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Make a Photo Collage

Why a collage? Because it's fun--fun to make and fun to get. People have been making custom photo collages for eons--long before computers came along. There are all sorts of ways to make a collage, but this particular technique makes the photos look like they've been torn right out of your photo album. You can go a step further and add captions too.

1. Start by creating a blank page in Paint Shop Pro by choosing File, New or pressing Ctrl-N. Enter the dimensions in the New Image dialog box. Since you'll probably want to print this as an 8-by-10-inch photo, using the drop-down menu, change the units to inches, and enter 8 for width and 10 for height (or the other way around, depending upon how you plan to orient the page). Set the resolution to 200 (that's the resolution of most ink jet printers). Click OK. You'll come back to this blank page later.

2. Now it's time to start assembling photos. Paint Shop Pro makes it easy to see all the photos in a single folder at a glance: Choose File, Browse (or press Ctrl-B) and use the folder list on the left to locate the pictures you want.

3. When you find your first photo, click it, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the picture onto any blank part of the Paint Shop Pro screen. (Don't place your photo in the new image page you created in the first step.) Your photo should show up in front of you a moment later.

4. Now it's time to crop the picture down to size. This is the cool part of the collage: Instead of a using bunch of rectangular photos, you're going to cut them up so that they look like you trimmed them with scissors. Click the Freehand button in the toolbar (it looks like a lasso). Next, to make sure it's set to Freehand mode, right-click anywhere on the toolbar, select Tool Options, and in the dialog box that appears, set the 'Selection type' to Freehand. Now click anywhere on your photo, and while holding down the left mouse button, drag the pointer around the part of the image that you want to put in the collage, completing the crop by encircling the image. (Either end the trace near where you started it, letting the program finish the loop, or drag over the trace line from the outside of the crop, letting the program remove any "cuts" inside the crop.) And don't worry if your lines looked jagged--you want things to look hand-done.

5. Another magic touch: Choose Selections, Modify, Feather and set the Feather Value to about 5 pixels, then click OK. This will create a slight blend effect so the edge of the picture blurs into the background.

6. Choose Edit, Copy (or press Ctrl-C) and then close the photo you just clipped, since you don't need it anymore. Click the blank collage image you created in the first step and choose Edit, Paste, As New Layer (or press Ctrl-V). The cropped photo will appear in the scene. Drag your image around until it's more or less where you'd like it.

7. You can even resize the image you've just pasted into your collage page. Choose Image, Resize (or press Shift-S), and change the number in the 'Percentage of original' section of the Resize dialog box. Also be sure to uncheck the 'Resize all layers' option at the bottom. If your image is way too big to fit in the collage, for instance, try resizing it to 50 percent and click OK. Since you've pasted the image into the collage using the 'Paste, As New Layer' command, the current picture is always the top layer, and the one you can resize. When you add another picture, that one will then be on top and therefore resizable.

8. Next, it's a simple case of lather, rinse, and repeat. Just return to the Browse window, drag another picture into a blank spot on your Paint Shop Pro screen, then edit, crop, paste, and resize it in your collage screen. Do this for every picture you want to add to the collage.

9. If you want to, add captions. Wait until all the pictures are positioned in the collage before you add your captions. That way, you'll have a better idea where to place the text and you'll see how much space is available. Start adding a caption by clicking the Text button in the toolbar (the icon with the letter A). Click the spot where you want your caption to appear--say, under or beside the photo--and you'll see the Text Entry dialog box. Type your caption, select a font and size--fatter fonts often look better--then click OK to make your text appear.

10. You can move the text around the screen later and even resize it by grabbing the text's handles in the center--but only as soon as you lay it into the image. If you add anything else to your picture, the text becomes permanent and you can't move it around anymore.

11. That's all there is to it. When you're done, save the file and get ready for printing your collage. You might want to make a test print on regular ink jet paper, but print the final one on glossy photo paper (about a dollar per sheet). The pictures will look their best, and they'll be more resistant to fading. Let your collage dry for at least ten minutes (away from direct sunlight) before you handle it. Mounting your print behind glass or plastic will also help prevent fading over time.

For more tips on how to select the best paper for your photo print jobs, see "The Paper Chase," and for advice on how to get the best results from your printer, see "Printer and Ink." For other image-editing tricks for photo printing, check out "How to Print Perfect Photographs."

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