Golden Ratio Composition on Samsung Galaxy: Myths and Uses

You’ll see the term “golden ratio” applied to photography quite a bit, as it’s a mystical-sounding name for a mathematical relationship between numbers, a ratio of approximately 1.618. There’s a lot of myth attached to this number, but ignoring all that, there’s one small application that can be useful in photography.

Essentially it’s similar to the rule of thirds but you’d place your subject slightly closer to the centre of the frame or you might use a curved line that leads the eye towards one of the corners of the frame. Unfortunately, no Galaxy camera displays a golden ratio spiral overlay in the viewfinder so this guide will use the grid you can display instead.

What the golden ratio is

The golden spiral is often confused with the phi grid, a simple rule-of-thirds style grid with the lines brought slightly closer together, placed at 38.2% and 61.8% of the width and height of an image. Don’t be fooled, because these are two very different things, although they are intimately connected.

Cut a line in two so the whole line is to the longer part as the longer part is to the shorter one, and that ratio is phi. The number phi (Wikipedia tells me it’s 1.6180339887…) can be approximated by dividing one Fibonacci number by the next-smallest (try it: 8 ÷ 5 = 1.6; 13 ÷ 8 = 1.625; 21 ÷ 13 ≈ 1.615 … you get the idea).

The golden spiral is constructed so that the radius increases by a factor of phi for every quarter turn, coiling into a point near one corner.

Curiously, the phi grid actually lies closer to the centre than the spiral’s tightest curl, which lies just beyond a thirds intersection! So before blindly following any photo composition tutorial based on “golden ratio placement”, make sure you understand which way it’s nudging! Our rule of thirds guide covers the standard grid in detail.

Five golden ratio claims checked

Wikipedia’s article on the golden ratio (see especially the comments referring to the work of mathematicians Keith Devlin and Mario Livio) does a nice job documenting the disparity between measurements and mythology.

That’s not to say the ratio is without merit. It’s just another tool to help you compose a photograph.

Evaluate it just like the rule of thirds. Does placing your subject(s) within the golden spiral make your photograph stronger or weaker?

Does the Galaxy camera have a golden spiral grid?

The Composition guide option (found within Camera settings > General) offers three options, Grid lines and level, Grid lines only and Level only, plus a toggle switch to turn the feature on/off. This was checked on a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9 in November 2026. There’s no option to change the style of grid (e.g. to a square grid), nor any golden ratio/phi grids, spirals, etc. Samsung refers to this feature as level and viewfinder grid lines on its Galaxy S26 support page and Grid lines on its Galaxy A16 to A56 page. Our grid lines guide explains each of the three options and where older phones keep the switch.

1. 1

   Open Camera settings

   Open the Camera app. Tap the Quick controls button (four dots), then tap the Settings gear icon.

2. 2

   Turn on the guide

   Go to General, tap Composition guide and turn it on. Select Grid lines and level. A-series devices have a Grid lines option instead.

3. 3

   Use the level as well

   Being off level will be more evident in some situations than in others. It's very noticeable in shots of buildings or the horizon but less so if your subject isn't impacted by a tilted horizon.

Placing a subject on phi lines with a 3x3 grid

The thirds grid is located 33.3% away from the edge of the frame, whereas the phi grid is at 38.2%. That’s about a third of the way from the grid line to the middle of the frame. Try it out in any grid option in your phone camera!

1. 1

   Find the nearest grid line

   Position the key elements at the intersections or along the lines of thirds, as you would do in any normal situation.

2. 2

   Nudge toward the middle

   Move the subject away from this line towards the middle of the frame about a third of the way and you'll find you're quite close to the phi line.

3. 3

   Or nudge toward the corner for a spiral

   When a line (say a shoreline or road) enters your frame and curves, position your subject slightly away from the intersection (towards the corner the line is pointing to).

4. 4

   Leave room for the crop

   Shoot a little wider than you think you need to. You can always crop in later, as a 12MP image will have a few hundred pixels to spare and 50MP or 200MP will have plenty more besides!

If the subject is moving through the scene, then rule of thirds placement is probably best, as it’s more important to leave space in the direction of movement than to worry about the exact ratios.

For a portrait in the taller full-screen aspect ratio, the phi placement may actually be preferable to rule of thirds as it won’t have the subject’s head so close to the top of the frame and will look a little more balanced/natural.

When thirds is enough and when phi helps

Viewing size matters. On a phone screen, there’s little practical difference between composing an image at 33% or 38%. Your viewers likely won’t notice. And if an image didn’t work at thirds, it probably won’t work by nudging the subject over by just 5%. More important decisions are subject selection and where your eye will land first, which our focal point guide covers.

• Placing your subject according to phi works well for peaceful scenes or subjects, e.g. a still life or a portrait of a sitting person. It creates an off-centre composition without much of a sense of tension.
• If you’re photographing something in motion, or if you’re shooting a landscape that features a lot of sky, the rule of thirds can work well, as there’s a lot of room for the subject to move or for the image to “breathe.”
• Spirals work well in a context that already has a curving element (e.g., a twisting walkway or a spiral staircase). Leading lines are more broadly useful, and a spiral is just one of the forms they can take.
• When symmetry is important, centre-weighted compositions often work best. The symmetry guide shows when compositions work better centred than on grid intersections.

Cropping to the golden ratio after the shot

The easiest place to get phi right is when cropping an image, because you can use measurements to check your work.

By default, Galaxy phones take pictures in a 4:3 aspect ratio (also known as 1.33 to 1), which is not a golden rectangle. 16:9 (1.78 to 1) is also not a golden rectangle. If you want your image cropped to the actual golden ratio, try cropping a 4000 x 3000 picture to about 4000 x 2472 pixels.

Open the Gallery app, and tap the edit (pencil) icon, then the crop icon. Drag the crop handles into position. (This is how Samsung explains cropping on the Galaxy A series; the steps and names of buttons may be slightly different on other phones.)

In Snapseed, open the Crop tool. First choose an aspect ratio, then drag the crop handles into position.

Use the numbers in the table above to position elements, or in a pinch you can just make sure your subject is slightly inside of the rule of thirds lines shown in the editor.