Welcome to our step by step guide on how to order your print from Poster Print Shop using our easy online order wizard, which is our most common order method and is used for uploading one print ready file or photo for printing. The wizard will guide you through the steps and help with any sizing issues.

In the first column, choose what media you'd like your image printed on. Choose from any of our wide variety of media types, from professional photographic papers to canvas, backlit, duratrans or transparent films, vinyl banners and window clings. You can click on any media type to be taken to it's product page and learn more about it with detailed descriptions and sample photos.

In the second column, tell us what size you'd like your print to be. You can choose from 6 common portrait and landscape print sizes, or enter any custom size you desire. Don't worry if you don't see the size you need in the list, simply click on 'enter any custom size' and enter the exact size you need. You can enter decimals as fractions when you need a special size. We can print on most media up to 60" in one direction by any length in the other direction.

Finally, click "upload" to select the file or photo from your computer or device that you'd like printed. The order wizard accepts .jpg, .png, .tif, and .pdf. If you have a document in another file format, try going to the original program and saving or 'exporting' it as a PDF, as most programs now support this file type. The order wizard can accept files up to 400mb in size, for files larger than that, you'll need to use our Advanced Order method which skips previewing the file for you.

After you've uploaded your file, you're taken to the "Pring Layout & Preview" step of the order wizard. Here you'll see a preview of the image you uploaded and be able to crop and size the image for your print as well as download a proof before continuing.

If the image you uploaded has the same aspect ratio (sizes proportionally) to the print size you are requesting, you won't see the blue lines of the crop tool, and you're ready to move to the next step. This is good news, it means your uploaded image perfectly matches the print size you requested:

If the image you've uploaded appears with the blue crop tool over it (see below), this means that the image you uploaded does not size proportionally to the print size you requested, and you'll need to crop it a bit for it to fit. If you don't understand aspect ratio, you can read more about it on our site here: What is aspect ratio?

This often occurs when you are requesting an unusual size print but the image you uploaded doesn't match that unusual size perfectly. Keep in mind just because you have a certain size or frame you need to fit, that doesn't mean the image you have selected matches that size perfectly, and that's why a little bit (or a lot, depending on the size difference) of the image will need to be cropped.

You can move the crop tool around on the image to get the crop (and your print), the way you want it, then click on "Preview Your Print" to apply the crop and see the results. In the example below, this customer wants an 18 x 24 print, but they uploaded an image that is 18 x 26 in size, so some of the top and/or bottom need to be cropped off for it to fit. The customer is selecting the portion of the image they want to keep and applying the crop:

You can do more with the cropper than just slide it around. You can also resize the image with the crop tool to select a smaller area to print. The crop tool is locked to the print size you requested, so you can click on the blue dots in the corners of the tool and resize the cropper to any proportion you like if you'd like a smaller section of your image to be printed:

After previewing your image and layout, click on 'download proof' to get a PDF proof of how your print will look when you receive it. This is the proof you accept the layout and how your image will be printed when completing your order.

Oh, we're going to be stubborn about it, eh? Well, unfortunately, if you're stuck on using the image you selected at the print size you requested, and they don't match, you don't really have a choice. You can't fit a square peg into a triangle, as the saying goes. When aspect ratios don't match, you have to crop the image to make it fit. You can try to use a different image, or resize your print size to match your image size:

Your only other option is to change your requested print size to match your image size and, once they match, you won't have to crop. This is a compromise that changes your print size to fit your image size. You can check what your image sizes proportionally to with our Image Size Tool, where you can upload your image, tell us what size you want one dimension (width or height), and it will tell you what the other dimension will be. You can then return to the order wizard and use that as your print size, and then you won't need to crop your image.

The final step of the order wizard allows you to choose your trim and add borders, as well as select the quantity (how many copies) of this print (this image and size) you'd like on your order.

Choose if you'd like us to trim your image to bleed (this means we'll cut the print to match your requested print size exactly (allow for a .125 margin of error), or choose to have a .5, 1", 2" or 4" border added to your print.

Borders are helpful if you're mounting or framing your print or canvas when you receive it by adding extra material around the outside of your image. Borders are added to your print size, so if you requested an 18 x 24 print and add a 1" border, you'll receive a print that is 20" x 26" (accounting for the extra 1" border all the way around your image.

Borders are also helpful if your putting your image in the opening of a frame or matte, so that you don't see the edges of your print in the opening, a little extra border around the edges helps you position the image. You can always cut off extra border material yourself with scissors or an Xacto knife as the edges will be hidden behind the frame or matte.

If you selected vinyl banner as your print media, you can add grommets to the corners and edges for hanging. Grommets are only available on vinyl banner because only this media type is sturdy enough to hold the grommet.

Finally, tell us how many copies of this specific print (this image, size, and media type) you'd like us to make for you.