Learn Collage Before Another Butterfly Dies

They say a butterfly dies every five minutes*. But you only need about four minutes to learn how to use PicMonkey Collage with our easy-peasy tutorial, and then you can create the most awe-inspiring collage images!  Will they save a butterfly?   Probably not, but they’ll all be happier knowing you know Collage.  (*Don’t go fact-checking us on that!)

screen shot of uploading photos

Step 1. Import photos

Edit individual photos with PicMonkey Editor before you begin your collage. Import photos into Collage by dragging them to the blue “Create a Collage” launch button on the home page.

You can also import photos by clicking “Upload photos” once you’ve launched  the Collage application.

Tip: You can select several photos at once (using Command-click on Mac or Control-click on Windows) and the whole group will drop into Collage’s photo list instantly.

screen shot of choosing a layout

Step 2. Choose layout

Click the layouts tab on the far left. Layouts are completely flexible, so you can make changes to any design you choose.

screen shot showing overall dimensions toolbar

Step 3. Check overall dimensions

The bottom toolbar shows the overall dimensions of the collage. You can change dimensions by hovering your mouse over an outer border of your collage. When you see two thin blue lines appear, move the double arrow to stretch or shrink it. You can also do so by typing new numbers in the dimensions toolbar. If you need to unlock the proportions, click the padlock icon so it appears grey, not blue.

Tip: To get the right pixel dimensions for collages you intend to print, see our Help article Best Photo Sizes for Printing.

screen shot showing dragging photos into collage

Step 4. Drag photos into collage

Click the photos tab on the far left. Drag images from the photo list and drop them into your collage. Or you can click the “Autofill” button in the top toolbar, and see if you like the arrangement. Check marks appear on photos in the list that have been placed into the collage.

You can remove photos from the collage at any point but you can only remove them from the photo list if they’re not being used in the collage. Remove by hovering on the photo until you see an “x” in the corner, and click it.

screen shot showing the Move Cursor (double headed arrow)

Step 5. Modify layout

To tweak the sizes of the images, hover your mouse over the inner border of a cell, and you’ll see two blue lines and the mouse pointer will become a double-headed arrow. Drag the arrow to adjust the size of the images, and watch them shrink or grow and re-arrange themselves beautifully.

screenshot of dragging a photo to add a new cell and removing a cell

Modify layout (continued)

To add new cells to the collage, drag a photo onto an inner border or outer edge of a cell. When the thin blue bar appears, drop your photo into it. To delete a cell, hover your mouse over it until the “X” appears and click it.

Hover over an image you’ve placed in a cell and the move cursor (four arrows)  will appear. Use it to drag your image a bit to adjust its position in the cell.

screen shot of creating a background

Step 6. Create background

Click the background tab on the far left. Adjust the “Spacing,” “Corner rounding,” and “Color” sliders until your background is just right. Use the Eyedropper to match the background color to a particular color in the photo.

Tip: For a transparent background, check the “Transparent background” box at the bottom and be sure to save the file as a .PNG. Facebook doesn’t support transparent backgrounds.

screen shot of saving and closing collage

Step 7.  Save and close your collage

If you want to have a cell with text in it, leave one empty and add the text in the editor. Click the “Save” button on the top toolbar to name and save your collage. Close the Collage app by clicking the white “X” in the upper right corner.

screen shot of adding text in the Editor

Step 8: Re-open in PicMonkey Editor for Text

Back on the PicMonkey home page, click the “Edit a Photo” launch button. Open the collage you just saved. Use the text tool to write your message and add it to the empty cell. Save it. Admire your heartbreaking work of staggering genius, now finished.

Tip: If you don’t know PicMonkey’s text tool very well, check out our Help article on how to use the text tool.

screen shot showing how to change your cover in Facebook

Step 9. Post collage on Facebook

If you are making a collage for your Facebook cover image, post it by hovering your mouse over the photo area on your Facebook Timeline.  When “Change Cover”  appears,  click it.

Click “Upload Photo,” select the photo from your hard drive, and then “Save changes.”

Wah-lah! Your Facebook cover is a super-boss collage and your friends all want to know how you made it. Tell them the Monkey did you a solid.

Category : How To
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