How To Make Photo Collage in Pixlr Express

In the past, if you don't develop your own pictures, it can take a few days or even weeks before you can finally see your photographs. Today, with the latest developments in technology, you can snap any picture any time, any where and share it to the world within seconds.

Photography has become as common as the common flue and you know what comes with it? Tons of digital pictures one can't put in a single blog post.

A few days ago, I created a post on how to make awesome graphics without Photoshop. The blog post has received positive feed backs from blogger friends of the same age group as I am while a  not so good response from older users. Some find the tools I shared on the article confusing.

I understand that not everyone is technically savvy so I decided to make an elaborate tutorial with screenshots on how to use those graphic tools and their practical application most particularly to bloggers starting off with Pixlr.

Pixlr is a set of online graphic editors available for free with no download or sign up required. Basically, Pixlr is composed of three tools: Pixlr Editor, Pixlr Express, and Pixlr O-Matic.

In a nutshell, Pixlr Editor is an online version of Photoshop, Pixlr O-Matic is a visual tool to make pictures with vintage effects, and Pixlr Express is an online photo editor with predefined effects. There are many things you can do with the Express editor and one of my used application is their collage maker.

Why make a collage?

There are many uses and benefits on making a photo collage. For one, if you want to print your pictures, you can save on ink and photo paper. If you are a blogger and want to show case lots of images in a single blog post without compromising page load time, you can use photo collage to cut down the number of pictures you will upload. One particular mommy blogger I know is fond of using collage on her blog posts and I enjoyed them. She also use one of the collage as a teaser photo when sharing her links on social media sites.

Why use Pixlr Express?

There are lots of online collage makers out there but personally I use Pixlr Express because their interface is very clean. No ads. Their tools are very easy to use and the finish products looks very neat. Additionally, they don't put their logo or watermark on your output.

How to make photo collage in Pixlr Express?

To use this online graphic editor, just go to this link http://pixlr.com/express/. You will see the screen below. Since we are going to make a photo collage, make sure to click on the "collage" button.

Next, you will be taken to the editor interface. There are not many buttons to intimidate non-techie users however, you need to familiarize yourself with the various options available in order to start using is.

By default, the 4 panel canvas layout will be displayed. If you don't like this arrangement, click on the "layout" icon. It is the second icon from left. A small window will appear and from there you can choose from the many predefined layout. Use the up and down arrow to navigate the layout options window.

To start adding your photos, hover your mouse on the section of the canvas where you want to place it. A blue button with the + sign in the middle will appear. Click that blue icon to start uploading your photo. Note that you need to do this one panel at a time.

If you want to adjust the spacing between the images or adjust the border width, use the "spacing" option. If you want the individual photos to have a rounded border, use the "roundness" option. The "proportions" option adjusts the dimension of the entire canvas while the "color" option allows you to change the border color.

Setting both "spacing" and "roundness" to zero will give you a nice, clean, bleed through effect.

Once you are done tweaking your collage, click "finished". You will be taken to an advanced screen where Pixlr gives you options to add frames, stickers, and filters on your image. If you are happy with your finished product, simply click the "save" button on the upper left corner of the screen. Else, if you want to play around with the different effects, feel free to try the various options available.

I will not be covering this part in full detail as I feel that if you got to this part of the tool, you should now get a feel of how it works.