Memorial portrait print sizes
8x10 inches is the standard memorial portrait — the one that sits on the register table and fits a frame bought the same day. 16x20 or 20x24 is the easel print at the front of the service, and 5x7 is what family are handed afterwards. An 8x10 needs 2,400×3,000 pixels for a sharp print; every size is below, with the crop already taken off.
A4 is the international equivalent of 8x10, and A3 of 11x14. They are close in area but not interchangeable — a frame made for one will not take the other.
| Print size | Inches | Pixels at 300 DPI | Pixels at 200 DPI | Camera needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5x7" | 5 × 7 | 1,500 × 2,100 | 1,000 × 1,400 | 3.1 MP |
| 8x10" | 8 × 10 | 2,400 × 3,000 | 1,600 × 2,000 | 7.2 MP |
| A4 | 8.27 × 11.69 | 2,481 × 3,507 | 1,654 × 2,338 | 8.7 MP |
| 11x14" | 11 × 14 | 3,300 × 4,200 | 2,200 × 2,800 | 14 MP |
| 12x16" | 12 × 16 | 3,600 × 4,800 | 2,400 × 3,200 | 17 MP |
| A3 | 11.69 × 16.54 | 3,507 × 4,962 | 2,338 × 3,308 | 17 MP |
| 16x20" | 16 × 20 | 4,800 × 6,000 | 3,200 × 4,000 | 29 MP |
| 18x24" | 18 × 24 | 5,400 × 7,200 | 3,600 × 4,800 | 39 MP |
| 20x24" | 20 × 24 | 6,000 × 7,200 | 4,000 × 4,800 | 43 MP |
| 24x36" | 24 × 36 | 7,200 × 10,800 | 4,800 × 7,200 | 78 MP |
Check your photograph against every size at once
Drop the photograph in for a verdict on each size at 300 and 200 DPI, with each ratio’s crop already subtracted. Nothing is uploaded — the file is read on your own computer.
Drop the photograph here
JPG, PNG, WebP or iPhone HEIC. You can paste one from the clipboard too — a photo saved from a message works.
The photograph is read on this device and never uploaded.
Which of those sizes your photograph can carry
That is a separate question from which sizes you want, and it is decided by the file, not by the frame. All of them should be cropped the same way, or the same person looks subtly different on each. Working from the file back to the sizes is what the megapixel chart is for, and the most common case by far is what you can print from a 12 MP photo.
Sizes grouped by aspect ratio
The ratios matter more than the sizes, because the ratio is what decides how much of the photograph is thrown away. Two sizes on the same ratio share one crop; two sizes on different ratios do not, which is why one exported file cannot serve all of them — and why the same face can end up framed differently on the easel and on the table.
- 4:5 — 8x10, 16x20. The memorial portrait ratio. Off-the-shelf frames and mats are made for it, which matters when the frame has to be bought this week.
- 3:4 — 12x16, 18x24. What a phone camera shoots, so it keeps the most of the photograph.
- 5:6 — 20x24. The easel and memorial-board size. Slightly squarer than 4:5, so it crops a little differently.
- 5:7 — 5x7. Its own ratio, close to 4:5 but not interchangeable. The table frame and the one handed to family afterwards.
- 11:14 — 11x14. Slightly narrower than 4:5. A common cause of a surprise crop across the top of someone’s head.
- 2:3 — 24x36. The tall poster ratio, and the most demanding on resolution by a wide margin.
- ISO (1:1.414) — A4, A3. The international series, used everywhere outside the US. Taller than 4:5, so a US-sized file does not simply drop in.
A phone photograph arrives at 3:4, so it drops straight into 12x16 and 18x24 and loses progressively more toward 4:5, 5:6, ISO and 2:3. The print preparation tool handles this by taking one framing and cropping every ratio from it, so the face survives all seven and every print matches.
Why 200 DPI is a real answer and not a cop-out
How much resolution a print needs depends on how close anyone stands to it. A 5x7 on a table is looked at from a foot away and genuinely wants 300 DPI. A 20x24 on an easel is seen from across a room, where 200 DPI is indistinguishable from 300. The larger the print, the more forgiving the requirement — which is fortunate, because large prints are where the pixel demands become unreasonable.
