Aspect Ratio & Resizing Photos

One of the most common questions we get asked is, “can you make this photo another size?” It could be making a 3”x5” into a 5”x7”, or a wallet-sized photo into an 8”x10”. And our answer is always the same: “Of course, if…” The rest of that sentence depends the aspect ratio of the photo.

First a little background. A 4”x6” photo is 4 inches by 6 inches. The smaller number always goes first. Whether that is the height or length of the photo depends on its orientation. That means the ratio of small side to large side, or its aspect ratio, is 2 to 3, or 2:3 . An 8”x10” photo has an aspect ratio of 8:10 or 4:5. The closer the numbers are to each other, the more the photograph will be shaped like a square instead of a rectangle.

What does this mean for resizing photos?

The closer the aspect ratios of your original photo and your desired new size, the easier it is to resize. For example, a 4-by-6-inch photo can be enlarged to 8 by 12 inches without changing its proportions. But an 8-by-10-inch print has a different shape, so some adjustments are needed. If they aren’t the same aspect ratio it means that we can’t just enlarge or shrink the photo without doing some additional work.

That additional work includes either cropping out or adding in information to the photo. For example, if someone wants a 4”x6” group photo converted to an 8”x10”, we might trim the sides of the photo a bit to make it fit the new ratio if possible. To go the other way, from an 8”x10” to a 4”x6”, we have to make it look more like a long rectangle, and that usually involves building out the sides of the photos or adding borders. We could shorten it vertically, but in our experience photographers tend to leave more empty space on the sides than on the top or bottom. Shortening the photo vertically could cut off the top of someone’s head or their legs in the photo, which we want to avoid.

In closing, yes, we can make your photo another size. We do so by reconstructing your original photograph into something that fits the new aspect ratio, while staying as faithful to the original as possible. It’s a bit trickier than just clicking and dragging or cropping a photograph, but it’s a service we do provide.

Pure ImageNation digitizes and restores your memories by hand at our Dracut, MA studio. Local drop-off and pickup are available throughout Greater Boston, Merrimack Valley and southern NH areas. To get started, request a quote.