Photo Frame Sizes in Pixels: 4x6, 5x7, 8x10 and More

You bought a frame, or you’re about to, and now you need a file that fills it. Photo frame sizes are named in inches (4x6, 5x7, 8x10), but your photo is measured in pixels, and the two shapes rarely match. This page converts every common frame and print size to pixels, shows which print goes behind which mat, and works out how much of a phone photo gets cropped at each size.

Quick answer: At 300 DPI, a 4x6 photo needs 1200 x 1800 pixels, 5x7 needs 1500 x 2100, 8x10 needs 2400 x 3000, 11x14 needs 3300 x 4200 and 16x20 needs 4800 x 6000. For a frame with a mat, the print is one size down: a 4x6 goes in a 5x7 frame, a 5x7 in an 8x10, an 8x10 in an 11x14.

Standard photo frame sizes in pixels

The rule is pixels = inches x DPI. 300 DPI is the usual target for a print you hold in your hand. 150 DPI is fine for something on a wall that you see from a step or two back. The last column is what the lab Mpix lists as optimal for each size, which works out to 250 pixels per inch.

The sizes are listed portrait. Swap the two numbers for landscape.

The wallet size comes from Mpix, which sells wallets at 2.5 x 3.5 inches in sets of four. Shutterfly prints them four to an uncut 5 x 7 sheet that you trim yourself, so each one comes out at roughly 2.5 x 3.5 with a thin white border.

Lab minimums are far lower than 300 DPI. Mpix accepts 400 x 600 for a 4x6, and Walgreens’ developer image requirements list 540 x 360. Those are the points where the order system stops warning you, not the size that looks good. If you have the pixels, use the 300 DPI column.

Which photo fits which frame with a mat

A frame is named after what goes inside it, the print or the mat, not the outside edge of the moulding. An 8x10 frame holds an 8 x 10 print with no mat, or an 8 x 10 mat with a smaller window. The pre-cut mats sold at Michaels follow a step-down pattern:

There’s a catch. The window is cut a little smaller than the photo, because otherwise the print would fall through. The 11 x 14 mat above says it covers 0.25 inch on every side, so you see 7.5 x 9.5 inches of an 8x10 print. At 300 DPI that is 75 pixels hidden along each edge. Keep text, faces and signatures out of that strip. Other mats overlap by different amounts, so measure the window if it matters.

How much of a phone photo gets cropped

Phone photos are usually 4:3. The iPhone Camera app lets you pick 1:1, 4:3 or 16:9, and none of those match a standard print, and Mpix says plainly in its upload guide that its printers only print to the aspect ratio of the standard print sizes. Whatever doesn’t fit gets cut.

Here’s how much a 4:3 photo loses at each size. A 12 MP phone photo is 4000 x 3000, so the third column uses that.

So 4x6 crops the most. If you’ve ever had the top of someone’s head disappear from a 4x6, this is why. On a landscape photo, 8x10 cuts from the sides instead, which is a problem for group photos where someone is standing at the edge.

The fix is to crop the photo yourself before you order. Then you choose what goes, not the lab’s machine.

Resize a photo for a frame in ResizeAny

ResizeAny runs in the browser, so the photo stays on your device. For one photo:

1. Open the size you need: 4x6 inch, 5x7 inch, 8x10 inch, 11x14, 16x20 or wallet size.
2. Add your photo and use Crop first. The crop tool has 2:3, 3:2, 5:7, 7:5, 4:5 and 5:4 buttons, which cover 4x6, 5x7, wallet, 8x10 and 16x20. For 11x14, 3.5x5 and letter, use freeform.
3. Check the DPI field says 300. The 8x10 and wallet pages set it for you. On the others, type it in, because with DPI left on Auto the tool converts inches at 96 DPI and a 4x6 comes out at only 384 x 576 pixels.
4. Download as JPG. The DPI is written into the file, so printing software reads it as the right size.

Why crop before resizing? If you type a width and height that don’t match the photo’s shape, ResizeAny stretches the photo to fit them. It doesn’t crop for you. Crop to the frame’s shape first and the resize won’t distort anything.

Printing a whole set for a gallery wall? Bulk image resize handles up to 100 photos at a time. Every photo gets the same width and height, so crop each one to the frame’s shape first and keep them all portrait or all landscape.

When the photo is too small

Say you want an 11x14 but the photo is 2400 x 1800. That’s about 165 DPI at 14 x 11 inches, which looks fine on a wall but soft up close. You can resize it to 3300 x 4200 and the file will have the right numbers, but enlarging can’t add detail the camera never captured. Mpix makes the same point: raising a file’s resolution setting won’t make the print clearer. Your options are to print smaller, accept 150 DPI for a wall print, or find the original file.

For the maths behind DPI, the 72 DPI myth and poster sizes, see image size for printing: DPI, pixels and inches. Every inch and centimetre size we have, 3.5x5 and letter included, is in the print, paper and photo presets.