The son of a librarian in the Conseil d'État, Ratier became a teacher of English in the high school of Bourges.
He later abandoned this occupation, became a journalist at the Journal du Cher, then a lithographer and printer, patented in Paris on 14 February 1829 in succession to Pierre-François Ducarme.
In 1829, he founded with the lithographer printer Sylvestre Nicolas Durier the illustrated periodical La Silhouette [fr].
He made numerous lithographs and engravings for theatrical publications and magazines, including Album pour rire or Miroir des dames, and many poster prints.
He was also the printer and translator of English-language novels, including Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1853) and Evangeline by Henry Longfellow (1864).