What is aspect ratio?

In the most basic sense, the aspect ratio is the specific shape of an image. More specifically, it's the relationship between the width x height dimensions of a square or rectangular image.

For example, a square print is a 1:1 aspect ratio—the width and height are always equal to each other in a perfect square:

For all of our rectangular print sizes, the specific shape of our glass is a 4:3 aspect ratio:

And yes, we can print both in a landscape or portrait orientation—4:3 is a landscape orientation, and 3:4 is the exact same shape as 4:3, but with the height taller than the width in a portrait orientation.

Why does aspect ratio matter?

What this means for your order is that if your photo is taller, or wider, than the shape of our glass prints, then the sides or top and bottom of your photo will need to be cropped so that it matches our glass shape.

In this example, the faded parts outside the cropping box would not be able to print:

Not to worry—our site will automatically crop that image for you after you upload it, and you can click the Edit My Image button to adjust that cropping as needed.

Why do you print in 4:3?

One of Fracture's founding missions was to help get your photos off your phone and onto your wall. Most smartphones, like iPhones, take photos in that 4:3 aspect ratio, so those photos you take daily will already be perfectly sized for our prints.

Some other ratios you may be familiar with are 2:3 (typical for DSLRs or mirrorless cameras) and 16:9. We don't have glass prints that match those shapes at this time, but those are definitely on our radar for the future.