Making a photo collage is an interesting process which combines a number of photos into a single creation from Fotobuch– a process made easier in the modern world by the existence of computers, digital photography, and collage creation programs. Using freeware or a paid program (some of which offer free trials), you can take a group of photographs and digitally paste them together into a larger image, adding an overall background and text as you please. You can then e-mail the resulting collage to your family and friends, or have it printed by a professional photo printing service to hang on your wall, add to your scrapbook, or give as a gift. Collages are especially stimulating to the imagination because they allow you to take photos of rather ordinary quality and turn them into something special. The photos you select become part of a larger “message” or “storyboard,” whether they focus on a person, a trip, an event, a place, or anything else that can be depicted in a group of photos. When creating your perfect photo collage, however, there are a few tips you should bear in mind. 99. Have a clear idea of what your collage shows – your collage will be more striking and attractive if you choose a simple theme and only include photos related to that. Whether the theme is “mom’s birthday,” “my graduation,” or “the thirtieth annual meeting of the Chicago Cheese Connoisseurs Club,” don’t muddy the presentation with totally unrelated photos.

1. Use size according to both importance and quality – since photos in many collages appear at different sizes, make the most important photos the largest. If you have low-resolution photos that you want to include, make them small as well – nobody will notice that they’re grainy if they are also small.

2. Feel free to use average pictures – not every photo in a collage needs to be a masterpiece. The effect of the whole presentation will make all the pictures look better. Complete blurs and extremely awkward images should still be shunned, of course. But relatively bland pictures can look very attractive when included in a collage.

3. Overlap photos – having your photos overlap each other slightly, and setting them at somewhat different angles, can give an air of casual artistry to the picture. Partially covering some photos with others (while leaving the most important images visible) will make the collage more intriguing, because viewers will subconsciously wonder what was covered.

4. Choose a good background – the background is as important to the overall effect as the pictures themselves. You want a background that doesn’t detract from the photos – for example, you don’t want a green background for snapshots of a tropical rain forest hike, nor do you want a loud checkered pattern in the background of subtly-tinted pictures of a sunset. The background should be in harmony with the photos while allowing them to stand out clearly.