When I try to order prints of daughter's wedding pictures they are cropped, and I can't get the full picture that shows in the link the photographer sent to me. I have tried several different printing places and sizes: 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10. They all crop off. I'm especially wanting full length pictures, but sometimes all I can get is 3/4 of the picture.
Why are the images cropped when I try to print them? How can I get prints with the full image?
This likely happens because the "aspect ratio" of your pictures doesn't match the aspect ratio of the print.
High-end cameras typically produce pictures with a 3:2 aspect ratio: on landscape mode, the width is one half larger than the height. This matches a 6"x4" paper.
Of course the photographer can edit the picture and give it any aspect ratio.
If you print a 3:2 picture on a 8"x10" paper, the image is scaled, and both dimensions are scaled equally. So when you make the width fit the 10" of the paper, the height of the picture becomes 10"*2/3 = 6.7": you would get margins above and/or below the printed picture. But if you match the height, the necessary width is 8"*3/2 = 12" that won't fit the 10" and some of your image is cropped.
To answer more completely we would need the actual size in pixels of your pictures.
You might simply be buying the wrong kind of service for the task at hand.
There are mass-finishing services (like what you can order from a drugstore), and then there are "professional labs" that can do bespoke printing jobs. The latter will obviously be more expensive; if it is a set of hundreds of images, you might want to previously filter out the mediocre ones and only have a ten or twenty of them.
Your local camera store should be able to tell you where to find a professional lab in town, if they do not even have one inhouse.
Also, if the photographer was OK with sending you a link to printable original files, appreciate that openness and be fair and ask him for a quote for making or organizing great prints of your favorites... and if the price is anything near fair compared to a pro lab(!!! Do not compare the pricing to a drugstore service, you will insult the photographer!), go that route.
I have tried several different printing places and sizes: 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10.
If the images are straight out of a modern DSLR, then their aspect ratio is 2x3. This means that the 4x6 should be the whole image - no crop. However, this is contingent on the print service. Use a local professional lab or a lab that allows you to select your own crops online (like mpix.com).
Assuming a vertical photo, a 5x7 will crop a smidge off. Automated printing services will typically center the crop so that a bit is taken off both the top and bottom. If you use a service that allows you to select the crop, you could move the cropped portion to the bottom, top, or anywhere in between.
An 8x10 will need to crop the most off of the image in order to fit that aspect ratio.
So, if you plan on framing these images, make sure you have the frame first (unless you don't mind paying for custom frames). Another budget friendly option is to mat the photo within a standard sized frame (for example, print an 8x12 and mat it to fit into an 11x14 frame, which are ubiquitous and constantly on sale).
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