"I would also bet most have no idea what the Golden Mean is or could define it anyway, but that is just a guess on my part based on the framers I have met over the last 40 years. Maybe the framers in your neck of the woods have a sounder basis in art training. My formal education was in architecture."
OK, so we have something in common since I have degrees in both mathematics and architecture. I will agree that probably most framers do not know what the Golden Ratio is, hell I would guess that most people don't know what it is, so maybe you can teach me something here (I'm being serious) Can you give me an example of why utilizing the golden ratio (I will explain for those who don't understand it and I'm assuming you mean the golden ratio?) for matting a print would be so important? I agree with you that I would tell a framer (I'm a woodworker, so I make my own) how to frame and matte my prints, but I can't imagine getting so specific. Again, I will reiterate, I'm NOT a professional photographer and I can tell most here are pretty darn good (their websites are) so I wont be so arrogant as to state this is just plain stupid, I would just like to read a valid reason? I know this will piss off a lot of people, but I prefer the art to be the main focus and I like my frame and matte to accentuate the art, possibly add a little to it, but NOT be the main focus. Quick story, a friend of mine who is a phenomenal glass artist was commissioned to design and create a beautiful piece of glass art for a woman to give to her husband for Christmas and it was to be framed, he called and asked me to fabricate a frame, which I did. After Christmas the woman called me and told me that she gave the wrapped art to her husband which he quickly opened, his eyes lit up like stars in the sky (I AGREE IT WAS BEAUTIFUL GLASS) as he said to his wife "This is absolutely the most beautiful frame I've ever seen, who made it" naturally I took the compliment and was proud, but the moral of the story, the frame was too gorgeous!
"Thanks for making my point so eloquently.
"General rules of thumb" are for Wal-Mart employees. Use all the Rules Of Thumbs you like."
Isn't the "Golden Ratio" a "rule of thumb"? And do we really need to use the same proportions as the Parthenon? I'm just asking, but it really seems to be extreme to me. Again I'll ask, are your matte sizes really so specific? And, if you are matting a photograph of a building that was not designed utilizing the golden ratio then why does the matte have to? Maybe I could be convinced that a photograph of the Parthenon would need to be matted using the GR, but what about everything else that doesn't follow that ratio? Why the importance?
"Rounding off" is fine in some cases, not so fine in others. I make that determination myself when sizing the image."
So, back to my question, why is rounding off not fine in all cases? Are there really images that you have that look terrible or not so great at 6" x 9" but look great at 6-1/16" x 9-3/32"? I will once again make the point that by using the metric system this conversation ends!