Ratioframe.

You can — and for a strong artistic statement that is often exactly the right call. Just be aware of the trade-off: standard sizes like DIN A, 30 × 40 cm or 50 × 70 cm fit countless off-the-shelf frames and passepartouts, which are affordable and instantly available. Any other size means a custom-made frame, which usually costs several times more and takes longer. Ratioframe shows you which standard format keeps the most of your image, so you can decide how much cropping is worth saving — or confidently conclude that your own format is worth the custom frame.

Ratioframe currently lists frames from Modulor, a Berlin-based supplier for art, craft and framing with 52 wooden and 54 aluminium changeover frames, and from BGA Store, which offers the Rahmen Modern (Acrylglas) series in several sizes and colours. Both are curated by hand with transparent prices. We always welcome tips on other affordable yet high-quality frame suppliers — more shops are on the way.

Ratioframe was created by Andreas Chudowski, a photographer from Berlin. He built the tool to solve a question he kept running into in his own work: which standard format and frame keeps the most of a photograph — without custom framing costs.