What Size? Image Size on the Paper

I've the impression that with most mounted prints
image size is less than paper size. In most cases an
eight x ten or eleven x fourteen stated to be that size
have actually an image size less than that. How far can
one go in under sizing the image and still claim paper
size to be the size of the picture?

Is this an issue of honesty in marketing? Dan

With anything I have ever done, I list the actual dimensions of a trimmed and mounted print (in centimeters, rounded to nearest half cm), or the paper dimension for a loose or overmatted print (in inches). The way I see it, a print that is not trimmed, but is simply overmatted to frame the image, may be described by the size of the paper, but anything that is trimmed should be described by the actual dimensions of the image.

I am sure it all comes down to the standards in place at the joint that is stating the dimensions.

I don't think it's about honesty if an image is sold as: 5X7" image on 20X24 paper. 5X7/8X10 etc.
With the proper marketing you might get rich selling 9mm(Minox) contact prints on 16X20 paper.
Say it loud enough & long enough & someone will declare you the world's greatest.
Generally the wide borders are insurance from bent edges and damage from non-archival
processing or contamination.

I call an 8x10 contact print 8x10, because 7-5/8 x 9-5/8 sounds awkward. I would expect that if the image were being sold at Christie's, the actual dimensions would be used, in part just to authenticate the print with regard to method of production and date. Same would go for a book such as a retrospective.

So, I don't think the terminology has anything to do with (dis)honesty in marketing, as most prints are not sold by the square inch. Of course, I would not call a print that measured less than 5x7 an 8x10.

Some people do print with big borders because the prints look much like they are matted, and this makes for a much lighter portfolio for carrying and mailing, as opposed to all the added weight of the mat board.

You can print an image to 60 percent of the image size (say 6"x8") and still call it an 8x10.

jmcd said:

You can print an image to 60 percent of the image size (say 6"x8") and still call it an 8x10.

Click to expand...

By what standard?

his 2f

DanielStone said:

his 2f

Click to expand...

...exactly what I was trying to squeeze out of him...unless it really is some sort of specific standard across which he has run somewhere, in which case, I would want to know who's standard it is!

I describe my prints by the actual image size, such as 7-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches. My fear is that a non-photographer buyer would not understand the borders required by the printing easel and might think that I was deliberately overstating the print size.