Creating a Digital Photo Collage

Several recent emails from readers asking how I create my photo collages have prompted me to write this post.   Some of you are probably already in the know, but for anyone who is curious, this is for you!

The program I use to do all of my photo editing and where I create my collages is called Picasa.  If you haven't done so already, you can download it for free here.

Once your images have uploaded to Picasa, and you have edited and cropped them to your liking, you are ready to create your collage!

Google has straight forward instructions for creating a collage in Picasa.  I found the collage feature fairly easy to use and self explanatory with a little time and experimenting, but if you want detailed instructions, please see Google's instruction page, here.  I thought about trying to write out the specific steps for you but I am not a technical writer, so I'll leave that to the experts and just fill in with some details about my favorite features.

My favorite style of collage is called "Picture Pile."  Here you can move the photos around manually, set them at angles, enlarge or reduce their size and even use one of them as a background for your collage (see above).

The "Mosaic" style collage automatically creates a mosaic with your photos.  You can change it by removing a photo or rotating or switching out the placement of the photos but you can't adjust the photo's size.  I prefer "Picture Pile" because I have more control over the layout of my collage, but I do like the composition of the "Mosaic" and sometimes it's just the look I am going for.

Under the "Settings" tab where you choose the type of collage you want, you can also choose the background.  I like to use the little "dropper" to pull a color from one of my images (see above).

Another option is to use an actual photo for your backdrop.  I first add the photo that I want to use as a backdrop to the collage, select it, and choose "Use Image" under the "Background Options" tab.  In the case of the collage above, I then removed the selected photo from the pile.

Once everything is in place just how I want it, I hit the "Create Collage" button.  When the collage is finished, it will reappear in a Picasa photo editing window.  I then use the "Text" tool to add any words that I want to appear on my collage.

I hope these little tips are helpful to you!  Feel free to email me if you have any questions. 

Have fun playing with your photos!

Thank you for your sweet visit today!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

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