New New Print Sizes - are they becoming a standard

[Croasdail]

Hi all. I use Costco to do a lot of my printing for me and I just picked up a new price list from them. Among the standard sizes (4x6, 5x7, 11x4), they are now including 6x9, 8x12, and 12x18. I know I have been asleep at the wheel for a while - but have these new formates become standard for printing now. I guess 8x10 is dead? I like some of new formats because as they match my projection equipment - but is it being supported with new standard frame sizes too? Or am I just clueless and these have been out there for a while and everyone is using them. Help me have a clue.... cheers!

[MTalley]

I've noticed a couple of trends in looking at prints. A couple of places I've visited no longer do 3.5" x 5" prints but, instead, offer 4" x 5" prints. Curious about it, I went to the local home accessories store and perused their selection of smaller frames. Not a single 4" x 5" frame in the lot, but tons of 3.5" x 5" frames. Hmmm.

So this weekend, I decide to get a large print made of a recent photo I took. Since I have a good inkjet at home that will do up to 8" x 10" (8.5" x 11" paper) at the max, I decided I'd like a nice 11 x 14 print made. Their selection jumped from 8" x 10" to 10" x 15", which is what I had made.

They haven't developed it yet (I stopped by the shop today and they were setting the machine up to run large prints), so I decided to stop by the same store again and look at frames. Sure enough, the only selection of frames they have in a similar size are mostly 11" x 14", with a smattering of 10" x 13" frames. I'm thinking of manually cropping the picture to 10" x 13" and mounting it in an 11" x 14" frame, with 1/2" border all around.

[Eric DeCastro]

well I like it because you can print 4x6 for proofs that won't be cropped all jacked up. (like what happend to me two days ago) now I have to re do all of those pictures. (it's ok, practice makes perfect)

[Hellashot]

I haven't come across those sizes at all. And they don't make photo paper in those sizes so I'd so no, they aren't becoming standard sizes.

[CyberPet]

Shouldn't 6 x 9 and 8 x 12 be perfect if you want "all" of your DSLR images since it does 2:3 format?

[slin100]

Shouldn't 6 x 9 and 8 x 12 be perfect if you want "all" of your DSLR images since it does 2:3 format?
Yes.

My local CostCo also offers 8 x 12 and 12 x 18. I haven't checked if they offer 6 x 9. mpix.com also offers these print sizes.

Finding frames for these shouldn't be too hard. An 11x14 frame would be a good choice for a 6 x 9. A 12 x 16 or 16 x 20 would accomodate an 8 x 12. And a 16 x 24 would be a good choice for a 12 x 18.

The challenge is finding matboard with the right size window. You can easily order custom-cut matboards at many online framing stores. If you plan to frame a lot of prints you can also do your own framing.

[Croasdail]

I've gone back and recroped some of my stuff to this size and I like the fullframe'ness (if that isn't a word it should be) of the format. I always hated taking pictures to look good in the view finder only to have to throw 20% of it away in the dark room. But manually cuting matboard.... argh. I am going to try out a couple this week to see how they look.

Now if I could only find an 8 x 12 binder for my portfolio....