Programs for making photo collages

Have you recently returned from a nice vacation and are you looking for a practical and at the same time elegant system to be able to show friends, relatives and colleagues the beautiful photos you have taken during these days? Yup? Well, then why don’t you try making a nice collage? Yes, you read that right! By using some special programs, you can easily create beautiful collages and display them in public or share them online.

There are plenty of programs to make photo collages, both for Windows and for macOS, both free and paid. There are also various online services available thanks to which you can create your own photographic compositions directly from the browser, without having to install anything on your computer.

Regardless of the platform to which they are intended and the possible license cost, all the programs for making photo collages that I am about to tell you can be used without any kind of problem even by those who, a bit like you, do not consider themselves exactly a great expert in IT and/or photo editing. Enjoy your reading and have fun!

Index

• Programs to make free photo collages
  • CollageIt (Windows / macOS)
  • ShapeCollage (Windows / macOS / Linux)
  • Other programs for making photo collages
• Program to make photo collages with music
  • SmartSHOW 3D (Windows)
  • Photos (macOS)
• Program to make photo collages online
  • Canva
  • Other useful solutions to make photo collages online
• App to make photo collages

Programs to make free photo collages

Let’s go straight to the heart of the article and see together some programs to make free photo collages (at least in their basic use). I’m sure you won’t be disappointed at all.

CollageIt (Windows / macOS)

One of the best you can turn to is CollageIt, a program available for both Windows and macOS through which you can make photo collages with some ease. Basically, it is free, but the removal of some limits (for example the inability to cut images to insert in your projects) requires the purchase of the license, which costs $ 39.90, except for promotions.

To download CollageIt, go to its home page and click on the Download button located next to the operating system in use on your computer: the Windows logo if you use the Microsoft operating system or the Apple logo if you use a macOS.

When the download is complete, if you are using Windows, open the .exe file you just obtained, click on the Yes and OK buttons, check the I accept the terms of the license agreement box, click on the Next button four times in a row and click on the Install and Finish buttons.

If you are working from a Mac, on the other hand, open the .dmg package you downloaded, drag the CollageIt icon into the MacOS Applications folder, right-click the program icon and select the Open item twice in a row (this procedure must be done only at the first start of CollageIt, to “override” the restrictions imposed by macOS on applications from non-certified developers.

After installing and starting the program, choose the template you want to use from those available, drag the photos you want to compose to the left of the program, adjust the parameters using the settings in the Layout and Photos tabs (on the right) and, if you wish, personalize the background of the collage by clicking on the appropriate button.

When finished, click on the Export button and specify whether to save the photo collage locally, whether to share it via email, Flickr or Facebook or, again, whether to set it as your computer wallpaper.

ShapeCollage (Windows / macOS / Linux)

Another solution to create collages for free is Shape Collage, a program that allows you to mix images together in a rather simple and fast way. It must be said that in its free version there are some limits: it can be used only for personal purposes, it is not possible to act on the images that are present in the composition and it is not possible to remove the watermark applied by default to your works. To remove these limits, you need to purchase the paid version, which costs $ 40.

To download Shape Collage, go to its download page, click on the Download item located under the name of the operating system in use (eg Windows ). Subsequently, if you use Windows, open the downloaded .exe file, click on the Yes button, then on the buttons OK ‌, Next, I accept, once again Next, Install and Finish, to complete the setup.

If, on the other hand, you are using a Mac, all you have to do is open the .dmg package you got from the ShapeCollage website, drag the program icon to the Applications folder and, after going to this last position, right-click on the ‘icon of the application itself and select the Open item twice (you have to do this only the first time you open it to “bypass” Apple’s restrictions on non-certified software).

After installing and starting ShapeCollage, go to the folder where there are the photos to be used for making the collage, select them with the mouse and drag them, holding down the click, in the left part of the program window, under the heading Photos. Next, check the box relating to the shape you want to give to the composition (eg Rectangle, Grid, Heart, etc.).

Now, click on the Manual button and define in the appropriate text fields the values ​​you want to give to indicate the size of the collage (if you prefer, you can leave everything set automatically by not changing the option that is set by default, that is Auto ) . Also specify how many photos you want to use among those imported into the program (eg All to use them all) and define the photo spacing using the appropriate option.

Then click on the Appearance tab, press on the white rectangle or on the Photo item to choose the color or image to use as the background of the collage, and use the Border field to decide the color and size to give to the border.

Once all these aspects have been defined, click on the Create button and, if you are satisfied and have no other changes to make, click on the Save Collage As … item from the File menu (top left) to save your work in the format and in the position you like best. Simple, right?

Other programs for making photo collages

There are so many other photo collage-making programs that deserve to be considered. Check out the ones listed below.

• TweakNow PerfectFrame( Windows ) —is a free software for Windows operating systems quite simple to use and thanks to which you can create beautiful photo compositions by combining up to ten images with a hundred different predefined layouts. The program interface is very simple and highly understandable even though it is not translated into Italian. The software offers a good margin of customization thus allowing the user to choose collage background colors, photo margins and much more.
• Collagerator( Windows / macOS ) – is a completely free-to-use program for Windows and Mac PCs that allows you to create different types of custom collages from templates. To use it, just start the program, choose the page format and orientation of the collage and one of five different types of collages. Then you have to upload the images, move them around and play with the theme options to get the perfect result. The resulting collage can be saved in the program or as an image on your computer.
• webGobbler( Windows / macOS / Linux ) – it is a no-cost program for Windows, macOS and Linux that allows you to create mosaics of photos taken from the Internet with a very interesting final effect. The program provides users with different effects that allow them to obtain different results each time. You can also rotate images, add shadows, change colors, and much more. At the end of the operation, the software allows you to choose whether to set the collage as your computer wallpaper or as a screensaver.

