Ortelius's Africa is confident exactly where it has no business being: the coasts are traced from Portuguese sailing, and the interior is furnished from Ptolemy and rumour, with the Nile rising from two great lakes no European would see for another three hundred years. Ships and monsters fill both oceans. The blank spaces were not left blank — they were decorated, which is a different admission.

Maker: Abraham Ortelius
Date: 1595
Medium of the original: Plate
Original held by: Ruderman / Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Ruderman / Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Public domain, verified
Catalogue number: PA-00346

As chosen: 24 x 18 in, art print, classic frame
Picture	24 x 18 in
Outside size	25.6 x 19.6 in
Depth	0.9 in (22 mm)
Weight	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]]
Hanging	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]]
Material	Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing
Made in	Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi

Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.

How the print check works

Sizes offered
Size	dpi	Grade	How it fits
10 x 8 in	857	Excellent	Trimmed 5.7%
14 x 11 in	623	Excellent	Trimmed 4%
16 x 12 in	568	Excellent	Trimmed 0.6%
20 x 16 in	428	Excellent	Trimmed 5.7%
24 x 18 in	379	Excellent	Trimmed 0.6%
30 x 24 in	285	Excellent	Trimmed 5.7%
40 x 30 in	227	Excellent	Trimmed 0.6%
48 x 36 in	189	Good	Trimmed 0.6%

Sizes withheld
Size	Why
12 x 8 in	Wrong shape: a 12% crop
18 x 12 in	Wrong shape: a 12% crop
24 x 16 in	Wrong shape: a 12% crop
30 x 20 in	Wrong shape: a 12% crop
36 x 24 in	Wrong shape: a 12% crop
60 x 40 in	Wrong shape: a 12% crop