How to print your photos at 100%
PaperFit Studio’s PDF carries exact measurements in millimeters. Whether the photo comes out at that size on paper depends on the print dialog and your printer. Here is what to check.
1. Scale: actual size or 100%
Choose Actual size or 100%. Avoid Fit to page, Fit to printable area and Shrink to fit: they rescale the document and a 4 × 6 in photo stops measuring 4 × 6 in.
2. Paper and orientation
US Letter is 215.9 × 279.4 mm (8.5 × 11 in) and A4 is 210 × 297 mm. If the PDF is Letter and the printer holds A4, the printer will adjust and the scale will change. Pick in PaperFit Studio the paper you will actually use. Orientation can change how many photos fit: with 5 mm margins and a 2 mm gap, an A4 sheet holds two 10 × 15 cm photos (never four), four 9 × 13 cm and nine 6 × 9 cm.
3. Margins and printer borders
Most home printers can’t print to the edge and clip a strip a few millimeters wide. That’s why default margins are 5 mm. With a 0 margin the printer may crop part of the outer photos or add its own border.
4. Resolution: how many pixels a photo needs
As a guide, 300 ppi gives a sharp print and below 150 ppi it may look soft or pixelated. A 4 × 6 in photo needs about 1200 × 1800 pixels for 300 ppi and about 600 × 900 for 150 ppi. A 5 × 7 in print needs about 1500 × 2100 for 300 ppi. PaperFit Studio calculates each photo’s real ppi at its printed size and warns you below 150; it cannot create detail the image doesn’t have.
5. Whole photo, bands and cropping
If the photo’s proportions don’t match the frame’s you either leave white bands (whole photo) or crop (fill the frame). A 3:4 phone photo in a 4 × 6 in (2:3) frame loses a strip at the sides if you fill the frame. Decide what to keep by dragging the photo in the preview.
6. Cutting precisely
Turn on cut marks and keep at least 4 mm of margin: they are drawn in the margin, aligned with each photo’s edges, and never on top of images. For a paper trimmer use a gap of 2 mm or more.
About these figures
The “how many fit” numbers come from the same calculation the tool uses, with 5 mm margins and a 2 mm gap, and are checked by measuring real PDFs in the project’s tests. Size on paper depends on your printer, which is why we offer the check sheet.