Cropping your photo to 10x15 without cutting off heads
Published on 22 August 2026 · 3 min read
It has happened to you before: you pick the best photo of the weekend, place it on your card, and disaster. Your daughter's forehead is cut off, the village bell tower has vanished, or your feet are floating out of frame. The culprit is the format. A smartphone photo is usually vertical, while a postcard measures 10 by 15 cm: a much more elongated rectangle. You can't keep everything, you have to choose. And luckily, choosing is something you can learn.
Understanding what happens when you crop
Your phone usually shoots in 3:4, sometimes 9:16. The card is 2:3. When you drop a vertical image into a horizontal frame, the tool zooms in until it fills the whole surface, and the edges disappear. Top and bottom go first: that is where heads and mountain peaks get lost. The habit to build is to look at what lives near the edges of your photo before confirming. If the essentials sit in the middle, you are fine. If they sit close to an edge, move the image within the frame instead of crossing your fingers.
The right reflexes for portraits
For a portrait, the rule is simple: eyes in the upper third of the frame, and some air above the hair. Better to trim a bit of torso than the top of a head, that is what any wedding photographer does. If there are several of you in the picture, check each face one by one, especially those at the far ends. And if nothing fits, remember the photo taken from a little further back: by stepping back two paces when you shoot, you give the crop the margin it needs.
What about landscapes?
A vertical landscape, like a waterfall or a narrow street, deserves a decision: the sky or the ground, rarely both. Ask yourself what tells the story of the trip. The mist over the rooftops? Keep the top. The wet cobblestones shining? Keep the bottom. On UnCoucou, the preview shows you exactly what will be printed, so no bad surprises on arrival: what you see is what your grandma will find in her letterbox. And if you are still torn between two crops, send both versions, from €2.29 per card all included.