How to Make a Picture Collage Using Picasa

Picasa is a free and user-friendly picture editing program provided for download by Google. Picasa has many features such as editing, uploading, creating CDs and making a collage. All it takes is a little time and instruction and you will be making professional-looking collages in minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Digital or scanned pictures
• Picasa
• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

1. Download Picasa off the Google Web site. Click to download and follow the directions. If you have already downloaded Picasa, you can skip this step.

2. Import your pictures into Picasa. If your pictures are already on your computer, Picasa will find photos on your hard drive and categorize them for you. If you have not saved the pictures to your computer yet, connect your camera or card reader to your computer and click the "Import" button and choose the device the pictures are on. Click "Import."

3. Choose the pictures you want to use in the collage. Click on the pictures in the main screen. Hold down the "Shift" key while you choose your pictures and you will be able to pick the order they appear in the collage. Hold down the "Control" key to choose the pictures in no particular order.

4. Open the "Make a collage" dialog box by clicking the "Collage" button at the bottom of your screen.

5. Choose the collage type you would like to use. Picasa offers four collage types: picture pile, picture grid, contact sheet and multi-exposure.

6. Pick a background for your collage. Picasa allows you to choose a black, white or gray background. You can also choose a picture for your background.

7. Save your collage to your computer or CD. Click the "Save" button and follow the directions.

Tips & Warnings

• To burn a CD, your computer must have a CD burner.