The idea of the Rule of Thirds: Divide your photo or layout into three equal parts horizontally and vertically. This is best done using four lines drawn like a tic-tac-toe board. Place the focal point (the most important part of the photo/layout) along one of these lines, or, for even more impact, at an intersection of these lines.

Artists and photographers have used the Rule of Thirds for centuries, because the resulting composition is pleasing to the eye, and it gives the subject more emphasis than if it is right in the middle of the photo, canvas, or, for our purpose, a layout.

 

Part 1: Using the Rule of Thirds to crop a photo.

 

Here is the photo I want to crop.

I first decided what the focal point of the photo is. Usually, the focal point is the subject's eyes. I drew a grid onto my photo by using the GRID Custom Shapes Tool in Photoshop (It's the last shape on the list.) Or you can use your mind's eye to imagine a tic-tac-toe board on your photo.

 

Find the Custom Shape of the Grid using Photoshop 7 and other versions of PS. Draw the grid by clicking near the top corner of the photo. Click and drag the grid shape down and diagonally across the photo. All lines should be equally spaced apart. Now there is a border on the grid. I made the grid big enough so the border doesn't show on the photo.

 

In this photo, her face is smack in the middle and she is very far away. Let's crop in real close.

 

Crop the photo using the Rule of Thirds. Now the eyes are lined up with the top third line, and her tongue (which is important because I am going to scrap a layout about tasting snowflakes) is in the right third of the composition.

 

Remove the grid by dragging the grid layer into the Trash Can shown at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Save your cropped photo with a new name so you don't overwrite your original photo.

Note: To use the Rule of Thirds when taking your photographs, imagine the tic-tac-toe board of lines in your viewfinder (or LCD screen, if digital). Place your subject (namely their eyes) on one of these lines or intersecting lines. Take your picture. This is called In-Camera Cropping.

Note: Breaking the Rule of Thirds is okay. Sometimes breaking this rule can be freeing and inspiring. You, as the artist, can make that choice.

 

Part 2: Using the Rule of Thirds to build a layout.

 

Let's use the Rule of Thirds on a layout. I've got my background ready and have drawn out the grid. Since the photos are the important part of our layouts, we want to emphasize them by placing them on one of these lines. I think I will use the bottom third of the layout, but I'm going to bend the rule a little. Instead of only placing my pictures along that line, I've decided to center a big grouping of my photos, the title, journaling and embellishments along the bottom third line.

 

As you can see, the bottom line goes directly through the center of my grouping. I've circled, in red, the whole grouping of photos, embellishments and words which has become the powerful focal point of the layout.

Experiment with the Rule of Thirds. Find the important item or focal point that you want to emphasize. Place it along one of the lines or intersecting areas using the tic-tac-toe grid as a guide. Endless possible layout compositions are awaiting you.

Layout by Sarah Batdorf

	Note: Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Deep Freeze, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Hip Chick Big Stitches are also available.

Tutorial written by Sarah Batdorf