A single overlay tells you one thing. Four overlays stacked on the same frame tell you whether the composition holds up across every system or whether it works for one accidental reason. The four-grid stack is what I run on every shot I'm going to print.
The four grids
- Rule of Thirds — the universal baseline
- Phi grid — the off-centre refinement
- Diagonal Method — Westhoff's two-diagonal compositional check
- Center Cross — the symmetric counter-test
What each grid reveals
- Thirds: subject lands on an intersection (✓) or doesn't (need to re-frame).
- Phi: subject sits closer to centre than thirds — does the photo still read as off-centre, or does it now feel too close to middle?
- Diagonal: does the leading line of the photo land on one of the two bisecting diagonals?
- Center Cross: is the subject so close to centre that this should be a symmetric framing instead?
The workflow
- Open the image in Grid Maker Pro.
- Activate Thirds at 60% opacity.
- Layer Phi at 40% opacity (different colour).
- Layer Diagonal Method at 30%.
- Quick eyeball check — does the subject land on at least 3 of 4?
- If 4/4, the composition is rock-solid.
- If 3/4, identify which system fails and decide whether the failure matters for this frame.
- If ≤ 2/4, re-crop or re-shoot.
A worked example
A wide landscape: horizon lands on the lower third (✓ thirds), sun in upper-right at the phi intersection (✓ phi), river along the baroque diagonal (✓ diagonal method). It fails the centre cross test — which is the right outcome, because this isn't a symmetric subject. 3/4 grids, deliberate failure on the one that wouldn't apply.
Closing — the tool
The Grid Maker Pro tool supports unlimited overlay layering with independent opacity per overlay. The four-grid stack is one click each.