Golden Ratio 1.1 is a Image Utility product from markuswelz.de, get 4 Stars SoftSea Rating, Golden Ratio is a specialized screen measurement and stencil tool, designed to determine proportions and angles in relation to the Golden Ratio, an aesthetically pleasing formula that is used by painters, architects, photographers and other artist. The software offers a translucent worksheet window that can be used with your existing photo editing or viewing software. You can combine multiple measurements and ratio stencils to analyze different sections of the image and then use the cropping features in your imaging program to edit the photo based on the on-screen template overlay. Golden Ratio requires knowledge of the golden ratio concept in order to take full advantage of the measurements.
It contains two different tools on a translucent window, which stays on top of any other window.
Stencil tool
It is used to create template patterns useful in conjunction with any painting, photo manipulation or design software. The stencils help you create image compositions according to the "golden section" rule or some other ratios.
Measure tool
It is used to define two lines on the screen. The lengths as well as the angle and the ratio of the two lines are displayed.
Multiple copies of each tool can be used at the same time.
With the stencil tool you can place a frame on the screen. This frame is divided into sections by means of a pattern of lines. Several different patterns are available for dividing the frame with different proportions (the golden section for instance).
The aspect ratio of the frame can easily be set to a special value by holding down the shift key while moving one of the borders with the mouse. The special aspect ratio is displayed next to the mouse. Several special aspect ratios are available: common photo, movie and paper formats as well as whole numbers and - of course - the golden section.
The following example shows how to cut a photo in a way, the content is arranged according to the golden section ratio.
Golden Ratio is used with Photo-Paint here.
The translucent worksheet window (on the left) and the main window (on the right) are on top of the Photo-Paint window. Golden Ratio is in "Edit" mode (orange button is down) here. This means that the stencil can be moved, resized and rotated on the worksheet window of Golden Ratio by means of the resizing grips. In this example the stencil has a width to height ratio of 4 to 3, which is a usual aspect ratio of digital photographs. The stencil consists of a border and two pairs of vertical and horizontal lines dividing it by the golden section. It is positioned over the photo so the horizon is at one of the horizontal lines, and the person is at the intersection of two lines.
Now the "Template" mode is active (green button is down). This means that the worksheet window is transparent and has no border, and the stencil has no resizing grips any more. The most important fact is that the worksheet window does not receive mouse clicks any more. As a consequence, the Photo-Paint window below it can be used the normal way. There's just the stencil as an overlay. Finally the cutting tool of Photo-Paint can be applied to the area of the photo marked by the stencil.
This is a very similar example with Gimp. Mind that you can use Golden Ratio in conjunction with any other software. It is not a plug-in, it is a totally independent program. The worksheet is simply a translucent window in front of the other program.
Another software of Golden Ratio is painting and design. Multiple stencils can be arranged in order to define the overall composition of a picture to be painted. Then the picture can be painted along the stencil lines and with the proportions defined by the stencils.
This painting of a tiger is composed with a golden spiral starting from the eye, going through the other eye, and then following the outline of the head. In the mouth part, some golden ratio proportions can be found.
You can use Golden Ratio to find out how artists achieved aesthetically pleasing proportions in their work.
A more technical software is shown here with Visual Studio. Software developers can use Golden Ratio to design windows.
With the measurement tool you can measure proportions as well as angles. For this purpose you simply have to position two lines on the screen. These two lines can optionally be connected at one end. The aspect ratio (and its reciprocal) of these two lines is displayed as well as their intersecting angle (and its opposite angle) and their lengths (in pixels). The license of this graphic software is Freeware, you can free download and free use this Graphic software.