A guide to photographic printing
From pixel to print on the wall.
OFOTO is about the moment a photograph stops being a file and becomes an object: printing, paper, colour, framing, preservation and display. No ads, nothing for sale.
50.8 × 33.9 cmideal, even viewed in the hand
OFOTO / PRINT SIZE — 6000 × 4000 PX — 300 PPI — 508 × 339 MM — SCALE 0–110 CM
Contents of the guide
7 chapters, from file to wall
- 01 PRINT How a printer turns pixels into droplets of ink, how many pixels you really need, and which print sizes make sense.
- 02 PAPER Paper decides how deep the blacks are, how much the print shines and how long it lasts. Here are the media types, without the marketing.
- 03 COLOUR Why prints come out darker than the screen and what to do about it: colour spaces, profiles, calibration and soft proofing.
- 04 FRAMING A frame protects; a mount gives the photograph room. Sizes, materials and glazing that will not harm the print.
- 05 PRESERVATION Scanning old photographs, negatives and slides, restoring them, and storing them so they survive another generation.
- 06 DISPLAY Where and how high to hang a photograph, what size to choose above a sofa, and how to light it without glare or fading.
- 07 LAB Five tools that calculate and show. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Lab: tools that calculate and show
They run in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored.
- PX → CM / IN Print size calculator Works out the print size from pixel dimensions at 300, 240, 180 and 150 PPI. And the other way round: how many pixels you need for a given size.
- 6 TYPES × 6 USES Paper Lab Compares six types of paper by texture, gloss, black depth, saturation and archival suitability for the purpose you choose.
- FRAME + MOUNT + WALL Frame Lab Your own photograph (processed only in your browser) in a frame with a mount, on a wall in the colour of your choice.
- A4 → 70 × 100 CM Size on the wall Print sizes from A4 to 70 × 100 cm, to scale, above a desk, sofa, bed or chest of drawers.
- SCREEN ↔ PRINT Colour check Why prints look darker than the screen: six causes, each of which you can switch on and off.
Chapter 05 — Preservation
Save your family archive
A box of old photographs, negatives and slides is often the most precious thing a family owns, and also the worst stored. We show what resolution to scan at, how to remove dust without causing damage, how to bring back faded colours and where to keep the originals.
Chapter 02 — Paper
Fine Art papers and canvas without the marketing
Cotton, α-cellulose, baryta, RC and canvas. What gsm means, why paper without optical brighteners ages more predictably, and how to choose a surface for a portrait, a landscape or a black-and-white photograph.
How OFOTO works
- Sources
- Data on papers and frames comes from the manufacturers; storage advice from the Library of Congress, the NEDCC and ISO standards. Every article lists its sources and the date it was last checked.
- Independence
- We do not sell, print or use affiliate links or advertising. Manufacturers are named for information only.
- Privacy
- No cookies, no analytics. The tools process data only in your browser.