![]() Take this amazing photo of my friend and me at my senior prom many years ago (and please forgive the quality).įirst off, yes I wore jeans to my senior prom. You can easily divide the image into two-thirds areas, as well, like so:īut the rule of thirds is just the beginning. It’s important to point out that the rule of thirds does not dictate that your subject can only be in one-third of the photo area. It may not be perfect, but it’s definitely better. ![]() The faces we can see are all in the outer or upper thirds of the image. The cropped image brings us closer to the subjects and cuts out the unnecessary elements from around the outside of where the skaters and coaches are standing. You can see that the grid lines moved as I cropped the image to show how the adjusted image fits with the rule of thirds. In the next screenshot, you can see my adjustments: This photo of my friends on the Detroit Roller Derby team is in definite need of a crop and you can see the grid lines ready to help me improve the image. I grabbed a Snagit screen shot of my Snagit cropping tool (how meta is that?). Just like on your phone’s camera, photo editor cropping tools have grid lines to help you crop according to the rule of thirds. I’m using Snagit, but most photo editors (even the ones on mobile devices) offer basic cropping functions. To crop your image, you’ll need a photo editor. There are many reasons why you might want to crop a photo, including (but not limited to) the discovery of background elements you didn’t realize were there, issues with the framing or composition, to better focus on the main subject, etc. Many times you’ll want to adjust the photo even further. Isn’t she cute?īut composing your image when you take a photo is only the start. The idea is that when you’re lining up your shot, you would use the grid lines to ensure that your image uses the rule of thirds. They’re there to help you compose your image. The above screenshot of my iPhone camera app taking a photo of the Harry Potter nerd toys on my desk shows the grid lines. The basic concept is that you want to place the points of interest near the spots where grid lines intersect.ĭid you ever wonder why the camera view on your phone has a grid? ![]() The rule of thirds divides all images into three equal horizontal and three equal vertical sections (or nine individual boxes) separated by grid lines. In fact, it’s kind of a rule of photography that your main subject shouldn’t be in the center.īut if it’s not in the center, where does it go? That’s where the rule of thirds comes in. It may seem illogical, but typically the most interesting or eye-catching photos don’t have the main subject smack dab in the center of the image. That’s image cropping! The Rule of Thirds ![]() If you’ve ever taken a photo with your phone’s camera and then posted that photo as an Instagram image, you’ve had to choose how much of the overall photo to include in Instagram’s square image format. In other words, image cropping is the act of improving a photo or image by removing the unnecessary parts.Ĭhances are, you’ve already done some image cropping without even realizing it. To “crop” an image is to remove or adjust the outside edges of an image (typically a photo) to improve framing or composition, draw a viewer’s eye to the image subject, or change the size or aspect ratio. What is image cropping?įirst, cropping has nothing to do with farming, so I will not be asking you to plow or sow or anything like that. And while there are many ways to decide which image is right for what you’re trying to communicate, nothing ruins a potentially great image like a bad crop. Whether you’re trying to explain something, show how something works or just adding elements to help grab a reader’s eye, images add interest and can help get your point across better and faster.īut there’s a big difference between using an image and using the RIGHT image. By now you know that images are essential to creating great content and communicating clearly. ![]()
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