diff --git a/Graphics/Autom/Rule.hs b/Graphics/Autom/Rule.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Graphics/Autom/Rule.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{-|
+Module      : Graphics.Autom.Rule
+Description : Helper functions for working with rules
+Copyright   : (c) Christopher Howard, 2016
+License     : GPL-3
+Maintainer  : ch.howard@zoho.com
+
+These helper functions can be useful when choosing rule values.
+-}
+module Graphics.Autom.Rule where
+
+import Prelude (($), flip, fromIntegral)
+import Data.Word (Word8, Word32)
+import Data.Bits ((.&.), shift, (.|.))
+
+-- |Concatenates four 8-bit values.
+fromQuad :: Word8 -> Word8 -> Word8 -> Word8 -> Word32
+fromQuad n3 n2 n1 n0 = n3' .|. n2' .|. n1' .|. n0'
+    where n3' = shift (fromIntegral n3 :: Word32) 24
+          n2' = shift (fromIntegral n2 :: Word32) 16
+          n1' = shift (fromIntegral n1 :: Word32) 8
+          n0' = fromIntegral n0 :: Word32
+
+-- |Splits a 32-bit value into four 8-bit values.
+toQuad :: Word32 -> (Word8, (Word8, (Word8, Word8)))
+toQuad x = (y3, (y2, (y1, y0)))
+  where y3 = fromIntegral $ flip shift (-24) (x .&. 0xFF000000)
+        y2 = fromIntegral $ flip shift (-16) (x .&. 0xFF0000)
+        y1 = fromIntegral $ flip shift (-8) (x .&. 0xFF00)
+        y0 = fromIntegral $ x .&. 0xFF
diff --git a/autom.cabal b/autom.cabal
--- a/autom.cabal
+++ b/autom.cabal
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 -- PVP summary:      +-+------- breaking API changes
 --                   | | +----- non-breaking API additions
 --                   | | | +--- code changes with no API change
-version:             0.1.0.2
+version:             0.1.0.3
 
 -- A short (one-line) description of the package.
 synopsis:            Generates and displays patterns from next nearest neighbors cellular automata
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 
 library
   -- Modules exported by the library.
-  exposed-modules:     Graphics.Autom, Graphics.Autom.NextNearest, Graphics.Autom.Paint, Graphics.Autom.Display2D, Graphics.Autom.Example
+  exposed-modules:     Graphics.Autom, Graphics.Autom.NextNearest, Graphics.Autom.Paint, Graphics.Autom.Display2D, Graphics.Autom.Example, Graphics.Autom.Rule
   
   -- Modules included in this library but not exported.
   -- other-modules: