What's the best crop ratio for printing?

[MichaelHenson]

I know there are different scenarios, etc. I'm asking because I just finished a "pro-bono" shoot for a friend and want to provide the crop that is going to give them the most "usable" crop without losing feet, arms, heads, etc.

I'm shooting with the D5200 so I know the crop ratio comes into play with this and have currently cropped everything to the 4x5/8x10 ratio but want to be sure that's the best ratio for wallets, etc.

Photos for critique coming soon! Looking forward to learning from my mistakes!

 

[480sparky]

There is no one,single 'best' crop ratio. Shoot with plenty of room on all four sides so you have a wide latitude to crop according to the output needs.

 

[MichaelHenson]

That's what I did. So I'll crop based on the sizes they'll be printing?

 

[480sparky]

Yep. Whatever aspect ratio the print is, use that same ratio for cropping.

 

[Light Guru]

Yep. Whatever aspect ratio the print is, use that same ratio for cropping.

^^that^^

 

[Alexr25]

The best crop ratio is the one that best suits the image contents. Crop for the best composition rather than letting either the sensor aspect ratio or the paper size dictate your final crop. If the final print doesn't fit the frame, get a bigger frame and mount the photo with a mat around it.

 

[MichaelHenson]

Thanks all! Everyone's responses make sense... So the hard part is getting the "client" to communicate their expectations...

 

[bratkinson]

I'm probably the oddball here, but my main cropping activity during post processing is only for leveling the horizontals and/or verticalling(?) the verticals, with the help of Lightroom correction options as well. I call those my 'finished' shots, as everything from that point on starts with those 'finished' shots.

Depending on what my needs are (I'm strictly amateur), I copy the 'finished' shots into individual folders based on intended printing sizes, as well as for display/presentation sizes. Then I crop each photo in a particular folder to that specific size, without giving anyone a flattop haircut or a leg- or arm-ectomy. As the proportions between print sizes are different, each photo cropped for a particular size reflect what I consider the best 'presentation' for that size.

As the OP may not know what sizes his friend wants, the obvious choice is find out ahead of time what is needed. As I oftentimes give away prints of my work to those in the shots, I decide 'for them' what sizes I'll print, usually 4x6, with one or two 'great' shots as 5x7 in addition to the 4x6s. For super-great shots, I'll make a couple of 8x10s for them as well. I always tell them I can make more any time, just give me a call. I also warn them that the photos have water-soluable ink as I do all my printing on Epson printers.

 

[KmH]

I too crop for content, not any specific aspect ratio.

As mentioned, you can get any crop printed on a larger size of paper.
Then use the extra paper to help mount and frame a print, particularly with a custom cut mat in front of the print to keep it from touching the glazing in the frame.

 

[AlanKlein]

I tend to crop to the viewfinder because I use to shoot film for slide projection and no cropping was done. The shot was the shot. Old habits die hard.

 

[MichaelHenson]

I tend to crop to the viewfinder because I use to shoot film for slide projection and no cropping was done. The shot was the shot. Old habits die hard.

I tend to try to do that too. Not for the same reason, just because it cuts down on editing time. I think I'm just going to let them "upsize" the paper they're printing on and cutting off the extra if they end up insisting on something that just isn't working with the default/straight from the camera crop.

 

[cynicaster]

Maybe 1 in 50 keeper pictures I will leave uncropped, not necessarily because I’m unhappy with how I framed the shot, but because I really don’t like the native aspect ratio of my Camera. Is it 16x9? I’m not even sure what it is.. but it’s too widescreen-ish to my eye, for just about every shot I take, except for maybe the odd shot of a landscape or a larger group of people standing in a row.

I tend to really like 4:5, 2:3, and square. The former 2 are convenient because 8x10 and 4x6 are common print/frame sizes.

 

[snowbear]

I crop with the finished ratio in mind (2:3, 4:5, 1:1) when I think I'm going to print (I only shoot for myself).

. . . verticalling(?) the verticals . . .

Verticals are typically "in plumb" when they are straight.

 

[Bobby Ironsights]

I too crop for content, not any specific aspect ratio.

As mentioned, you can get any crop printed on a larger size of paper.
Then use the extra paper to help mount and frame a print, particularly with a custom cut mat in front of the print to keep it from touching the glazing in the frame.

Yup, said it all.