x 8 (inches) also select 300dots per inch resolution. It works for me anyway.
ATB Mike.

christineredgate · Dec 9, 2009

Thanks,Mike,I'll try that.What does,6x4 and 7x5 mean?.This was mentioned when I was asking re- sizing for the photo frame,but never managed to sort out the sizing.

mike nesbitt · Dec 9, 2009

Hi Christine.
I'm no expert but AFAIK, A4 is an office size and not a photographic one (the equivalent is 12 x 8 inches) 6 x 4 and 7 x 5 are roughly postcard size prints (again sized in inches)
Once you have resized in Elements, it gives you the option to view the print size.
Good luck. Mike.

christineredgate · Dec 9, 2009

Sorry,everyone,there seem to be 2 threads running re this!!!Malr,thanks,but,I do not wish to crop any of the image,I want to include all of it.
PWG,thankyou,the printer I have is excellent,but was phased out after 1 mth of production in fav of an A3,so how do I find out its area coverage?.I will go and look in the system.Interesting.

666taz · Dec 9, 2009

Christine your camera has a aspect ratio of 3x2 ,your sensor size is 22.2mm x 14.8mm meaning any multiples of 3x2 eg 6x4 inch ,9x6 inch ,12x9 inch will fit perfect but say a 10x8 inch wont as the ratios are wrong and the image would have to be cropped or have a border.So you will have to use a paper size that matches your ratio to get a full fit.Hope this helps Phill.

666taz · Dec 9, 2009

Just checked and A4 is 11.7x8.3 inch so is the wrong ratio to get and exact fit you would have to print with a border then guillotine the border off and frame accordingly.

MalR · Dec 9, 2009

Malr,thanks,but,I do not wish to crop any of the image,I want to include all of it.

You won't be able to do that. For an image to perfectly fill an A4 sheet of paper, it must either be A4 size or have the same ratio/proportions, allowing it to be scaled up or down.

If it doesn't have those proportions (as in the case of your image) the only options are to crop the image and discard some part of it or distort the image to make it fit the print size you want. The latter isn't really an option unless you are deliberately aiming for some kind of arty, bizarre perspective effect.

Malcolm

Neilj · Dec 9, 2009

If your printer can print borderless you will have to select that in printing preferences. You will get the option to enter printing preferences in the photo printing wizard on the next page after you select the image. Check the options on each of the tabs and select borderless if it is there. If the image still does not fit because of it's proportions then you will have to cut off the border or crop it.

Neil

Neilj · Dec 9, 2009

Oh and by the way - you never did finish off that thread about your photo frame.

Neil

bartolli · Dec 10, 2009

You dont necessarily have to crop and therefore lose any of the image.

Why not just resize it, in proportion to an A4 sheet, so that the larger side is the same as the larger A4 side , ie 297mm?

So a 6x4 image needs to be resized to 7.79x11.69 (or 198x297mm). This doesnt allow for the actual printable area of your printer.

Alternatively, if you are just trying to print the image, by far the easiest thing to do is to use the "print to fit available area" option in your printer setup after selecting A4 paper.

hollis_f · Dec 10, 2009

Christine,

All these numbers flying around are aspect ratios - a measurement of how wide an image is compared to how long it is. Most people are familiar with aspect ratios on their TV screens. If you get a widescreen movie and you haven't got a widescreen TV then you can't display the whole of the movie over the whole of the screen correctly - you have a few options though. The same applies to printing your images.

You can display the movie covering the whole of the screen - but that means compressing the width (or distorting the aspect ratio). This tends to be difficult to watch as all the people are stretched to look like stick insects. If you do this to a photo it will look as if it was taken in a hall of mirrors at the funfair.

Another option is to show the movie in 'letterbox' mode. That gives you blank areas at the top and bottom of your screen and makes everything look smaller. This is an option with your A4 print - you can always cut off the blank bits.

The final option for the film is to cut off the end bits and show it at its full height. But those cut-off bits at the sides might contain something important. This method is a real pain if there are subtitles. This is the same as cropping your image to fit the paper and is most people's preffered method.

Mono · Dec 10, 2009

As folk have said the problem is Aspect Ratios, the proportions of the image don't match the proportions the page of or of the display screen. Scaling the image won't work, you need to crop the image or cut the paper or put up with black borders.

See attached pdf for some aspect ratios of common devices. But that isn't exhaustive, a lot of digital photo frames seem to have odd proportions.

Most digital cameras stick to the old 35mm proportions but some will let you take 4:3 or 16:9 images.

Exact size for an A4 print please-3rd attempt (1 Viewer)

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