A Variety of Printed Photo Sizes Considerations When Having Pictures Scanned

Liz Masoner explains that "many cameras today record photographs in roughly a 3:2 ratio." What this means for us is that the long side of a photo is 1.5 times as long as the short side. It is for this reason that 4x6 has become a popular print size. (Source: Comparison of Photograph Print Sizes, By Liz Masoner, About.com Guide) This is a photographic standard used here in the United States.

However, take a look at your collection of printed photographs and one thing becomes quickly apparent...they come in a variety of sizes! So, when considering having your shoeboxes full of printed photographs scanned into digital images print size has a direct impact upon the size of scanner that may need to be used to perform the conversion.

Here in the United States standard photo print sizes typically include the following:
3½ x 5 in
3¾ x 5 in
4 x 6 in
4.4 x 6 in
5 x 5 in
6 x 6 in
5 x 6.6 in
5 x 7 in
5 x 7.4 in
6 x 8 in
6 x 8½ in
8 x 8 in
8 x 10 in
8 x 10½ in
8 x 12 in
Passport size photos

Meanwhile in Europe, standard photo print sizes typically include the following:
9 x 13 cm
10 x 13 cm
10 x 15 cm
11 x 15 cm
13 x 13 cm
15 x 15 cm
13 x 17 cm
13 x 18 cm
13 x 19 cm
15 x 20 cm
15 x 21 cm
20 x 20 cm
20 x 25 cm
20 x 27 cm
20 x 30 cm
Passport size photos

Dedicated photo scanning systems are able to accommodate up to 8 x10 in or 20 x25 cm sized photos. Personal photo scanning systems currently come in 2 flavors with the first similar to dedicated photo scanning systems and the second targeted to printed pictures 4x6 in or 11x15 cm.

Meanwhile, the sizes accommodated by photo scanning with flatbed scanners typically measured using standard paper sizing chart. This benchmark uses the metric name that often corresponds to the flatbed's maximum supported document size.

Name|Metric Size      |U.S. Size
A5     |148 x 210 mm  |5.8 x 8.3 inches
A4     |210 x 297 mm  |8.3 x 11.7 inches
A3     |297 x 420 mm  |11.7 x 16.5 inches
A3+   | 329 x 483 mm|13 x 19 inches
A2     |420 x 594 mm  |16.5 x 23.4 inches
A1     |594 x 841 mm  |23.4 x 33.1 inches
A0     |841 x 1189 mm| 33.1 x 46.8 inches