Where the photo already is
Start with good news. The photo you want has probably been shared already, and you can often find it without asking anyone a single question about it.
- Their own posts. Scroll back through their Facebook or Instagram to the week they caught it, because a fish they're proud of rarely stays private for long. Look there first.
- The club or syndicate group chat. Catch photos get passed round these chats all the time, so if you're in the group, or know someone who is, have a look.
- A fishing mate's phone. Mates often take the shot. That means the best copy of the photo might not be on the angler's own phone at all.
- The family shared album. If they drop photos into a shared family album, it may be sitting there already.
Why a saved copy is smaller than the original
Finding the photo is half the job. The copy you can save from social media is usually a cut-down version of the file the phone actually took. Instagram's help centre says it uploads photos at the best quality possible, up to 1,080 by 1,080 pixels. So a saved Instagram copy is capped. It doesn't matter how big the original was. Treat anything saved from Facebook, a screenshot or a photo forwarded round a chat the same way, and assume it's smaller than the original. Then let the upload check tell you for sure. It's quick.
What that means for the print
Here's how it works on this site. A house-style print needs at least 800 pixels on the short side. An Instagram-sized copy usually clears that comfortably, so it often works well for a styled print at the smaller sizes. Printing the photo as it is is different. Every detail shows. For the big sizes, you'll want the original file from the phone or camera that took it.
You don't have to guess. When you upload, the file is checked against every size we print, and you're told which ones it'll print well at. That check is free. It all happens before you pay anything. Our print sizes guide shows how big each size looks once it's on the wall.
Getting the original without giving the game away
For a big print of the photo as it is, the original file is worth chasing. Two quiet ways work.
- Ask the mate who took it. They're usually glad to help, and anglers are good at keeping secrets about fish. Ask them to send the original as a file, not a squashed copy.
- Ask the angler on a pretext. Say you want it as your phone background. Or tell them a friend at work wants to see the fish, and ask them to send the photo itself, not a screenshot.
Either way, ask for the full file. A screenshot only keeps what fits on the screen.
Check it's the right fish, and that it's sharp
Make sure it's theirs. Anglers often have a dozen shots from one session, and two fish on the same mat can look alike to the rest of us. If in doubt, pick the one they posted. That's the one they're proudest of. Then zoom in.
- The eye. It should be crisp, not soft.
- The scales. You should be able to see the edge of each scale, not a smear of silver and brown.
- The ends. The tail and the mouth shouldn't be cut off.
- Blur. A wet lens or a shaky hand shows far more on a big print on the wall than it ever does on a phone.
Our guide to photographing a catch covers what makes a good one.
Keep their water to themselves
Lots of anglers guard where they fish. The background of a catch photo can give a quiet water away to anyone who knows it, even from one tree or jetty. If the angler hasn't named the venue in public, don't name it on the print, in a caption or anywhere else. Two fixes. Crop in tight on the fish and the angler. Or try a house style, then check in the free preview how much of the background still shows before you order anything.
Or just send them the link
Some anglers would rather choose the photo themselves. That's fair. They know which fish matters most to them, and which of the shots they actually like the look of. So tell them what you're planning. Send them the link to a house-style print or a print of the photo as it is. They pick. The free preview means they can see exactly how it'll look before anyone pays a penny. You lose the surprise. You won't get the wrong fish.
No photo at all
Sometimes there isn't one. The fish went back before anyone got a phone out, or the only shot is too blurred to use. You can still mark it. A PB print needs only the species, the weight and the date. You pick a species plate, type those in, then add the captor's name and a line of your own if you like. For a more general gift, a ready-made species plate or bankside scene from the shop needs nothing from them at all.
Buying for Christmas? The Christmas gifts page has the order-by dates.
Craig Fearn runs Scale & Fin, a UK studio that prints anglers' catch photos and fish art to order. He writes the guides here, and every fact in them links to the body that published it.