Rule of thirds Crop

Found this interesting tutorial on how to create a custom shape in photoshop that can function as a rule of thirds overlay. Kiind of interesting. Here is the link:

http://www.lunacore.co​m …op/tutorials/tu​t023_2.htm

Great, now I can make my pictures look like everyone else's. But seriously, is it really that hard to visualize a 'rule of thirds' composition, and is it any more difficult on screen to make the crop? I agree, it's a neat tool, but is it really that necessary?

I found it interesting. Yes, maybe not that helpful but a quick read and refresher for those who crop fast.

I found it more interesting on how it was set up, more so than it being an actual tool.

Any 'Golden Rule' crop tools? That's what we really need.

As in - cropping with a guide on the golden ratio? If so, you can make a guide in just the same way as is shown in this tutorial, just figure out a way of getting the necessary ratio in the elements of the guide (it's probably easiest to place guidelines numerically).

For what it's worth, I did go through the steps to do build this template, adding to my knowledge about paths in Photoshop. It's interesting to stick over your pictures, but I'm not going to slavishly follow the "rule of thirds" just because I now have an easy way of cropping to it.

David

Interesting, I usually try to get the rule of thirds right in the camera process.

Kinda difficult when you have to crop for 11x14 or 8x10 prints though.

http://www.powerretouc​he.com …oportion_introd​uction.htm

hehe true but never hurts to try does it?

I am going to admit to a 180 on this method/tool. I went through the steps, and made the guide. It has come in handy for making crops for prints. I usually get my comps right in the camera, but like Scottes said, they aren't right if you are printing in another aspect ratio. As I started doing the crops for 8x10 and 5x7, a few times it came in handy. Some of the images don't qualify for the technique, so it isn't really a magic crop bullet, but it can help a bit.

Very interesting... I just use this method in Photoshop as a guide to see if my composition is anywhere near...
Edit... Preferences... Guides, Grids & Slices... In the grid box I have the gridline set to 33.33 and the Sub division set to 1...
Now when I want a quick check I just press the Ctrl+' keys together and it brings the grid up over the whole image... No good for cropping admittedly, but I find it a useful guide anyway... Repeat the Ctrl+' to toggle the guide back off again...

I haven't followed that, but find the guide that RSP gives in the crop tool, immensely helpful. I can imagine it would be as useful in Photoshop. Do newer versions of Photoshop let you set the crop tool to work in fixed aspect ratio / size? I have PS6, and I have to use the select tool, and then crop, as the crop tool can't be set by ratio / total size.

Yes, PS cropping can use a set aspect ration but gives no guidelines for the rule of thirds. RSP's crop-tool gridlines are nice, but sometimes a pain if you print to different sizes. Sometimes I like to convert the entire image, process it in PS, then start cropping for different print sizes. At times like this RSP's gridlines are almost useless since cropping to every size means a lot more work in PS.

If PS's crop tool had gridlines it would be darned handy.

Thanks Scottes - I haven't had that problem - I only do minimal work in PS (normally 2 pass USM), so it's not an issue for me - although I haven't done a paid job where I've had to get a shot, and all of them need a significant amount of work doing to them.