Print size, viewing distance, and source resolution.

The size ladder and its prices

Each size below lists its price on the standard enhanced-matte paper, the minimum source resolution it requires, an ideal viewing distance based on visual-acuity research, and typical room placement. All dimensions are listed in inches; metric equivalents are approximate. Heavier cotton-rag papers, framing, and canvas run a little higher and follow the same ladder — those prices appear in each work's buy box.

The "minimum source pixels" column is the no-crop floor each size needs to print cleanly. Not every work reaches every row — which is the point of the next section, and the reason each work's buy box is the authoritative, per-work size list rather than a fixed menu.

Why source resolution decides the size, not the other way round

Our prints reproduce public-domain artworks photographed by the world's museums under their open-access programmes, and the resolution we work from is whatever each museum released. In practice most of those source files are around 2,048 pixels on the long edge. A few reach roughly 4,000 pixels, and only a small minority go beyond that. We do not invent detail that the source never captured: we print from the museum file as it is.

A 2,048-pixel master prints cleanly up to about 12 × 16 inches and comfortably across the small and mid-size ladder, which is where most orders sit. The larger formats — the statement-scale paper sizes, larger canvas, and the rigid panels — ask for more pixels than most masters hold, so they are reserved for the higher-resolution minority of the catalog. That is a deliberate editorial line, not a limit we paper over: a large print is only offered on a work whose file can fill it without softening.

The mechanism is simple. We target a true 300 DPI wherever a source file is large enough to reach it, and we gate every size at a sensible minimum resolution below that — the no-crop floor in the table above — so a size is only offered when the master clears it. Because the gate runs per work, the sizes you see in any buy box are exactly the ones that work's file can render at print quality. A 1,300-pixel woodcut shows the small end of the ladder; a 4,000-pixel landscape shows much more of it.

What the resolution gate offers at each source size

The table below maps a source file's long edge to the largest sizes the gate will offer it. The middle column is the size we can print at a true 300 DPI; the right column is the largest size that still clears the print-grade floor we hold each size to. Use it to set expectations before browsing — and to read why a particular work shows the size list it does.

This is why the largest formats feel uncommon across the catalog: they are. A statement-scale print on the right work is offered precisely because that work's source file is large enough to earn it, and most are not. A work's source image must survive enlargement before we offer a size, so each buy box lists only the sizes its source supports.

Aspect ratios in painting and printmaking

Most Old Master and nineteenth-century paintings do not match modern photographic aspect ratios. A Renaissance altarpiece may be closer to 4:3 or 5:4; a Baroque canvas may be closer to 3:2 or even wider in panoramic landscapes. When a source image is cropped to fit a standard print size, as much as a tenth of the painted surface can be lost at the edges. We list the native aspect ratio of every artwork in the catalog, and offer the size steps that sit closest to it, so you can choose a print that preserves the full composition.

• 4:3 and 3:4 — Common in Renaissance panel paintings, Dutch Golden Age interiors, and many Pre-Raphaelite works.
• 3:2 and 2:3 — Favoured by nineteenth-century French academic painters and many American Hudson River School landscapes.
• 1:1 (square) — Rare in easel painting before the twentieth century but common in miniatures, tondi, and certain photographic works. Square works sit at our 10×10 print.
• 5:4 and 4:5 — Typical of Victorian salon paintings and many portrait photographs. Sits at our 8×10, 16×20, or 24×30 prints.
• 2:3 — A taller-than-wide proportion that maps to our 24×36, suited to full-length portraits and vertical landscapes.

Cropping a composition arbitrarily alters the balance of negative space and can remove signature elements at the margin — when proportions matter to you, compare the work's native proportions with the print size before ordering.

Wall planning and visual weight

A common error is to choose a print that is too small for its wall. The general rule used by interior designers and gallery installers is that a single work should occupy 50–75 percent of the available wall width, measured between permanent architectural features such as windows, door frames, or the edges of built-in shelving. For example, a 72-inch-wide wall above a sofa should carry a print—or a group of prints—between 36 and 54 inches in total width. A 24-inch-wide print on that wall will look tentative; a 60-inch print will feel crowded unless the ceiling is unusually high.

Height matters too. The center of the image should sit at eye level, which in residential installation is conventionally 57–60 inches from the floor to the center of the frame. In rooms where viewers are usually seated—dining rooms, studies—lower the center to 52–55 inches. In hallways where viewers stand, 60–63 inches is standard. These measurements assume an average viewer height of 5 ft 7 in; adjust downward for spaces used primarily by children.

Related help

• Frames, mats, and glazing
• Papers, inks, and substrates
• Care, handling, and hanging