I guess if it truly is "time to lay off that auto-setting" you may as well go ahead and learn what all those settings do... and leave the "extremely useful" cheat sheet behind. Sorry, but as pretty a chart this is, it's usefulness is questionable.

Sorry. This is pretty, but it's not a "useful cheat sheet":

If you're trying to avoid setting it on auto, why is there an exposure compensation chart there? First on the list, no less. With the brighter/darker ends mysteriously opposite from the aperture and shutter speed brighter/darker orientations.

The shutter speeds aren't in terms of stops, especially with that positively giant gap between 1 second and 1/25 of a second. Really?

ISO light-to-dark is backwards from Shutter Speed and Aperture. (Dark is on the right, but as "when" you'd use it, not the effect raising ISO to 3200 would do.)

The chart doesn't explain what a stop is, or what a stop's meaning is for aperture, shutter speed or ISO, and how they inter-relate as a result. (Given the shutter speeds listed on the chart, and the backwards ISO orientation relative to Aperture and Shutter, it's not clear the person who made this knows it, either.)

"Values are for illustration purposes only and may vary from camera to camera"? Umm, OK... I guess a lawyer, and not a photographer, designed this chart. Good to know.

I hate to dump on someone's work, but when you go and promote something on a tech blog as "extremely useful", it should actually be... useful.

Looks useful to me.

@Contrabass, that Exposure section isn't necessarily exposure compensation; manual exposure modes would show similar scales. But I agree with the rest of your comments.

Contrabass: the trouble a lot of beginners have when learning the ins and outs of photography and manual settings isn't necessarily the exact controls/explanations you're pointing out as an advanced user, but simply remembering the most elementary concepts behind it. We're talking the simple ability to remember what does what, and a visual communication tool makes it easier to aid this process than listing it in either verbal or written form (I run into this often myself when explaining photography or Photoshop technique).

So for example an illustration explaining aperture with a picture of the mechanism opening wider or narrow instead of a description of photography terms can prove a much better "ah-ha!" tool in helping some friends who've forever been stuck on auto mode with their cameras. The proof is in the fact a couple of friends said this chart made their guide books easier to understand, thus opening doors the reference material was failing to communicate for more visually inclined learners.

As someone who regularly helps beginners, I think what you're missing is that many people get stuck on a some hurdles a bit earlier than you might realize. Nobody called this an end-all cheat sheet...just an elementary visual chart for quick reference that can help someone along their way to moving beyond to some of the more exacting/detailer settings you've pointed out. I made the mistake of thinking it was a given that this cheat sheet was helpful specifically for beginners, not those already skilled enough to look further ahead to what should be further explained. The chart is like training wheels...looks a little unnecessary to those who can already ride no hands/understand manual controls, but if it helps someone on their way to riding/using manual controls, that's a good thing.