What is 4XD? or Understanding Photo Printing Paper Sizes?

What does aspect ratio mean?

 

Every image or motion picture has a characteristic known as an aspect ratio. The relationship between the photo’s horizontal and vertical sizes is known as the aspect ratio. Simply divide a photo’s width by its height to determine the aspect ratio. For instance, a TV in standard mode has a screen aspect ratio of 4:3, or in other words, if we divided the screen’s width by its height, the answer would be 4/3. On the other side, widescreen television has a 16:9 aspect ratio. An 2R Size paper fromat has an aspect ratio of 1:1.39.

 

When we use a camera to take a picture, light that passes through the lenses reaches a sensor (a film in traditional cameras or a CCD in digital ones). In turn, the sensor converts the light into a two-dimensional image. Physical characteristics of the sensor include its height, breadth, granularity (in films), and number of pixels (in digital CCD sensors).

 

Aspect ratio and printing of photos: A Connection

 

When images are printed on paper, the paper’s aspect ratio must match the aspect ratio of the sensor that took the original image. A stretched photo that fits the paper but distorts the things in it will come from varied aspect ratios, leaving a blank space on the page.

 

Why does this occur? The solution is rather straightforward. Let’s say for the purposes of discussion that the picture sensor is 6 inches broad and 4 inches height (real sensors are much smaller). Assume for the moment that we are attempting to print a photo captured with that sensor on a sheet of paper that is 4 inches tall. We will need to crop a portion of the image if the paper width is less than 6 inches since there won’t be enough room for it on the page. Since we don’t have “enough picture” to print on more than 6 inches of paper, if the paper width is greater than that, we will need to leave a blank region on the paper. The items in the print will be warped and appear more fat or skinny than they did in real life. If we want our photo to perfectly fit the page, we may stretch or compress it horizontally to whatever the paper size is.

 

using 4×6 paper for printing

 

4X6 is one of the most used paper sizes. For a long time, images made with vintage film cameras were printed in this size. The images shot with a conventional film camera would fit nicely on a 4X6 paper since the traditional film had a 3:2 aspect ratio. An 2R Size paper fromat has an aspect ratio of 1:1.39.

 

Many printing services allow the customer to crop a portion of the image in order to circumvent this issue and utilise the entire paper size. It is assumed that the user would want to cut off a portion of the image that is unimportant and utilise the entire sheet of paper for the remaining portion of the print rather than leave a blank space on the print. Some services enable customers to select a choice, which is then automatically applied to all of his prints, for either cropping the image or leaving a blank area on the print.

 

A 4XD paper is what?

 

Numerous printing providers are producing paper sizes specifically made for digital prints in response to the growing popularity of digital cameras and printouts. This indicates that the paper they provide has a 4:3 aspect ratio, making digital camera photographs exactly suit the paper.

 

The new digital compatible paper sizes are as similar as feasible to their conventional film paper sizes and have an aspect ratio of 4:3 (the digital sensor aspect ratio). Therefore, a 4X6 paper size will really become a 4X5 1/3 in the digital realm (a 4:3 aspect ratio paper size that is as close as possible to a 4X6 size).