What is the largest sharp print size for The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi.?

At 300 dpi, this 1,259 × 1,938 px file prints up to 4.2 × 6.5 in with gallery-sharp detail. At 150 dpi the file reaches 8.4 × 12.9 in, which is poster-sharp quality.

Which standard frame sizes give gallery-sharp prints of The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi.?

The best frame sizes for this file are 8 × 10 in, 11 × 14 in, 12 × 16 in, printing at 150–299 dpi (poster- to sharp-quality).

Does printing The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi. require cropping the image?

Standard frame aspect ratios may not match this artwork exactly; depending on the size chosen, up to 19% of the image could be cropped. Most print-on-demand services let you adjust the crop position or add a white mat border instead.

The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi. — Kitagawa Utamaro | Free high-res download

The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi.

Kitagawa Utamaro · probably 1797 · The Met, New York

Public domain · CC0 · $0.001,259 × 1,938 px · 2.4 MP

Prints gallery-sharp up to4.2 × 6.5 inat 300 dpi, uncropped · poster-sharp to 8.4 × 12.9 in at 150 dpi

The download is the Met's own open-access file, served by the Met. Big file — give it a minute.

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How big can you print it?

Standard frame sizes, turned to match the artwork. "Crops" is how much of the picture you lose filling that frame edge to edge — or keep it all and let a mat take up the difference.

Frame	Effective dpi	Verdict	Crops
8 × 10 in	157	Poster sharp	19%
11 × 14 in	114	Fine across a room	17%
12 × 16 in	104	Fine across a room	13%
16 × 20 in	78	Too soft	19%
18 × 24 in	69	Too soft	13%
24 × 36 in	52	Too soft	3%
30 × 40 in	41	Too soft	13%

Will it fit over your couch? Put this one on your wall, to scale — crop or mat, frame size, hang height and the order.

The ticket

The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi. is a woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, ca. 1754–1806), dated probably 1797. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Size on the museum record: 15 x 9 15/32 in. (38.1 x 24.1 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds it in its Asian Art collection — Rogers Fund, 1914.

The Met catalogs The Lovers Miura-ya Komurasaki and Shirai Gonpachi. as a woodblock print; ink and color on paper by Kitagawa Utamaro. The museum dates it probably 1797; it sits in the Asian Art department as accession JP153. People are the subject, and the grouping and gestures matter more than any single face; avoid cropping the edges. The Met's scan measures 1,259 × 1,938 pixels, which prints about 4.2 × 6.5 in at 300 dpi and 8.4 × 12.9 in at a still-comfortable 150 dpi. Because it runs tall, it wants a vertical frame; compare the crop percentage across sizes before you choose. Its muted earth tones are forgiving: natural wood softens the palette, walnut deepens it and black frames it like a gallery. Woodblock prints were made to be reproduced, so a faithful reprint fits the tradition. Keep the paper tone warm instead of bleaching it to white. Light it from above with a soft warm bulb, hang the centre of the picture near 57 inches, and it will read as intended instead of as decoration.

The Met released its scan under CC0, which means no permission, no fee and no credit line required. That file is 1,259 × 1,938 pixels — 2.4 megapixels — good for a gallery-sharp print up to 4.2 × 6.5 in. The woodblock print itself measures about 9.5 × 15 in, so a true life-size print runs below 300 dpi — still sharp at normal viewing distance.Woodblock prints were made to be printed again and again — a reproduction is in keeping with the whole point of the thing. Keep the paper tone warm. A printer that bleaches the ground to white-white flattens it into clip art.