Senior Picture questions. . .

Sheree · Jan 17, 2005

My niece, a senior in high school, is patiently waiting for my Christmas gift: wallet size pix taken of her at Myrtle Beach.

I've chosen four of the eighty-some shots...unfortunately I'm a perfectionist and won't sign-off on a project unless I've done the best I can do. I need your guidance.

MY DILEMNA:
* What's the precise dimension of a High School Senior's wallet-size?
* What type of photo paper do professionals use? (Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin; 9, 10, 22 or 64 ml?)
* How many pixels?
* Corners: pointed, rounded, clipped?

I use a Kodak DX6490-4 MP, uploaded into iPhoto on a PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.3.3) and I print on an Epson Photo Stylus R800.

Any suggestions?

Sheree

Digital Matt · Jan 17, 2005

You're in luck! I work for a school photography company

The standard wallet size is 2.5" x 3.5".

Make sure your image is 750 x 1050 @ 300 PPI. We use high quality matte finish paper, with pointed corners. The lab we use for Senior portraits does die cutting, so the print is perforated and pops out, no need to cut. That's not imporant for you though. Does your printer use 8.5" x 11" paper? Do you have photoshop? If so, resize your photos as I stated, and keep them open, then open a new 8.5x11 300 ppi document. Paste your shots into this document and arrange them so they fit. You can squeeze 8 wallets to a page. Each one will be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise, and you will have 4 rows, 2 columns. Align them to your left margin. This will be 7" x 10" of the page. That leaves you with only 1.5" x 1" to cut off of two sides. If you have a cutter, that's two quick cuts, and you can give the sheet to her, and let her cut them out individually. That's how we do it.

Make sense?

Alison · Jan 17, 2005

I do pretty much the same as Digital Matt.

I do have an edge rounder, you can get one for under $5 if you prefer the rounded edges. I use Epson luster paper (in between glossy and matte) and print 2.5 X 3.5 @ 300 dpi.

I'm sure she'll love them!

Sheree · Feb 2, 2005

Matt,

I'm such an idiot for not checking for any responses to my post about the "official" size of a school wallet-size photo. I just read your reply NOW....sorry.

Actually I haven't even read it, but wanted to say thanks. If I have any questions I'll write.

I appreciated your time,
Sheree

Soraiden · Jan 1, 2006

Just wanted to say thanks everyone! I just used this thread as a reference as well.

Digital Matt · Jan 1, 2006

Btw, we also offer half wallets, called "exchanges", which are 1.25x1.75, so you can fit 16 to an 8x10 page, if you are interested.

Soraiden · Jan 1, 2006

Digital Matt said:
Btw, we also offer half wallets, called "exchanges", which are 1.25x1.75, so you can fit 16 to an 8x10 page, if you are interested.

Wow...those are itty bitty.

I got a photo printer for Christmas.. I am making "Credit Card size" ones on 2.13 x 3.39 Canon paper right now. They are a bit smaller than what you said the standard wallet size, but she doesn't seem to mind & we don't have to cut them out.

Do you know if die cut paper (for wallets) can be purchased by the consumer? I like the rounded corners, but am too lazy to cut them out of 8 1/2 x 11 & then round the edges. The Canon paper I have now is already cut out into the 2.13 x 3.39, but it's not rounded. I'm just being anal I suppose