How-to · 5 min read
Print kiosks and photo labs want JPG, and they quietly crop whatever doesn't fit. Here's how to prepare iPhone photos so the print looks like the photo on your phone.
Updated
Drop your photos into the converter on this page. It makes high-quality JPGs with sRGB colour, which is what print kiosks and photo labs expect. Copy the JPGs to a USB stick or your phone's Photos library, or upload them to the lab's website. Want to choose the crop yourself? Do that first with crop HEIC.
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Printing systems are conservative. Kiosks in shops, online labs and photo printer software are built around JPG, sometimes with PNG or TIFF. HEIC files may not appear in the kiosk's file list at all, or they're rejected at upload.
Printing directly from an iPhone or Mac to a home printer usually works, because Apple's print system decodes HEIC for you. Anywhere else, convert first.
Print sharpness depends on how many pixels you have per inch of paper. Around 300 PPI looks sharp up close; around 150 PPI is acceptable for larger prints viewed from a distance.
A standard iPhone photo is 4032 × 3024 pixels (12 MP). Newer models can capture 24 MP or 48 MP photos, which give you more room.
| Print size (inches) | Pixels needed at 300 PPI | 12 MP iPhone photo |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 6 | 1800 × 1200 | Excellent |
| 5 × 7 | 2100 × 1500 | Excellent |
| 8 × 10 | 3000 × 2400 | Excellent |
| A4 (8.3 × 11.7) | 3508 × 2480 | Excellent |
| 11 × 14 | 4200 × 3300 | Very good, about 275 PPI |
| 12 × 18 | 5400 × 3600 | Good, about 225 PPI |
| 16 × 20 | 6000 × 4800 | Fine from a step back, about 190 PPI |
| 20 × 30 | 9000 × 6000 | Use a higher-resolution original if you can |
These numbers assume you haven't cropped much. A heavy crop throws away pixels, so check what's left before ordering a large print.
Labs often warn about "low resolution" based on pixel counts. Enlarging the image in software adds pixels but no detail. If a photo is too small for the print, choose a smaller print size.
iPhones capture photos in Display P3, a wider colour space than standard sRGB. On your phone, that means rich reds and greens. Most printing systems, though, assume sRGB. If a lab ignores the embedded colour profile, the print can look duller or shifted.
The fix is to convert colours to sRGB before printing. The printing preset on this page does that by default. Some professional labs accept wide-gamut files. If yours says so explicitly, you can keep the original profile.
Prints will always look a bit different from a bright, backlit phone screen. Paper reflects light; it doesn't emit it. Slightly brighter prints are a common lab option if yours tend to come out dark.
This is the most common print complaint. iPhone photos are 4:3. Many print sizes aren't.
| Print size | Shape | What gets cut from a 4:3 photo |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 6 | 3:2 | A strip from the top and bottom (landscape) |
| 5 × 7 | 7:5 | A smaller strip |
| 8 × 10 | 5:4 | A strip from the sides |
| Square | 1:1 | A quarter of the image |
When you order a borderless print, the lab fills the paper and trims whatever overflows. Heads, feet and edges of group photos are the usual casualties. Borderless printing can also trim a few millimetres extra, so keep important details away from the edges.
Alternatively, ask the lab for a "fit" or bordered print, which shows the whole photo with white margins instead of cropping.
From an iPhone or Mac, you can often print HEIC directly through AirPrint. From Windows or for layouts like several photos per page:
This is handy for passport-style sheets, contact sheets of a holiday, or school projects.
The conversion happens in your browser, so you can prepare a whole album on your laptop with no upload, then copy just the JPGs to a USB stick. Still having trouble with HEIC files? See why can't I open HEIC files.
FAQ
From an iPhone or Mac, usually yes, because Apple's print system handles HEIC. Print kiosks, photo labs and many printer apps on other platforms need JPG, so convert first.
For sharp prints viewed up close, aim for about 300 pixels per inch. A standard 12 MP iPhone photo is enough for prints up to roughly 10 by 13 inches at that density.
Use sRGB unless the lab says it supports wide-gamut files. Most printing systems assume sRGB, so converting avoids unexpected colour shifts.
iPhone photos are 4:3, but common print sizes like 4x6 are 3:2 and 8x10 is 5:4. The printer crops the difference. Crop the photo yourself first to control what's kept.
Use 90 or higher. Print files don't need to be small, and higher quality avoids compression artefacts that can show up on large prints.
Yes. HEIC to PDF puts one, two, four or six photos per page on A4, Letter or Legal paper, which is handy for contact sheets or printing several photos at once.
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