I wanted to write this post for two reasons. One is for the informational purposes of my own clients and potential print buyers, as well as anyone who stumbles across it and finds it helpful. The second is to vent a little frustration to the internet ether.
Print sizes have driven me nuts for a long time. You’re of course used to the standards: 3.5×5, 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 and 11×14 among others. And therein lies the problem. These sizes have become the “standards” that everyone knows and in which mattes and frames are most readily available for purchase. You probably also think of these sizes as a logical progression of smaller to larger, depending on the size of the print you want.
What you may not know is that this isn’t exactly the case. See, print sizes are about ratios, and the ratios of these different standard sizes vary greatly from each other.