Print sizing/ Borders?

[B Kennedy]

I'm looking for some advice on print sizes. Is it common to print with a white border around the pictures say 1/4" for ease of client's framing and not having to cut into the picture? I know when I print my landscapes to be framed I make sure that the entire photo is in view (so I print with a border). The only thing that sucks about that though is that then I can't print a 5x7 on a 5x7 paper, which means now im measuring/cutting to get that border. Anyone else deal with this? Thanks

 

[manaheim]

When you frame you should certainly assume you'll lose a bit to the edges. (unless you buy the all glass frames that I like to buy)

That being said, if you have important things that close to the border you may want to be a bit less aggressive on your initial crops ... regardless of frame intention.

 

[B Kennedy]

So then its safe to say that you print to the full picture size with the intention that when they are framed they will lose a bit of the image?

 

[manaheim]

I do, yes, and I am usually not concerned about what I will lose because it tends to be negligable and has no real effect on the image.

 

[Torus34]

'... for ease of client's framing ...'

This seems to be the operative phrase. If the client will be using a commercially-available matte, you have your answer: printed area dim's [l & w] should be about 1/4" larger than the matte opening.

 

[dcclark]

Essentially all mats assume you will cut off about 1/8 inch on each side, so that the visible area is 1/4 inch less in each direction. If your photo has essential details within 1/8 inch of the edge, you may have other issues to deal with. Printing a white border can actually cause trouble, because the border may be visible if you don't position the mat precisely correctly.

 

[B Kennedy]

Great comments, thanks guys. And i think I will just print to the actual size from now on minus the border, except if I'm matting them myself.