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Quality advice

Careful cropping      |      The right resolution      |      Colour calibration      |      Image enhancement



Printing to be proud of

All you need to know for great results every time.

At PhotoBox we always aim to give our customers the highest print quality. That’s why we’ve invested in state-of-the-art printers and always use FujiFilm’s finest paper.

We pride ourselves on our fast turnaround times. Orders placed before 4pm Monday to Friday are usually posted out the same day. While our sturdy packaging ensures all your goods arrive in pristine condition.

Being such sticklers for quality has helped us win more awards than any other online photo site. So if you’re having problems with your prints, or any of our other products, it’s likely to be down to one of the following common problems. The good news is they’re easily remedied. You can also contact our helpful customer support staff for advice.

Careful cropping

If you’re ending up with borders you didn’t want, or bits cut off the edges, it’s all to do with the cropping!

Different print sizes have different aspect ratios. So for example, a photo that fits perfectly on a 6"x4" print can’t just be enlarged to fit a 6"x4.5" print.

Compact Digital Camera

Compact Digital Cameras

Most compact cameras have an aspect ratio of 4:3 so 6”x4.5” prints are the best size to order

Digital SLR Camera

Digital SLR Cameras

Most digital SLR cameras have an aspect ratio of 3:2 and so 6”x4” is the best size to order


The best solution is to use some form of image editing software that allows you to crop your photo to the precise dimensions you require. That way you’ll know exactly how your final print will appear.

Alternatively, our easy to use cropping feature allows you to crop your photos to get maximum impact. Simply make sure what you want printed on your photos appears in the orange box.

What cropping options do I have?


Portrait & Landscape Portrait & Landscape Cropping

Use the portrait and landscape cropping options to ensure you get the best parts of your photo printed.

Shrink to fit Shrink to fit

Shrink to fit allows you to get your whole photo printed. Your image isn’t cropped but you will get white edges along two sides (usually the two longest sides).

Do I need to crop my photos? Do I need to crop my photos?

No, not always. Changing the print size you're ordering may allow you to get the best from your photos without the need to crop.


Ordering prints with borders

When ordering prints with a border please be aware if you also apply shrink to fit on the print, the photo shrink will take place within the border. So you’ll end up with an extra think white border along two sides of the print and two regular white borders along the other two sides.

Where can I crop my photos?

There are two areas where you can edit the crop of your photos:

  1. When ordering your prints click the ‘check my prints’ button under ‘Get the best from your photos’ on the order popup
  2. Within the basket you can also edit the crop of your prints via the ‘check my prints’ link

The right resolution

If it’s the overall sharpness and detail of your images that’s poor, it’s probably because of the resolution. Unless you’re taking lots of out of focus pictures! Generally the bigger the original image file the better it will look when printed. So enlarge a relatively small image file and you’ll soon notice the quality deteriorate.


Traffic light quality rating

To avoid inferior print quality we’ll warn you at the time of ordering if there’s a quality issue. Once any item is placed in your basket you’ll see our traffic light quality rating. That’s a green smiley face for great quality, and an unhappy red face for poor quality. You can then decide whether you want to remove the item from your basket, or select a smaller print size.

For a useful file size guide for all our products, take a look at our recommended resolution guide.

Colour calibration

An image that looks great on your computer screen should look equally wonderful in print. If you’re finding this isn’t the case it could be down to the colour calibration of your monitor. This can cause overly bright or dark prints, or unrealistic colours compared to your original. Even if you’re not aware of this, properly calibrating your monitor is still a good way of ensuring impressive results.


For more in-depth quality information please check out our technical page.

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