If you've never used Photoshop, it only takes a few minutes to learn the basics of using this program, after which you can start creating a collage. Once you've formatted your collage properly, print it out or edit it with numerous Photoshop tools to add custom effects.
Note
on a Mac, press the command key, not Ctrl.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Creating and Formatting Your Document
Step 1. Create a new document
Launch Photoshop and in the menu bar (top) click File - New. In the window that opens, enter the following parameters, and then click OK:
- Options "Width" and "Height". Enter the parameters for a standard A4 sheet, namely 3000 pixels in width and 2000 pixels in height (or any other parameters you need).
- Option "Resolution". Enter 300 (or 200 if you have a slow computer). Enter a lower value if Photoshop is stuck, or a higher value if images look fuzzy.
- "Color Mode" option. Select "RGB".
- Background Content option. Select "Transparent" to add a custom background; otherwise, select White or Black.
Step 2. Make the canvas orientation landscape
In this case, the collage will look much better. To rotate the canvas, on the menu bar (top) click Image - Rotate Image - 90.
Step 3. Add the background
To do this, you can select any image that is stored on your computer. Click File - Open. Drag the image onto a blank canvas or do the following:
- Click on the background image and press Ctrl + A to select it.
- Press Ctrl + C to copy the image.
- Click on the blank canvas window (it will be named "Nameless 1" until you save the collage).
- Press Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + N to create a new layer.
- Find the Layers panel and click "Layer 1". Enter a name for this layer: "Background".
- Press Ctrl + V to paste the image into the background layer.
- Edit the background image if needed. Use the slider (located above the layer name in the layers panel) to change the transparency level of the background. Press Ctrl + T to resize or rotate the background image.
Step 4. Crop the background
Do this to remove excess canvas around the background image. On the menu bar (top) click Image - Trimming. Check the boxes next to Transparent Pixels, Top, Bottom, Left, Right. Click OK.
Step 5. Insert a frame (if necessary)
To do this, double-click on the "Background" layer and do the following in the window that opens:
- Click "Stroke" and check the box next to this option.
- From the Position menu, choose Inside.
- Set the desired size and color.
- If you want the frame to cast a shadow, check the Inner Shadow option.
- Click OK.
Step 6. Save the document
Click File - Save. In the Name box, enter Photoshop Collage, or some other memorable name. When editing a document, save it regularly so that in the event of a failure, the changes you made are not lost.
Part 2 of 3: Create a collage
Step 1. Insert images
Click File - Open to open each picture in a new window. Insert open images into the collage as follows:
- Without opening the picture, drag its file onto the collage canvas, or open the picture and drag it onto the canvas. Give a name to the new layer. (To select several graphic files at once, hold down Ctrl.)
- Or click File - Place.
- Or open a picture and just copy it into a collage (similar to how a background image is inserted; read about it above).
- Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to insert a portion of the image. Using this tool, select the desired part of the image, and then copy it into the collage as described above.
Step 2. Cut out the custom shape
To cut out a custom shape, rather than just a rectangular object, use the Lasso tool. Circle the area of the image you don't want and press the Delete key. To do this faster, but less accurately, grab the Magic Wand tool (to grab this tool, just press W).
- To undo the erroneous action, press Ctrl + Alt + Z.
- Fine details of an image can be enlarged with the Zoom tool.
Step 3. Edit the images
Select a specific image; to do this, in the layers panel, click on its name. Press Ctrl + T to enter edit mode. Change the image as follows:
- To resize the picture, drag any corner of it. While dragging a corner of the picture, hold down Shift to maintain its proportions.
- To rotate the image, place the cursor above or below any corner marker - the cursor turns into a semicircular arrow. Hold down the left mouse button and rotate the image.
- To move the image, place the cursor directly on the image, hold down the left mouse button and drag the image.
- When finished editing the image, press Enter or click on the checkmark in the upper right corner.
Step 4. Arrange the overlay pictures
The layer that appears first in the Layers panel is on top of other layers. Change the position of the layers (just drag the layers up or down) to change the order in which the images are stacked.
The "Background" layer should be the last in the list! Any layer below the background layer will not be displayed
Step 5. Save the collage and print it
Click File - Save and then click File - Print. If the collage needs additional effects (such as text), go to the next section and only then print the collage.
Click File - Save As to save the file in a different format. Select PDF to print your collage in good quality and frame it. Select the JPEG format to create a picture that can be opened in any graphics editor
Part 3 of 3: Adding Additional Effects
Step 1. Change the layer style
To do this, double-click on a specific layer in the layers panel; the Layer Style window opens. Add a frame by choosing the "Stroke" option, or add a shadow by choosing the option of the same name, or add any other effect.
Don't click on the layer name; otherwise, a line for entering a new layer name will open. Click in the space behind the layer name
Step 2. Add adjustment layers
Click Image - Adjustment. Test the opened options; to undo an erroneous action, press Ctrl + Alt + Z. Corrective options will allow you to make the image more vivid, change the color balance and sharpness, and more.
By default, any adjustment layer you add is applied to every layer (that is, every image in the collage). To undo this, right-click on the adjustment layer (on the layers palette) and in the menu that opens, select "Create Clipping Mask"; in this case, the adjustment layer will only be applied to the next layer
Step 3. Adding artistic effects
On the menu bar, click Filter and test the options that open. Work with the tools, which are grouped in the following categories: Appearance, Strokes, Distort, Sketch, Texture.
To intentionally blur the image, use the Noise, Pixelate, Render, Sharpen, or Blur filters
Step 4. Add text
Press the T key or grab the Type tool. Place your cursor over the image to create a text box. Enter your text. Select the text and use the top toolbar to change the size and type of the font. Move the text box by dragging the handles that are located at its corners.
- Photoshop does not check spelling. Therefore, copy the entered text into any text editor.
- When you are finished with the text, grab the Move tool (this tool is the default tool).
Advice
- To undo an erroneous action, press Ctrl + Alt + Z or on the menu bar, click Edit - Undo.
- Photoshop can open certain image file formats. If the image does not open in Photoshop, locate the file on your computer and double-click it to open the image in another program. To change the image format to JPEG, PNG, or BMP, click File - Save As, and then open the file in Photoshop. If that doesn't work, search the internet for an image converter.
- To resize the image to fit the screen, press Ctrl + 0.
- To convert color photographs to black and white, press Ctrl + Shift + U.