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crop overlays - how do you use them?

D.a.l.e

D.a.l.e

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2023
Messages
16
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Classic
Lightroom Version Number
15.1.1
Operating System
  1. Windows 11
Hello -
There are two questions I have about the crop overlays.

1. Where is the rule of thirds? I see a distant cousin, with the center horizontal lines much closer together than the accepted rule of thirds.
2. Where can I find an explanation of the others in LR, as well as how to use them?

Dale
 
Solution
Jim Wilde
D.a.l.e said:
How do you access this list?
Click to expand...
In the Develop module, open the crop tool (press the R key) then on the menu bar go to Tools>Crop Guide Overlay where you should see the list of all the overlay options as per the list that Cletus showed. Clicking on one, e.g. Thirds, should switch the overlay to the selection.
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I use the shortcut key R to go into Crop Mode and then tap the O (for overlay ). Every time I tap O the Overlay mode steps thru the overlay options. One of them should be the option with the closer horizontal lines.

Google Golden Mean and you will get lots of explanations for this specific type of overlay… I only ever use the basic crop tool… others may comment on different crop overlays.
 
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Yes, the "rule of thirds" overlay is not among what LR offers, but you are correct that a cousin of it is available. It would be nice if it was available as it is probably the most well known and popular, but I am fine without it in LR as I can always export at full resolution and crop in FastStone IV.

Regarding the others, I agree with Gnits that there are may explanations of the Golden Mean. My take on the offerings is that they are aides to composition, and not a substitution for a good understanding about composition (and I am in no way implying that you do not have a good eye for composition in my statement). I will often set what I think I want for my crop, and then look at what the overlays show in relation to my initial setting. Sometimes I will fine tune the crop just a bit to coincide with what they overlay suggests, and other times I just ignore them as I know what I want. I recommend setting a crop and seeing what the various overlays show in relation to what you set. It is just an exercise, but you might find it informational.

If you still feel strongly about the rule of thirds, then you could send in a request to Adobe to have it added. If enough people say something, it might get consideration.

--Ken
 
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D.a.l.e said:
1. Where is the rule of thirds? I see a distant cousin, with the center horizontal lines much closer together than the accepted rule of thirds.
Click to expand...
This looks like thirds to me:

Grid.jpg
 
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Looks to me like rule of thirds crop overlay.
1770513973523.png


I can step through 9 different crop overlays. This one is just before '5 x 5 grid' and just after a 'grid of around 40x40'
 
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One more thing about cropping. I find it VERY useful to "turn off the lights" in LrC when I'm cropping so that the LrC GUI elements don't distract from what I'm seeing as I crop (click the L key twice).

Lights on
1770515570615.png


Lights off
1770515654296.png
 
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Here is a list of the possible overlays. The Rule of thirds is certainly included
1770520043079.png

I personally think the golden ratio is a better choice.
 
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Replytoken said:
Yes, the "rule of thirds" overlay is not among what LR offers, but you are correct that a cousin of it is available. It would be nice if it was available as it is probably the most well known and popular, but I am fine without it in LR as I can always export at full resolution and crop in FastStone IV.

Regarding the others, I agree with Gnits that there are may explanations of the Golden Mean. My take on the offerings is that they are aides to composition, and not a substitution for a good understanding about composition (and I am in no way implying that you do not have a good eye for composition in my statement). I will often set what I think I want for my crop, and then look at what the overlays show in relation to my initial setting. Sometimes I will fine tune the crop just a bit to coincide with what they overlay suggests, and other times I just ignore them as I know what I want. I recommend setting a crop and seeing what the various overlays show in relation to what you set. It is just an exercise, but you might find it informational.

If you still feel strongly about the rule of thirds, then you could send in a request to Adobe to have it added. If enough people say something, it might get consideration.

--Ken
Click to expand...
I should have not gone by memory in my reply above, as I clearly recalled the Golden Ratio overlay, but not the Rule of Thirds. My apologies. I still stand by my comments in the middle.

--Ken
 
Last edited:
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I think it's great that you all can find the rule of thirds. It's not that I don't know what it looks like, it is simply not available to me. I only have 5 different crop overlays (not the 9 mentioned above), and the closest to the rule of thirds that I see is the one below. The actual rule of thirds is nowhere to be found.

1772451439111.png
 
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D.a.l.e said:
How do you access this list?
Click to expand...
In the Develop module, open the crop tool (press the R key) then on the menu bar go to Tools>Crop Guide Overlay where you should see the list of all the overlay options as per the list that Cletus showed. Clicking on one, e.g. Thirds, should switch the overlay to the selection.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Bingo! I had been expecting to see it automatically like the other overlays. I selected it from the list you showed, and there it was!

Thanks Jim.
 
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