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Printed Portfolio - 9x12 vs 8x12
Oct 03 11 08:54 pm Link 9x12 is an odd size, but it is industry standard. Most professionals who do portfolio work, shoot for the crop since that aspect ratio works for a lot of things. You can certainly use 8x12, it is fairly close. It will fit into the pages, but it isn't 9x12. Oct 03 11 08:59 pm Link You'll just look like you don't know how the game is played. Not your best first impression. ;-) Oct 03 11 09:01 pm Link photographers should be 11x14. models 9x12. not sure where they ever came up with the 9x12. meh. Oct 03 11 09:03 pm Link The 9x12 size is because it allows for tearsheets to fit nicely on the page. These days, the magazines are often smaller, so it doesn't matter so much, but the standard has stuck. I've used everything from 8x10s to 20x30s for presentations, but 11x14s seem to be the usual thing for photographers. Some photographers use two 11x14s to create horizontals as two-page spreads. Oct 03 11 09:08 pm Link If you shot in the 3:2 aspect ratio size your images at 12" high and 8" wide for verticals and then make the canvas 9" wide. I usually suggest black "gutters" as they will blend in with the black backing of the majority of portfolio books pages. In cases where you have a predominately light image use white gutters so that they are less distracting. The problem with 8x12 is the empty space and slipping out of position in the book. If you shot in horizontal you can order a "double truck" (double page spread). The 3:2 aspect ratio prints to 12" H x 18" w, divide that by 2 and you have two 9x12" vertical prints making up a single two page spread. Don't do this if it will cut faces in half. Instead make your image 6" high x 9" wide and add gutters to the top and bottom. Now, that being said, full bleed (cropped to borderless) usually have more impact. I print hundreds if not thousands of these a week and always try to crop to full bleed if possible. From a visual perspective they are more pleasing than guttered. Here is a three year old thread: https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=376948 Oct 03 11 09:27 pm Link Blue Cube Imaging wrote: Here is a 6 1/2 year old thread. Oct 03 11 09:50 pm Link ward wrote: Because not every magazine is 8 1/2 x 11. Many fashion models will have tears from magazines from cities in Paris, Milan London as well as NY. The 9x12 standard is big enough to handle all the different sized tears a model might acquire. Even for domestic models if is now a standard. Oct 03 11 09:57 pm Link Either are acceptable. Agents/clients don't give you demerits for not having the exact print size...just don't stray farther than either of those sizes. Oct 03 11 11:15 pm Link I never have my 8x11's that I MUST use cropped... I usually have them add a border. But I definitely prefer the true 9x12's. Oct 04 11 03:03 am Link Seven Seventy wrote: Sounds like you have dealt with some of these photographers on this forum. Its amazing that they are so good and generous that they feel the need to slap us with their knowledge. Oct 04 11 03:48 am Link I have NO use for 8x12" or 8x10" photos. If I get them from photographers, they go into a white envelope containing other prints that size and that goes into a drawer. If it's a shot I feel is book worthy, I may ask for a 9x12" print, or a file I can use to make a 9x12" print from. If I can't get that from the photographer, I likely won't be working with him or her again for portfolio work. To avoid the printer doing any cropping you may not like, perhaps crop the images on your own (in a duplicate file, of course) before sending them to the print shop. Or you can add a border on the image to make it 9x12" without cropping. Black or white. And, of course, any prints or files to be printed from should be free of watermarks or credits on the front. ETA: To clarify, if I were to receive an 8x10" or 8x12" photo printed with borders on 9x12" paper, that would be acceptable. But I don't want smaller sized prints floating around sloppily inside the pages. I don't want my print book looking sloppy--that makes a worse impression, I imagine, than prints with borders. Oct 04 11 07:53 am Link Since I'm working on a printed portfolio myself, I thought I'd give you what I'd learned: The fashion/commercial 'standard' is an 11x14 book. It can be any variety of papers, full bleed or bordered, as long as the book size is 11x14. An 11x14 book allows the art director/buyer/agency to see that you do indeed have the original files (I.E: Not ripping them from someone else) and that you (or your print house) can turn out a decent print at a reasonable size. Prints are unforgiving, so they like to see the perfection large. As to the 8x12, you could try printing one book at that size and then tote it around. Try to get feedback about whether they like it at that size or not. Everybody has an opinion so the best way might be to simply run with it. Oct 04 11 09:03 am Link Hoodlum wrote: and it should be stickyed if it's not already. Oct 04 11 09:19 am Link This is becoming less and less relevant as people migrate to tablets for portfolio presentation. crop for the needed ratio (3:4 for 9x12) or keep the original aspect and bleed to the short side with black gutters Oct 04 11 09:22 am Link Aydensgrace wrote: I believe 11x14 is standard for photographers, but not models. Standard size for models is 9x12. Oct 04 11 09:25 am Link I have often wondered why 8.5x11 is not used more. Seems like a good all around compromise, readily available, and common. I guess traditions die hard. But, as has been said, the ipad is changing all of that. Oct 04 11 09:32 am Link Thanks for all of the replies. Most of my shoots are TFCD, but I may want to offer some TFP work just as an incentive for some. So that's how my question originated. Good replies. Thanks. Oct 04 11 11:19 am Link ei Total Productions wrote: 9x12 is aspect ratio x 2 for a 645 MF camera i.e. 2 x (6"x4.5"). Not odd sized at all and makes complete sense as the goto format prior to digital. Oct 05 11 02:54 am Link |
