Camera Framing Grid

What the lines are for

The rule of thirds is the oldest piece of framing advice there is: divide the picture into three across and three down, and put the things that matter on those lines rather than dead in the middle. Eyes near the upper line, a horizon on the lower one, a person a third of the way in from the side. The center cross is for the opposite job — deliberately centering something, or checking that a shelf, a whiteboard or a document sits square.

Photographers and camera apps normally draw these lines inside the viewfinder. This tool draws them on the screen instead, which is useful when the thing you are lining up is the screen: a slide, a drawing, a page you are about to photograph, or a second display standing in as a backdrop.

Using it

1. 1

   Pick a shape. Thirds for framing, the center cross for centering or checking that something is straight.

2. 2

   Pick a tone that contrasts with whatever you are placing in front of the screen: a dark field behind a pale object, a light one behind a dark object.

3. 3

   Go full screen, so the lines sit at the thirds of the whole panel rather than the thirds of a box on a web page.

What it cannot do

It cannot tell you what your camera sees. A camera's field of view depends on its lens and its sensor, and a web page has no way to know either, so the grid lines up what is on this screen — nothing more. If you want guides inside the shot itself, use the grid in your camera app, which is drawn over the actual picture.

It also cannot square up a crooked camera for you. If a photograph of a screen comes out as a trapezoid, the camera is not parallel to the panel; the center cross will show you that, but moving the camera is what fixes it.

For a plain field with no lines at all, use the Gray Screen; to see your own picture on screen, the Screen Mirror.