4xD Print Format for
Digital Camera Images

Standard 4x6 crop of digital images when printed

Perfect print 4xD format

What is the Perfect Print?

The Perfect Print is Creative Memories' name for the image created from most digital cameras, typically referred to as the 4xD print. 4xD is the industry term for a print that is 4 x 5.33-inches.

How do you know if you will be able to take advantage of the Perfect Print? First, determine your camera's aspect ratio by referring to your owner's manual. While many new cameras may allow you to choose your aspect ratio, a good rule of thumb is that most European and Japanese camera manufacturers default to a 3:4 ratio (4xD).

Digital cameras create images with specific aspect ratios. This is simply the shape of the image. Traditional cameras take images with a 2:3 aspect ratio that fits a standard 4 x 6 print. When printing digital images, you may notice that your images are "cropped" top or bottom in the printing process. You don't get the full image that you capture digitally. This is most noticeable when heads are cropped. In order to fit an image with a 2:3 aspect ratio onto 4 x 6 photo paper, 11% of the digital image needs to be cropped (see example images to the right). The results - you don't get the image you intended when you snapped the photo!

Why do we call it the Perfect Print? First, if your camera creates 4xD images, and you order the Perfect Print format from the Creative Memories Photo Center, you will get the full image on your prints. This should prevent anyone from losing their head over unfortunately cropped prints! Second, if you are using your prints on Creative Memories 12 x 12 album pages, Perfect Prints will fit two across horizontally on a page without cropping. Perfect!