How to Use Collage Templates
Creating a photo collage can be a very simple project – but with very professional-looking results! In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use a collage template with your own photos in just a few easy steps.
Download the FREE collage template sample to follow along with this tutorial. And visit our Freebies page to find even more free collage templates!
Making your own photo collage is very simple using these templates and PaintShop Pro.
Open the collage template in PaintShop Pro. Select the photos you want to use and open them in PaintShop Pro as well.
The template that we are demonstrating in this tutorial is best suited to 2×3″ images so we’ll start by cropping our photos to that size. Depending on the layout of the collage template and the size of your photos, you may not need to crop your photos, but if you do – here’s how. Select the Crop tool from the Tools toolbar on the left. Then select the 2×3″ size from the dropdown list and drag the corner handles to resize the crop area to your liking, then click on the green arrow to apply the crop.
Now you need to copy and paste this image into the collage template. Select the cropped photo using keyboard shortcut Ctrl-A or going to Selections > Select All. Then copy the image using Ctrl-C or going to Edit > Copy.
Next, click on the tab that has the collage template. Paste the first photo using Ctrl-V or going to Edit > Paste As New Layer.
Using the Pick tool, resize and drag the photo to fit in the opening. It’s better to make the photo slightly larger than the opening, so it overlaps a bit. This will ensure that there are no gaps between the photos and the collage frame. As you can see below, the photo is covering part of the frame, making it look uneven but we will fix that in the next step.
Now go to your Layers palette. If the Layers palette is not open, go to View > Palettes > Layers or press F8 on your keyboard.
Drag the thumbnail of the collage template above the thumbnail of the photo, so it is on top of the list of layers.
This will place the collage frame on top of the photo, which makes for a nice clean look with no gaps between the photos and frame and no photos overlapping the frame.
Now all you have to do to complete your collage project is to repeat these steps with the remaining photos. Crop each photo if required, copy and paste them into the collage template, resize and move them to the position you want, and use the Layers palette to keep the collage template on the top layer. Here’s a sample of the finished product.
Thanks for watching! We hope you found this tutorial helpful and we would love to hear your feedback in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to visit our social media pages and show us what you’ve learned by sharing your photos, videos and creative projects with us.
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Comments (14)
I just downloaded the collage. I loaded it into PSP X9. I opened my photo and cropped it to 3 inches wide by 2 inches tall. I went to preferences to set ruler to inches and it does indeed show my image as 3 x 2 inches. When I copy and paste it into the collage however the image is tiny compared to the spaces for the photos.
Image information shows 3.000 x 2.000 inches for the size of the photo. What am I doing wrong?
I just checked the image information for the collage and it shows 36.000 x 27.000 inches so I can see now that the collage image is not the right size.
How can I get the correct size collage image?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Peggy
Hello Peggy,
Sorry for the confusion! The 2 x 3 value given in this tutorial is an aspect ratio, not a measurement in inches. This means the images need to be in a 2 x 3 size ratio in order to fit into this collage template well.
Additionally, if the image is showing at 36 x 27 inches, you have it in a slightly lower resolution than the presenter. The file is labelled as 24 x 18 because it will be 24 inches by 18 inches when the canvas is set to 300 pixels per inch, or ppi. 300ppi is a very common resolution for photo printing at home, although if you get photos done professionally their prints may be a higher resolution.
When set up in this way, the spaces for your photos will all be 4 x 6 inches. These sizes allow you to easily use this collage online or in a digital frame. You can also resize the entire collage frame as needed to print – it is in 4 x 3 resolution, which is easy to find photo frames and books for at several sizes (8×6 being the most common in our experience).
Hope this helps!
Discovery Center Team
I have just purchased the diamond template and I am unable to crop a diamond shape, that’s if I manage to work out the size.
Hello Pat,
If you are working with a diamond shaped template, you can either use an alternate selection mode to draw out your diamond and then crop to the selection (the Point-to-Point mode on the Freehand tool is a good one for this), or you can use a quick rectangular crop to fill in the diamond and position the picture as you like, then quickly use the eraser tool to remove any excess parts of the image from outside your frame.
Hope this helps!
Discovery Center Team
How did you know the “openings” were 2″ x 3″? I have purchased several collages from the store, and I can’t figure out how to tell what size the “holes” are so I know what size to crop the photos.
Hello Debbie,
You can make sure your images are the appropriate size by tweaking the ruler settings in PaintShop Pro!
First, make sure your rulers are active. You can toggle them on and off from View > Rulers menu in the Edit workspace.
If they are not already set to inches, you can set them to inches by navigating to the File > Preferences > General Program Preferences window, selecting Units, and in the Rulers group box, selecting ‘inches’ from the Display Units dropdown.
Hope this helps!
Discovery Center Team
Adam,
Nice tutorial on collages. Makes it look easy. My question regards something which seems to my uninitiated eye very much like a template; I refer to mockups. I am having some trouble getting the ‘working with layers’ thing down, and I think that’s where my answer lies to this question. Want to take patterns or designs made with PSP 2018 64bit and place them into mockups. Can you help?
Thanks!
Mary
Hello Mary,
Is this mockup a specific file format or project? When we encounter that word, it generally refers to a simplified model or base image, used to demonstrate a concept before committing to the final work. In this context, that would mean that any image could be considered a mockup of another one to come. Are there specific image elements or effects you are looking to add?
Discovery Center team
Where is the file folder in Paintshop Pro where the collage templates are stored? I have some free templates I have collected and would like to store them where the other templates are stored in the Paintshop Pro software folders.
Hello Donna,
The location for those folders varies slightly depending on the version of PaintShop Pro you have installed. You can find the default folders for templates, frames, tubes, and other content here:\Documents\Corel PaintShop Pro\19.0
C:\Users\
If you have PSP X8 for example, the bolded segment would be 18.0 rather than 19.0.
Hope this helps!
Corel Discovery Center Team
I have the Corel Paintshop Pro X8 and can not find any of the templates in my Navigation. Please advise where I can locate them.
Thanks!
Hello Samantha,
The collage shown in this tutorial is from the Family Photo Collage pack.
Additionally, you can view all of our available collage packs for PaintShop Pro here.
Hope this helps!
I just downloaded the new xpro 8 and want to make a collage, but cannot locate the collage template in the software at all. I downloaded the spring pack as well and see the collage templates in there but do not know what folder to add the templates to. Please help, have spent over an hour researching this to no avail. Thanks in advance.
Never mind, I think I got it. I just made my own “Collage template” folders in Corel and picked up the templates like a regular photo to use as layers.