Methods & worked examples

Photo Print Crop & Border Calculator — Methods & worked examples

How it works

Compare the image and paper aspect ratios. Filling the paper may crop the image; fitting the whole image may leave borders. PPI = pixels along a printed dimension ÷ that dimension in inches. Changing a PPI metadata tag alone does not add image detail.

Worked examples

A 6,000 × 4,000 px image has a 3:2 ratio. A 10 × 8 inch print is 5:4. Filling it retains 5,000 × 4,000 px, crops 500 px from each side and keeps about 83.333% of the area, at 500 PPI. Fitting the whole photo produces 254 × approximately 169.333 mm, leaving about 16.933 mm above and below on 254 × 203.2 mm paper, at 600 PPI.

Scope & limitations

The centered continuous geometry can produce fractional pixels; an image editor may require whole pixels. The site never reads or crops your file and cannot locate people or important subjects. Borderless printer enlargement, cutting tolerances, sharpness and viewing distance affect the final print. PPI is not a quality guarantee; check the print supplier’s preview.

Method sources

Our original explanations and calculators use the methods above. This site is not affiliated with the cited brands or organizations.

Return to the calculator and enter your values →

Analytics choices

Analytics is off. All calculator features are available.

Only page views and successful actions are recorded, never calculator values.How data is handled