How to Print and Frame Anything and Everything
Everybody has photographs, artwork or mementos worth framing yet for those of us who fumble our way through technology, printing and framing these items can present a series of challenges.
At Format we created a simple printing and framing system to make fine art printing and gallery-quality framing accessible for all. So whether you are a practicing artist printing editions or printing old family photographs, we are here to realise your ideas and bring your prints to life.
In this guide, we return to basics and show you how to digitalise, print and frame hard-copy items - from your child’s artwork to tickets from a favourite gig, to original prints from your grandparent’s wedding (even if you don’t have a scanner at home).
What is image resolution?
Resolution refers to the detail an image holds and is often identified by the width and height of the image as well as the total number of pixels in the image. As you can see in the table below, the larger the print and frame the greater your image resolution will need to be.
|
Format Frame |
Frame Size |
Required Image Resolution |
|
Small |
300 x 300mm 300 x 200mm |
1000 x 1500 pixels |
|
Medium |
600 x 600mm 600 x 400mm |
1800x2700 pixels |
|
Large |
900 x 900mm 900 x 600mm |
2667x4000 pixels |
|
XLarge |
1200 x 800mm |
3000x45000 pixels |
If you have a fairly new iPhone images will be around 4032 x 3024 pixels. That means you could safely print in our large frame without compromising the image quality.
When you upload via our website, it will let you know if your image is too small to proceed.
If you're still unsure you can email your file directly to our team at info@formatframing.com.au and they can advise you on suitable sizing.
Digitising
If your file isn’t already digital, you will need to digitise any hard copy items.
Digitising is when you convert your physical pictures into a digital form.
No scanner? No problem.
You can visit your local Officeworks and have them scan the item for you. Alternatively, if you are equipped with a good smartphone, you will already have powerful documentation abilities in the palm of your hands.
We suggest downloading an image editing application to your smartphone like Snapseed.
Using Snapseed, you can take a photo of the item at hand, edit it as required and save as a JPEG (image file) ready for upload to our website.
This same process of digitising can be applied to anything... children’s drawings, memorabilia, printed photographs, love notes, excerpts from a favourite book…
You can prepare any image for printing and framing using apps like Snapseed.
Printing, framing and hanging
Once you’ve digitised your image you can upload your file via our Print and Frame page, select your size, orientation and colour.
Within two weeks we will have your framed print at your door, ready to hang.
With the help of apps to digitise your images, and our print and frame function, it’s really never been easier to preserve in print each and every kind of momento, meaningful item and memories to be enjoyed every day.
Start framing