Photoshop Solutions: Creating a Photo Collage

Digital photography allows photographers to take more photographs and better photographs. It creates a problem though. It means there are even more photographs to add to your scrapbook pages. How can all those great photographs be positioned on a page? One way to get a lot of photographs on one page is to create a photo collage. A photo collage is a collection of photographs often smaller than traditional 4" x 6" photographs and are positioned closely together.  Thus, more pictures can be used in the same amount of space. 

A good photo collage begins with a collection of photographs, usually somewhat related by time, person, activity or place. After selecting a set of digital photographs, a scheme for arranging them is needed. The easiest way to do this is by using a template. In my example here I use a pre-designed frame.

1. Open new 12" x 12" page.
   
   
2. Open a frame. Drag the frame on to the new page.
   
   
   
   
3. Open a photograph. Edit the photograph as desired.
   
   
4. Drag the photograph on to the new page. Move the frame to the top layer.
   
   
5. Position the photograph into the frame.
   
   
   
   
6. Adjust the size of the photograph. There are several methods for editing the size of a photograph. For my process I use the Transform command in Adobe Photoshop. I select the photograph's layer then go to Edit - Transform. To keep the proportions correct, I hold the shift key while pulling the corners in toward the center. At times you may need to use the Move Tool to move the photograph into position. To do this, choose the Move Tool and drag the photograph as necessary. Stop adjusting the photograph in the Transform command when the frame is filled as desired. Press the Enter key to accept the transformation.
   
   
   
   
7. Delete excess photograph amounts. Sometimes the photograph will not fill perfectly into the frame. In these cases you need to trim off the excess. With the photograph layer targeted, highlight the frame around it with the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Go to Select - Inverse. Then Edit - Cut to remove the excess photograph.
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Repeat steps 3-7 with each photograph.
   
   
   
   
9. Merge. Select Merge Visible to combine the photographs and frame together.
   
   
10. Print.
    
    
11. Use the collage. The collage can be used directly on a digital scrapbook page. Alternatively, it can be cut and attached to a paper scrapbook page.
    
    
    

A collage can also be created by placing photographs next to one another on a new page. To do this, drag the photographs on to a page, resize them, and align them next to each other. The photographs will have to be more carefully sized and/or edited.

With or without a frame, a collage is a great way to collect several photographs in one compact area.

Supplies: Storyboard Frames by Katie Pertiet (DesignerDigitals) and "Blush" patterned paper by BasicGrey and Chipboard Letters by American Crafts.