Composition

Guides, not rules

A composition works because of how its shapes, values, edges and directions relate, not because a subject lands on a line. Use the overlays to ask questions of a picture, then decide for yourself.

• Use them to diagnoseAn overlay makes some things obvious: a horizon cutting the picture exactly in half, a subject stuck dead centre by accident, a strong diagonal that leads out of the frame, or a crowded edge.
• Something will always line upWith eight overlays and dozens of lines, some edge in any picture will fall near one of them. A match found after the fact is not evidence that the artist planned it.
• Thirds and phi are closeThe thirds lines sit at 33.3% and the phi lines at 38.2% of the frame. On a 30 cm canvas that is 1.5 cm. Neither is precise enough for “on the line” to mean much.
• The golden ratio is overratedClaims that the Parthenon, the Mona Lisa or most Old Masters were built on φ rest on selective measurement. Experiments since Fechner (1876) have found no consistent preference for golden rectangles.
• Centre and symmetry are validIcons, formal portraits and many Renaissance altarpieces are centred and symmetrical on purpose. A central subject gives stability and directness. The thirds rule only warns against doing it by default.
• Format comes firstChoose the shape of the picture before placing anything in it. The same subject reads differently in a square, a tall 4:5 or a wide 16:9, so try crops before you commit to a canvas.

Overlay and crop

Load an image (it stays on your device and is never uploaded), or use a sample. Drag inside the frame to move it, drag the handles to resize it, or drag outside it to draw a new frame. The overlays follow the crop.

Focal point checker

This shows the current crop. Click where the eye goes first (the area of strongest contrast, sharpest edge or most saturated colour) and anywhere else that holds attention. Each point is measured against the thirds and phi intersections. Distances are given as a percentage of the frame’s diagonal.

The overlays explained

What each overlay is, how it is constructed, and what it is good for. The diagrams are drawn from the same geometry as the tool.

Thumbnail sheet

Print an A4 sheet of empty frames in your chosen proportion. Small tick marks on the edges show the thirds or phi divisions without drawing lines through the frame. Fill the frames with quick value sketches before you commit to a composition.