More "stuff" about trying to understand what is happening. However, before
reading, check your printer manual to see if it can print borderless. This
will make a difference.
Welcome to the world of digital cameras and the non-compatible world of
digital printers. Although they are supposed to work well together, they
don't and your results are typical and expected.
The reason is that digital cameras produce an image with an aspect ratio of
4 (length) x 3 (width). Divide 4 by 3 and you get 1.33. This is the aspect
ratio. Look at the dimensions of your image in pixels and divide the larger
number by the smaller number and you will get 1.33. Unless you have a Sony
and you shoot with the option 3:2 or you have a Canon Digital Rebel, it
shoots at 3:2. The 3:2 aspect ratio is 1.5
You want your image printed 6 (length) x 4 (width). Divide 6 by 4 and you
get 1.5. Or select any other paper size, 7 x 5, 7/5 = 1.4, or 10 x 8, 10/8
= 1.25
You can't fit 1.33 (you camera file aspect ratio) into 1.5, the 6 x 4 aspect
ratio or any other common printer paper size. Impossible.
So what are the options.
You stretch 1.33 to 1.5. The proportions of the items in the photo are now
out of lines
and you get an ugly picture.
The next option is you let the software print the entire image with no
stretching, but now it will print a smaller and correct image within the
paper size you selected, but to fit it in correctly you will have to accept
white edges around the image. Or, if you print borderless, it prints the
image from borders to borders, but it crops the top and bottom edges in
order to fit the image on the paper size you selected.
There is another option, permitting you to "float the crop". You will still
have to crop but then you can select how much of the bottom or top of the
image you will remove to make it fit your selected size. You need some photo
editing software to do this.
A very good one if you are into printing is Qimage, you can download the
demo here and try it:
http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/
and you can also download the manual and learn how to use it. It is probably
the best software for printing but a little "quirky" to use at first.
The other would be Microsoft Digital Image 9. Lots of fancy printing options
and easier to use than Qimage. You probably can get it for around $60.00
after the usual rebates.
These software applications will provide the option to crop your image to a
specific size,
your specific size being 6 x 4, or anything else. So you will have to
remove a little bit from the top and a little bit from the bottom of your
image and then it will fit
6 x 4 perfectly. Qimage does this automatically and gives you the option of
placing the crop (floating the crop) where you want it, all at the top, all
at the bottom or a little bit of both. Image 9 does the same thing. Then,
the image will fit exactly on the paper size you selected, provided that you
have a printer capable of printing borderless and not all printers can do
this. You print your images directly from these software applications.
Here is another site, explaining why you can't fit your 4:3 images on 6 x 4
paper or any other common size paper. You can also download the free
software from this site to automatically crop your image to fit. You save
the cropped images (they are
in effect automatically saved for you) and you then print them with the XP
Wizard. They will fit perfectly, provided your printer can print borderless.
This free software will also allow you to "float" the crop after
automatically cropping the top and bottom to fit 6 x 4 or any other size. If
you don't like the automatic crop, move the crop up or down to suit your
needs. Very fast and it is free.
http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops/
Since you need to crop a little from the top and bottom of the photo in
order to fit 6 x 4, don't frame your subject too close when you take the
picture with your digital camera and then, probably, the automatic crop of
the XP wizard will be acceptable. It is not an XP problem, simply is due to
the different aspect ratio of digital cameras to common photo paper sizes
aspect ratios.
Novice 1 said:
Hi John
Forgive me, but as I say I am a novice to all this techincal stuff.
When I printed my photos, onto photo paper 7"x5" the photos were to short
on the paper, i.e. each photo that printed had a white edge around it.
