When printing a photograph, one of the first questions that pop into your head is what size should your print be? Numerous factors determine the size of the canvas you order:

•         The area that you are planning to display the canvas
•         The aspect ratio of the original photograph that you are getting printed on the canvas
•         The resolution of the photograph

You also have to be careful when choosing the frame that will hold your picture. Most photographers that offer printing services also have a collection of frames  in various sizes, types, and materials.

Where Are You Going to Display the Canvas?

You can place or hang your canvas in numerous places around your home or office. It can go over your couch in the living room, on a wall in your bedroom, in the hallway as the center piece, framed and placed on your desk, and so forth. If it is above a couch, you want your canvas to be more or less half the size of the total length of the couch. If you are going to hang the canvas on an empty wall, it should not be too large to dominate the wall and the room. Make sure you leave some negative space around the canvas, but not too much.

For the desk, you need smaller canvases to display your pictures. Canvases sized 6x9 or 4x6 are great for desks. However, if you are hanging the canvas above your desk, you need a slim frame less than half the width of your desk, console, or dresser etc.

The Aspect Ratio of Your Image

The aspect ratio of your picture should remain the same when it is being printed. If you diverge too much from the original aspect ratio, your image will get cropped and look unprofessional. For instance, if the original picture has an aspect ratio of 2x3, you want to stick to multiples of this ratio and go for a 4x6 or 8x12 print size.

You can also ask your photographer what aspect ratio your pictures are. This will make it easier for you to choose the size of the prints and the frame that you want to use.

The Resolution of Your Image

You must have read the PPI unit used with photographs. PPI stands for Pixels Per Inch, referring to the resolution of the image. You can usually find it in the image’s properties or descriptions. A good, high-quality image is 300 PPI or more. Less than this isn’t considered as high-resolution. When choosing bigger sizes of canvases, these can be challenging to reproduce in good quality and without any blurring or pixelating.

There are numerous editing software programs that offer AI reproduced images, which restore your image to high-quality for good printing results. Although it’s more difficult to reproduce group photographs, AIs can still improve the quality and resolution of the image immensely.