When you are ready to make reproductions of your artwork, one of the first questions you may ask is…
“What size and resolution should my prints be?”
If you are making your prints to fit in a standard frame with a pre-cut mat, the following is a list of standard U.S. frame sizes ( in inches) and mat openings that you can find at most arts and craft stores.
| Standard Frame Size | Mat Opening | Art Print Size |
| 8″ x 10″ | 4.5″ x 6.5″ | 5″ x 7″ |
| 11″ x 14″ | 7.5″ x 9.5″ | 8″ x 10″ |
| 16″ x 20″ | 10.5″ x 13.5″ | 11″ x 14″ |
| 20″ x 24″ | 15.5″ x 19.5″ | 16″ x 20″ |
| 24″ x 36″ | 19.5″ x 29.5″ | 20″ x 30″ |
| 30″ x 40″ | 21.5″ x 31.5″ | 22″ x 32″ |
Image Resolution for Cropping
The dimension in pixels is the important detail for creating any fine art print. The recommended resolution by most printing companies is 300 pixels per inch 300dpi. Some printing service providers will require 600 dpi. Below are the pixel sizes for various recommend resolutions for printing.
| Art Print Size | Pixel Size (300dpi) | Pixel Size (600dpi) |
| 5″ x 7″ | 1500 x 2100 | 3000 x 4200 |
| 8″ x 10″ | 2400 x 3000 | 4800 x 6000 |
| 11″ x 14″ | 3300 x 4200 | 6600 x 8400 |
| 16″ x 20″ | 4800 x 6000 | 9600 x 12000 |
| 20″ x 30″ | 6000 x 9000 | 12000 x 18000 |
| 22″ x 32″ | 6600 x 9600 | 13200 x 19200 |
Hi Laurie,
I’m not very “tech-saavy”, so I’m wondering where and how to check if my prints are within these pixel guidelines. Also, if they aren’t within the guidelines, how and where do I adjust the pixels to give me the best image resolution?
As always, thanks so much for your help,
Marlene
I recommend using an image editor to crop to the correct pixel sizes (per the chart in the post). There are a number of phone apps that will do this, but I find it best to do it from a desktop (or laptop) computer. I recommend Photoshop or if you can take the time to learn GIMP (free editing tool), you’re definitely going to have better results.
There are also some web-based solutions such as BeFunky.com.
This probably a great question to answer via video, as it can be confusing.