How to Make a Picture Collage with Adobe Photoshop

Images can be easily collaged and manipulated with a few Photoshop tools.

A picture collage made with Adobe Photoshop offers many advantages of the traditional method. There is no need to cut and possibly damage original photographs with glue. Images can be scanned, enlarged or shrunk, and manipulated in Photoshop. No change is permanent, and there is much room for experimentation. The basis of this type of collage is an understanding of the "Cut" and "Paste" commands, and learning about Layers.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Photoshop
• Image files

Instructions

1. Create a new document in the size you would like your final collage to be. If you will be printing out the collage, enter a resolution of 300 dpi. If the collage will be used on a website, enter the resolution as 72 dpi.

2. Open all the images you would like to use by clicking "Open" from the "File" menu. Choose one of these, click "Select," then "All." Go to "Edit," then "Copy."

3. Click back into the new document you have created for your collage. Return to "Edit," then click "Paste." A copy of your image will appear in the document, which you can place anywhere on the canvas with the "Move" tool from the Toolbox. Repeat this process with all the images you would like to place into your collage.

4. Notice that each image has become its own separate layer, listed in the "Layers" box to the right. (If this box is not visible, click "Windows" at the top, then "Layers.") Layers that are on top of this list will physically appear on top of the other images in your collage. Click and hold down the layer with your mouse, dragging it up and down the list according to which images should appear on top of others. Release the mouse to place the layer.

5. Change the size of images if desired. Select the layer to manipulate in the "Layers" box. Click "Select" > "All" > "Edit" > "Transform" > "Scale." A box will appear around the image, which you can enlarge or shrink by clicking any of the squares in the box outline and holding down the mouse as you pull. Holding down the "Shift" key during this process will maintain the proportions of your image as you adjust.

6. Experiment with special effects by changing the layer modes and opacity. The sliding scale at the top of the "Layers" box will allow you to change how see-through the images are, revealing others beneath. Selecting a layer mode other than "Normal" from the list will effect how the colors or values of two overlapping images will react to each other.

7. Save your file as a Photoshop file (a .psd) to preserve all the layers for future changes. If you will be using the collage on a website, the file will have to be flattened and saved as a .jpg as well. To flatten, click "Layer," then "Flatten Image." From the "File" menu, select "Save As" and make sure the file type is changed to .jpg.

References

• "Photoshop CS3 For Windows and Macintosh"; Elaine Weinmann, Peter Lourekas; 2007

Resources

• Adobe: Create a Collage or Montage -- Photoshop, Photoshop Elements