In a perfect world, our cameras and now cameras in phone would be Square. But that’s not how cameras or phones were designed.

I’m sharing this cos it’s useful to understand WTF is going on when our images don’t fill the screen or the paper.

The following is a bit detailed and yes, techie. Cos ever since man and womankind invented tools, we’ve been involved with technical issues.

Photo Print Specs:

It’s vital to leave at least half-inch on top and bottom to handle the paper. Pro framers always tell us that, if they know their stuff.

We don’t want fingertips on the prints. We need a good grasp when handling prints. Even wearing clean cotton photo gloves, we can still dent an image if held improperly.

And some people use frames that cut into the image as well. Using a mat to protect the photo from the glass is best, but that often means a pro framer or cutting mats. Urgh, time and money.

People often spend more on framing than my prints. Which kills me, cos it sure costs the printer less than all I’ve put into my prints, sites, marketing, all that stuff.

But when taking a photo vertically, there’s less on the sides. So let’s detail all this:

I worked with Jack Duganne, who coined the term “Giclee.” He coined the term, Giclee, for  musician Graham Nash’s $100K Scitex Iris printer for photos at his Nash Editions.

Jack Duganne was THE master printer. He set this all in motion in early 1990s. Then he opened his own studio. In the Fall of 1997, I printed so many fine art prints for world class artists in his Santa Monica print studio. We sadly lost him due to Covid.

(He was quite a character! Brilliant, technical genius when it came to printing colors with that high end machine.)

Often now giclee means printing on archival watercolor paper, but any paper or any flexible media that can go on printer rollers and accept the printer’s ink can be used.

We always provided blank spaces or margin on sides of whatever media so prints could be handled.

Even when we cut or tore (to give a deckled edge to watercolor paper), we were generous with the margins. More so than I. But we also printed far larger images, like 2 x 3 feet at least.

NOW envision a Portrait that’s 8 x 10 inches.

Half-inch margin on top and half-inch margin on bottom is one inch.

Ten inches minus one inch is Nine inches.

I usually don’t crop anything from the sides of any image IF the whole can fit. In most Portraits, nothing was cut or cropped from the sides.

So in graphic arts and photography, when you fit an image in EITHER horizontal OR vertical orientation, the other side falls where it falls.

It’s called “letting it fall” or simply, “let fall.”

Impossible to fill the right and left sides due to most vertical images when shot vertically. I always loved cropping in the camera or shooting as close as possible, when possible.

I like upclose details.

AND often, there were people hanging about or the person(s) I shot were moving about. So I took a quick shot cos that’s all I could shoot.

Things happened so quickly! Trying to get another or different shot often meant no shot.

AND IF I moved back further, the image would be smaller to fit more in the height. People got impatient when it took too long to take the perfect photo.

AND it was SO hard to focus. We had to look thru a tiny little circle in the center of the lens. We had to line the top and bottom of the circle, which was so hard for me. All my photos are centered a certain way, merely due to focusing issue and not doing sessions, but shooting on the run.

I found out, decades later, I have astigmatism! No wonder it took a while to focus!

I was such a nervous photographer, always so worried things would mess up, cos they did, so I just took my shot. I oten thanked whom I shot. More often just was so nervous and excited I just moved on.

Years ago, a man wrote me because he was upset. He paid for an image and wanted it to fill the whole frame!

I remember it was a shot of Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, at the Devo party that Slash magazine threw for them at Steve Samioff’s home/studio. Mark was dressed as Booji Boy.

Then my customer wrote back cos his wife is a picture framer. She explained the same info as I’m sharing here.

He apologized. I was just glad he could now enjoy that FAB photo.

Easy to understand the confusion cos it’s news to most.

I live and breathe this stuff. I learned through experience. That’s why I’m sharing.

This isn’t like what I’ve seen at top photo galleries. Take an 11 x 14 and stick an 8 x 10 in it.

No, Vertical or Portrait orientation of MY photos  would be .75 inches for EACH margin,  doubled for top and bottom, only 1.5 inches, or only 12.5, not 10 tall!

(.75 + .75 = 1.5 subtracted from 14 = 12.5, NOT 10!).

I work hard to provide the minimum for framing and handling, or .5 inch margins at minimum for 8×10, .75 for 11×14, or 1 inch margins for 16×20.

But the side “that falls” often is less due to the image itself.

I could make only .25 margins each for 8×10, but that only gains one half inch.

Plus .25 inch margin is REALLY cutting it close. We don’t want our fingers touching the print.

Equally important, paper is somewhat fragile. It’s too easy to dent or bend a print when we don’t have a good grasp because of narrow margins.

AND sometimes frames (out of the box, not custom frames) will hide part of the image too!

So I create the smallest margins possible to mitigate or reduce the possibilities of damage while handling the photo print and compensate for frames as well.

Proportionally, 8×10, 11×14 and 16×20 aren’t even the same proportions!!

Whomever decided on film formats, printing and framing should be shot!

Maybe that’s why they have bigger framed cameras, like 2 x 2 I think they are, which are usually ONLY used in studios.

Cameras with larger negatives create better images for fashion with high gloss paper and often with details, like with diamond jewelry or closeup eye makeup.

THOSE would be super sharp we could never get with type 35mm cameras we all used when shooting rock shots and similar live activity.

Many use typical 35mm in studios, but not for the super fine details we’d often see in high end commercial and portrait photos.

THEN we would always get evenly shaped photos! But sadly not for on the go photography.

And now phones! If I took photos with a phone, we’d have similar issues!

Believe me, I WOULD love square images with better detail back then or now.

Life sucks at times … if only frames fit to edge of prints and frames fit images as we wish. I

And I do my best for everyone but some things outta my control.

Ok, just one of many tech issues caring, pro photographers deal with  …

Now that you know the MATH behind why I size my photos with certain margins. I always want to show the most vital details larger, when and if possible. And I try to fill the paper, if the image will cooperate.

I always want my customers to be HAPPY with their photo prints from Me!