This is worth knowing when the only photograph is a small one. A softer 16x20 that the back of the room can see often does its job better than a sharp 8x10 that nobody can.
Every size in detail
Each size has its own page: the pixels it needs, what each kind of photograph gives you at that size, and what tends to go wrong.
5x7"
1,500 × 2,100 px at 300 DPI
The small table frame, and the size most often handed to family members afterwards. Forgiving on resolution, so it is the size that still works when the only photograph is a small one.
8x10"
2,400 × 3,000 px at 300 DPI
The standard memorial portrait. Sits on the register table beside the guest book, and fits a frame from any shop without custom framing or a wait.
A4
2,481 × 3,507 px at 300 DPI
The international equivalent of 8x10, and the sheet a funeral program is printed on outside the US. Needed alongside the US sizes rather than instead of them.
11x14"
3,300 × 4,200 px at 300 DPI
The step up from 8x10, and large enough to be seen from a few rows back. Still a standard frame size, which matters when there is no time to order one.
12x16"
3,600 × 4,800 px at 300 DPI
A 3:4 ratio, which matches most phone camera sensors exactly. If the photograph came straight off a phone, this size crops away the least of it.
A3
3,507 × 4,962 px at 300 DPI
The international large format. Slightly larger than 12x16 and a good deal taller than 11x14, so it needs its own crop rather than a rescale of either.
16x20"
4,800 × 6,000 px at 300 DPI
The memorial board size, and where phone photographs start to struggle. A 12 MP phone shot cannot reach a true 300 DPI here, which is worth knowing before the print is ordered rather than after.
18x24"
5,400 × 7,200 px at 300 DPI
Easel scale. Nobody stands closer than a few feet to one of these, and at that distance 200 DPI holds up where it plainly would not on a table-top 8x10.
20x24"
6,000 × 7,200 px at 300 DPI
The classic easel portrait for a service — the one on a stand at the front, next to the flowers. Ask the funeral home which size their easels take before ordering; this is the most common answer.
24x36"
7,200 × 10,800 px at 300 DPI
The largest size worth printing from a photographic source. Needs 7200x10800px for a true 300 DPI print, which is a 78 MP camera — almost no photograph reaches it, and at easel distance it does not need to.
Questions
Print size questions
- What size should a memorial portrait be?
- 8x10 inches is the standard memorial portrait: it sits on the register table beside the guest book and fits a frame from any shop with no waiting for custom framing. 16x20 or 20x24 is the size for an easel at the front of the service, and 5x7 is what family members are usually handed afterwards. A4 is the equivalent of 8x10 outside the US.
- How many pixels does an 8x10 memorial portrait need?
- 2,400 by 3,000 pixels for a true 300 DPI print, once the photograph has been cropped to 4:5. At a more forgiving 200 DPI — which is perfectly acceptable for a print people see from a few feet away — it needs 1,600 by 2,000.
- What aspect ratios do these print sizes use?
- Seven across the ten sizes: 4:5 (8x10, 16x20), 3:4 (12x16, 18x24), 5:6 (20x24), 5:7 (5x7), 11:14 (11x14), 2:3 (24x36) and the ISO ratio of roughly 1:1.414 (A4, A3). This is why one file cannot serve every size — each ratio crops the photograph differently, and a face that sits well in one can lose the top of its head in another.
- Why are there no square sizes here?
- Because a memorial portrait is framed and hung, or stood on an easel, and frame shops do not stock square mats. A square crop also takes the most off a portrait-shaped photograph, which is the last thing to do when there is only one photograph.
- Can a phone photo be printed at 16x20?
- A standard 12 MP phone photo comes to about 189 DPI at 16x20 after cropping, which is soft. It will still read from across a room, which is where an easel print is seen from, but it will not stand up to being looked at closely. If there is a larger original — on the phone rather than in a message thread — it is worth finding it first.