What is “Aspect Ratio”?

Aspect ratio presents a special challenge for custom stencils, because not all pieces of glass fit the same proportion. Of course! The size and proportion of every project is unique. So every stencil needs to be unique.

What is aspect ratio?

Aspect Ratio describes the proportion of images. Expressed as width compared to height (width:height.) The proportion may be expressed as actual measurement, or reduced down so that the height is expressed as 1 unit.

For example, let’s describe the aspect ration of a typical piece of paper:

aspect-ratio-diagram
  • Landscape – 11″ x 8-1/2″, the aspect ratio is 11:8.5, or 1.3:1
  • Portrait – 8-1/2″ X 11″ has an aspect ratio 8.5:11 or reduced to 0.77:1

When enlarging or reducing an image, it is important to maintain the same aspect ratio, otherwise it might look stretched or distorted.  So how do we change the aspect ratio of an image to fit any project?

Most often we rearrange the graphic elements in an image, to appropriately fit the new proportion. Here is an example: The original image has an aspect ratio 1.62:1
original composition of geese and marsh scene

The composition of the geese and a marsh scene was rearranged to fit the aspect ratio of this shower door project. We used the same images of the geese, the marsh scene, the sun and border, but arranged them to fit the new project. The new aspect ratio is 0.37:1

composition of the geese and marsh scene, rearranged to fit the aspect ration of this shower door project.
Stencil number bcr014 in its original aspect ratio.

Sometimes we need to completely redesign an image to fit the project. This is stencil bcr014 as you see it in the catalog. The aspect ratio is 0.58:1

We designed the new composition to fit two panels of a shower enclosure: The aspect ratio of the new stencils are 0.35:1 and 0.24:1

All stencil projects are saved in our library. This gives us a selection of each image with a variety of aspect ratios, allowing us to quickly create a layout that suits your needs exactly. When browsing our catalog of glass etching stencils, you do not need to choose images that match the aspect ratio of your project. We will arrange the image as needed to fit your glass.

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