Program to make photo collages with music

Have you come to this guide to find a program to make photo collages with music? Then take a look at the solutions listed below because they may be right for you.

SmartSHOW 3D (Windows)

If you have a Windows PC, I suggest you try SmartSHOW 3D: it is an application characterized by a simple and intuitive user interface, which does not lack useful functions for creating fantastic musical photo collages. Among the most interesting features are fantastic three-dimensional effects, more than a hundred transition effects, support for major file formats and much more. It can be tested for free for 10 days, using a maximum of 15 slides for each project; you have to buy the license (starting from 29.40 euros) to continue using it.

To download the SmartSHOW 3D trial, go to its download page and click on the green Download button. Then open the .exe file you just downloaded and click on the Yes, Install and Start the software buttons to complete the setup.

After installing and starting the program, choose to continue with the free trial and decide whether to start the creation of a new project, whether to create a presentation in 5 minutes using the ready-to-use templates of SmartSHOW 3D or whether to open an existing project.

At this point, select the Add tab (top left) and choose whether to add Photos and Videos, Collages, Titles or Clips to your project, using the appropriate tabs and drag the elements of your interest to the timeline at the bottom.

As for adding music, you can select a song from the music collection in the program, take it from a file or record voice comments in real-time. After choosing a song, you can optionally adjust its volume and fades and activate automatic synchronization with the photos you have added in the project you are working on.

To preview the output result, you can use the player located at the top of the window and, if you are satisfied with what has been done, save the video by going to the Create tab and click on the Create Video Presentation button, to create a video for your computer, tablet or smartphone; Create DVD Slide Show, to make a DVD video (paid option), or Create Video for the Internet, to make a video optimized for the web.

In conclusion, choose the output format you prefer (eg. AVI, MPEG4, etc.), click on the Next button, also choose the quality and resolution of the output file, decide whether to apply a watermark to the video and click on the Start button, to select the location to export the movie to.

Photos (macOS)

Photo of MacOS includes a useful feature for creating collages with photos and music. If you have a Mac, then, you can take advantage of the famous Apple program dedicated to managing and editing photos and videos.

To use it, open Photos by clicking on the stylized flower icon in the Dock bar or in the Launchpad and, after selecting the photos to include in the music collage (which is done by holding down the cmd key while clicking on the preview of the interest of your photos), click on the items Create> Presentation> Photos from the File menu located at the top left, in the macOS menu bar.

In the window that opens, type the title you want to give to the presentation using the appropriate text field and click on the OK button. Fully automatically, Photos will have created a slideshow with the previously selected images, also adding background music.

To customize the presentation, click on the icon of the two overlapping rectangles (on the right) to change the theme; click on the musical note symbol to change the music and on the stopwatch symbol to customize the duration of the video, the transition effects, etc.

When finished, click on the Export button at the top right, choose an output format (eg High Definition (1080p) ) and the location to export the presentation. Then click on the Save button to start saving the video. Easier than that ?!

Program to make photo collages online

Are you not planning to install software on your PC and therefore are you looking for a program to make photo collages online? No problem! There are many online services that allow you to do this and I have listed some of them below. Take a look!

Canva

The first online solution that I recommend you to try is without a doubt Canva, a very famous Web service through which it is possible to create many graphic works. It works after free registration and access to some advanced functions requires the subscription of a subscription starting from 109.99 euros/year.

To use it, go to the main Canva page, click on the Signup button (top right) and register with your email address, your Facebook account or your Google account.

After recording split, click the More button (top right) and click the Photo Collage option. In the new tab that opens in the browser, select the model you like best from those in the Layout section of Canva and replace the example images with your photos, which you can upload using the Uploads button on the left (to upload the images just click on the Upload multimedia content button and upload the ones you intend to use).

Then, drag the images you uploaded into the collage, so as to replace them with the example ones and that’s it. If you wish, you can also add text, customize the collage background, etc. using the appropriate buttons. When you are ready to do so, click the down arrow symbol (top right), select the output format you prefer and click the Download button.

Other useful solutions to make photo collages online

If the solution mentioned above is not for you, you can try these other solutions to make photo collages online because they are very reliable services and tools.

• Photovisi– this is an excellent online service, available for free (in its basic version) and compatible with all Web browsers and operating systems, which is very easy to use and which provides users with numerous and interesting functions. Depending on your preferences and needs, you can choose from many different layouts and, subsequently, indicate whether to download your creation to your computer or to share it on social networks.
• Fotor– is a noteworthy web service when it comes to photo collages. It allows you to create collages in a very simple way using a series of preset templates. It is free in its basic use, but to access all its features you need to take out a subscription starting at $ 8.99 / month.
• Quick Picture Tools– this is a free web application that can be used perfectly from any browser, which offers an extremely simple and immediate solution for making online collages made up of multiple photos joined together.

For more information on how to make photo collages online, I refer you to reading the guide I have dedicated to the topic.

App to make photo collages

I conclude the guide by listing some apps for making photo collages that can come in handy if you want to act as a smartphone and tablet as well.

• Layout from Instagram( Android / iOS ) – very famous app belonging to the category in question which is developed by Instagram (can also be used without being registered in the photographic social network), which allows you to create simple photo compositions using its “clean” user interface and minimal.
• Pic Collage Maker( Android ) – app dedicated to making photo collages, which allows you to make them very easily thanks to its ready-to-use templates, which are free and attractive.
• ShotCut( iOS ) – application dedicated to the creation of photo collages, which boasts hundreds of ready-to-use templates, some of which are free and others are only available by subscribing to a subscription starting from 32.99 euros/year.

If you want to learn more about the use of these and other applications to make collages, take a look at the guide I have dedicated to the topic.