How to enable Camera grid lines in iOS 7

BY Jason

Published 17 Nov 2013

The most well known principle of photographic composition is the ‘Rule of Thirds‘ which says “an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts, and important elements in the image should be placed along these lines or their intersections.”

You can enable grid lines in the Camera app to make it easier to follow this rule.

Camera Grid of course not a new feature, but with iOS 7, the option to enable grid lines has moved from the Camera app to the Settings app. Here’s how to enable grid lines on iOS 7:

  • Open Settings and go to “Photos & Camera”

grid lines 1

  • Scroll down to the Camera section and turn on the switch against the Grid option.

grid lines 2

After enabling this, you can quickly switch back to the Camera app using the Control Center.

To shoot an image according to The Rule of Thirds, you should position the camera such that the main subject is placed on the 4 points of intersections in the center or along the lines.

For those of you who liked to frequently enable and disable grid lines, doing this in Settings is certainly going to be tedious, but it is nonetheless better than not having the option at all. If this is a deal breaker for you however, you can use third-party apps like Camera+ which let you easily enable and disable grids.

Let us know what you think about Apple moving this option to the Settings app from the Camera app.

Also see: How to take better pictures with your iPhone