The easel
The easel portrait.
It is the largest print of the week and the one everybody will look at, from about six feet away, in a room lit for a service. That distance is what makes it possible.
The short answer
A 16 × 20 inch print needs 2400 × 3000 pixels at 150 ppi, which is why an ordinary 4 × 6 print scanned at 600 dpi is enough. Mount it on foam board rather than framing it under glass — glass reflects the room and hides the face — and set it so the eyes are about eye level for a standing adult.
01 · The size16 × 20 is the standard, and it is smaller than people expect.
Most funeral homes have an easel and a frame, and the frame takes a 16 × 20. Larger rooms use 18 × 24 or 20 × 24; a chapel with a long nave may use 24 × 36. The size is set by the room, not by the photograph.
So the first question is not "how big can I print this". It is "what size does this room take" — one phone call to the funeral home, and it decides everything else. Turning up with an 18 × 24 for a frame that holds a 16 × 20 is a problem that cannot be solved on the morning.
A practical rule for a room you have not seen: 16 × 20 is right for a standard visitation room, and 11 × 14 is right for a table or a small side room. When in doubt go smaller — an under-sized print in a well-chosen frame reads as deliberate, and an over-sized one that has been squeezed into the space reads as improvised.
02 · The arithmeticWhy 150 ppi is enough here and not enough on a card.
The resolution a print needs depends on how far away it is seen. A prayer card is held at forty centimetres; an easel print is looked at from two metres. At five times the distance, you need a fifth of the resolution for the same apparent sharpness.
That is what allows a 16 × 20 at 150 ppi, and 150 is not a shortcut — it is the same trade standard a commercial print shop will use for a poster. Concretely:
| Easel size | Pixels needed at 150 ppi | Will a 4×6 scan at 600 dpi cover it? |
|---|---|---|
| 11 × 14 | 1650 × 2100 | Yes, easily |
| 16 × 20 | 2400 × 3000 | Yes |
| 18 × 24 | 2700 × 3600 | Yes, just |
| 20 × 24 | 3000 × 3600 | Yes, on the height |
| 24 × 36 | 3600 × 5400 | No — needs a better source |
If you are checking a specific file, the calculator on the size page will tell you what it covers and where it falls short.
03 · The mountingMount it flat. Do not put it behind glass.
Two things ruin easel prints, and neither is resolution.
Curl. A large print on photo paper is not flat. Left loose it bows, and a bowed print on an easel looks careless even when the picture is good. Ask for it mounted on foam board or gator board — a rigid board about 5 mm thick, glued to the back. It costs a few pounds or dollars, it takes a print shop an hour, and it is the single best thing you can do for how the print reads.
Glass. A framed portrait under glass reflects the room: windows, strip lights, the backs of people's heads. In a chapel lit for a service, a glazed print can be almost unreadable from the seats, and the family never finds out because they see it at home. If it must be framed, ask for non-reflective glass or, better, none — a mounted print on an easel is not usually framed at all.
Canvas is the third option and it is popular for exactly this reason: it does not glare and it does not need a frame. It is also softer than photo paper, so it suits a large print from a modest file. Ask the lab what they recommend for the resolution you have — most will steer you honestly.
04 · The cropGetting the face in the right place.
An easel print is portrait, which means most family photographs — landscape, taken in a group — need cropping. Three rules carry most of the work:
- Leave room above the head. A photograph cropped tight to the hairline looks wrong at this size; the eye wants some space above the person to let the face sit.
- Eyes at about 40% from the top of the frame. Photographers call this the upper third, and it is why a good portrait looks composed and a centred face looks like a passport photograph.
- Cut below the collarbone. A crop through the neck is the classic error and it is very visible at 16 inches wide.
If the source is a group photograph and the crop cannot avoid cutting someone's shoulder, that shoulder has to be invented rather than recovered. It is a small reconstruction and a good retoucher can do it; an automated tool will guess. Ask what was invented before you accept it.
05 · Judging itHow to tell whether it will look right before you pay for the big one.
Print a 6 × 4 test. It costs almost nothing and it is more honest than any screen, because a monitor is backlit and flattering and paper is neither.
Look at the print at the distance it will actually be seen from — hold it at arm's length to check the fine detail, then prop it up and step back two metres. If it holds at two metres, it will hold at 16 × 20 in a chapel. Almost every file that fails at arm's length is fine at two metres, which is the point.
Two things worth checking on the test that are easy to miss on screen: whether there is a colour cast (a pink or cyan drift that a monitor hides), and whether the eyes look like the person's eyes. The second one is not a technical check but it is the one that matters, and it is easier to answer on paper.
Questions people ask at this point.
How do I enlarge an old photo to 16 by 20 without it looking blurry?
Scan the original print at 600 dpi rather than photographing it, which gives about 2400 x 3600 pixels from a 4x6 and is enough for 16x20 at 150 ppi. If the file is smaller than that, print smaller rather than upscaling hard, or accept mild softness which is invisible from a few steps back.
Should the easel print be framed?
Usually not. Glass reflects the room and can make the portrait unreadable from the seats. Mount it on foam board and stand it on the easel. If you must frame it, ask for non-reflective glass.
What size photo goes on a funeral easel?
16 x 20 inches is the trade standard for a visitation room. Larger rooms and chapels use 18 x 24 or 20 x 24, and a long chapel might use 24 x 36. Ask the funeral home what their easel and frame take before ordering.
Can I use a photo from my phone for the easel?
Yes — a modern phone camera produces around 4000 pixels on the long edge, comfortably more than a 16x20 needs. The risk is the route the file took: send the original as an email attachment or through a shared folder, not through a messaging app that shrinks it.
If the original is creased or faded
Damage shows up more at 16 x 20 than anywhere else, because the print is large enough to see it. Repair first, then print — the first restoration on Pinin is free.
Repair before you enlarge