Web Development: How to Make a Photo Collage in Photoshop

How to Make a Photo Collage in Photoshop

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a photo collage in Photoshop. I will explain everything in so much detail that everyone can create it, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

Once you've followed this tutorial and learned how to create a photo collage using your own photos, you can jump over to GraphicRiver and/or Envato Elements and discover more photo collage ideas, photo collage art, photo collage templates, photo collage effects, and so much more.

Adobe Photoshop

35 Best Photoshop Collage Templates

Melody Nieves

Follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

What You'll Need

To recreate the design above, you will need the following resources:

1. Let's Get Started

First, open the photo that you want to work with. To open your photo, go to File > Open, choose your photo, and click Open. Now, before we get started, just check a couple of things:

Your photo should be in RGB Color mode, 8 Bits/Channel. To check this, go to Image > Mode.
For best results, your photo size should be 3000–4000 px wide/high. To check this, go to Image > Image Size.
Your photo should be the Background layer. If it is not, go to Layer > New > Background from Layer.

2. How to Select the Subject

Step 1

In this section, we are going to make a selection of our subject and then copy the subject to a separate layer. Choose the Quick Selection Tool (W), and select the background of the photo. Use the Shift-Alt buttons on your keyboard to add or subtract some areas from the selection. After you've made a perfect selection, press Control-Shift-I to invert the selection.

Step 2

Now go to Select > Modify > Smooth and set the Sample Radius to 5 px. Then, go to Select > Modify > Contract and set Contract By to 2 px. After that, go to Select > Modify > Feather and set the Feather Radius to 2 px as shown below:

Step 3

Press Control-J on your keyboard to create a new layer using the selection. Then, name this layer Subject.

3. How to Add the Background

In this section, we are going to add the background. Select the Background layer, go to File > Place Embedded, select the background from the link, and click Place. Then, set the Width and Height of the layer to 70.62% as shown below, and name this layer Background.

4. How to Make a Photo Collage

Step 1

In this section, we are going to make a photo collage. Select the Subject layer, set the foreground color to #ff0000, and choose the Rectangle Tool (U). Then, click anywhere inside the canvas to create a rectangle and set the Width and Height to 1200 px.

Step 2

Now choose the Move Tool (V), and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 3

Press Control-T on your keyboard to transform this layer and set the Angle of the layer to 15° as shown below:

Step 4

Now press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 1 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 5

Press Control-T on your keyboard to transform this layer and set the Angle of the layer to -30°.

Step 6

Now name this layer Rectangle 2.

Step 7

Now press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 2 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 8

Press Control-T on your keyboard to transform this layer and set the Angle of the layer to -30° as shown below:

Step 9

Now name this layer Rectangle 3.

Step 10

Press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 3 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 11

Now name this layer Rectangle 4.

Step 12

Press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 4 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 13

Press Control-T on your keyboard to transform this layer and set the Angle of the layer to -15° as shown below:

Step 14

Now name this layer Rectangle 5.

Step 15

Press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 5 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 16

Now press Control-T on your keyboard to transform this layer and set the Angle of the layer to -60°:

Step 17

Name this layer Rectangle 6.

Step 18

Now press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 6 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 19

Press Control-T on your keyboard to transform this layer and set the Angle of the layer to 30°:

Step 20

Now name this layer Rectangle 7.

Step 21

Press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just below the Rectangle 7 layer in the Layers panel. Then, choose the Move Tool (V) and click and drag anywhere inside the canvas to position the rectangle as shown below:

Step 22

Now name this layer Rectangle 8.

Step 23

Select the Subject layer and drag it just above the Rectangle 1 layer in the Layers panel. Then, press Control-Alt-G on your keyboard to create a clipping mask. After that, name this layer R_1_Subject.

Step 24

Now press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer and drag it just above the Rectangle 2 layer in the Layers panel. Then, press Control-Alt-G to create a clipping mask and name this layer R_2_Subject.

Step 25

Repeat this process to create clipping masks for the remaining rectangle layers.

Step 26

Now Right-click on the Rectangle 1 layer, choose Blending Options, and use the settings below:

Step 27

Repeat the previous step for all the remaining rectangle layers.

Step 28

Now you can rearrange the layers in the Layers panel or reposition them using the Move Tool (V) to avoid slicing through the specific areas of the subject. Then, rename the layers accordingly.

Step 29

Select the R_1_Subject layer and Shift-click on the Rectangle 8 layer to select all layers between. Then, go to Layer > New > Group from Layers to create a new group from the selected layers and name it Photo Collage.

Step 30

Now press Control-A on your keyboard to make a selection of the canvas. Choose the Move Tool (V), and click on Align Vertical Center and then on Align Horizontal Center to align the layer group both vertically and horizontally.