image tool
Collage maker online
Drop 2 to 9 photos, pick a grid of 2, 3, 4, 6 or 9 cells, set the gap and the background colour, and download one PNG. Every photo fills its cell and is cropped from the centre, so mixed shapes still line up in a tidy grid.
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- Runs on your device, nothing is uploaded
- Free, no sign in
- No watermark, no file limit
How it works
- 1
Drop 2 to 9 photos
Pick them all at once or add more later. The grid picks the smallest layout that fits them: 2, 3, 4, 6 or 9 cells.
- 2
Set the order
Each thumbnail has a number and arrow buttons to move it earlier or later. Cells fill left to right, top to bottom.
- 3
Choose grid and shape
Change the cell count if you want empty cells or fewer photos shown, then pick square, 4:5 portrait or 16:9 landscape.
- 4
Gap, background and width
Drag the gap from 0 to 80 pixels, choose the background colour that shows between and around cells, and set the width.
- 5
Download the PNG
The collage is drawn at full width and saved as one PNG. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored, ever.
How the grid is laid out
Four cells make a 2 by 2 grid and nine a 3 by 3, whatever the shape. Two, three and six depend on it: in a square or landscape collage two and three photos sit side by side and six make 3 across by 2 down; in a 4:5 portrait they stack instead, and six become 2 across by 3 down. The gap you set runs between the cells and around the outside edge, so the collage has an even margin. Empty cells, when you choose more cells than photos, show the background colour.
Why every photo is centre cropped
Cells in a grid are all one shape, but photos are not: a phone portrait, a landscape and a square will not fit the same cell without help. Stretching distorts faces, and shrinking to fit leaves bars of background. So each photo is scaled until it covers its whole cell, then trimmed equally from both ends of the longer side. Nothing is stretched and the kept area stays sharp. The catch is that a subject near the edge of a photo can be trimmed away, which is why cropping first matters.
Picking a shape and width
Square suits an Instagram grid post and most chat apps. The 4:5 portrait is the tallest shape a feed shows without trimming, so it gives the photos the most room on a phone. 16:9 fits slides, video thumbnails and the top of a web page. The width sets the detail: 1080 pixels matches what Instagram displays, 2048 is plenty for a slide or an email, and 4096 is for printing. The readout shows the final size and how many cells are filled before you download.
Limits worth knowing
Every cell is centre cropped to fit; there is no per-cell reposition. If a photo's subject is off centre, run it through the image cropper first, cropped roughly to the cell's shape, and it will survive the centre crop. The tool takes up to 9 photos; more are left out with a message. Photos are held at up to 4,096 pixels on the long side to keep memory in check, which is still more than any cell can show. The output is PNG, which keeps edges crisp but can be large.
Putting the collage on a flyer
A collage is one image, so it uploads to a flyer image slot like any photo: JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF up to 10 MB. The slot fills its frame and crops whatever does not fit, so make the collage the same shape as the slot. A square slot wants the square collage; a tall slot wants 4:5. If the PNG is over 10 MB at 4096 wide, save it at 2048, which is enough for an A4 print at a typical viewing distance, or compress it.
Limits
- Every cell is centre cropped to fit; there is no per-cell reposition. Crop a photo first if its subject is off centre.
- Up to 9 images. Extra files are left out with a message, and images beyond the chosen grid are faded and not drawn.
- Each photo is held at no more than 4,096 pixels on its long side, which is the widest a cell can be.
- The output is PNG only, so a 4096 wide collage of photos can run to several megabytes.
What it does not do
- It does not make freeform or overlapping layouts, cells of different sizes, or shaped cells.
- It does not add text, borders round each photo or rounded cells.
- It does not keep EXIF data from any of the photos.
Questions people ask
How many photos can go in one collage?
Between 2 and 9. The grid sizes are 2, 3, 4, 6 and 9 cells, and the tool picks the smallest that holds your photos, so five photos open a 6 cell grid with one empty cell. Choose a smaller grid and the extra photos are faded in the list and left out; choose a bigger one and the empty cells show the background colour.
Can I move a photo inside its cell?
No, every photo is centre cropped and there is no per-cell reposition. To control what shows, crop the photo before adding it: open it in the image cropper, lock the crop to the cell's shape, frame the subject and save. The centre crop then has nothing left to trim, and the collage shows exactly the part you chose.
How do I make a collage with no gaps?
Drag the gap slider to 0. The photos then touch edge to edge and fill the whole canvas, with no background showing. The background colour still matters for empty cells, if you chose more cells than photos. A small gap of 8 to 16 pixels in white is the common look for social posts, because it separates photos with similar colours.
Does the order I drop the photos in matter?
It sets the starting order: the first photo goes top left and cells fill along each row. After that, use the arrow buttons under each numbered thumbnail to move a photo earlier or later, and the preview updates at once. Put the strongest photo in the first cell, since that is where most people look first.
Why is my collage file so large?
It is a PNG, which stores every pixel without lossy compression, and a 4096 wide collage holds over 16 million pixels in the square shape. For sharing online, pick 1080 or 2048 as the width, or convert the PNG to JPG or WebP with the image converter, which often makes it five to ten times smaller with no visible change.
Put the collage on a flyer
Take what you made here into flyers.
Create a flyer with OneCraftMore tools like this
- Image cropperCrop with a draggable box and 44 pixel handles, locked shapes for square, 4:5, 9:16 and 16:9, thirds guides, quarter turns and arrow key nudging.
- Add border to imageAdd a border to an image in any colour and pixel width, with square or rounded corners and Instagram 1:1 or 4:5 padding. Runs on your device, no upload.
- Image compressorCompress to WebP or JPEG and compare the result against the original under a divider you drag. Or ask for a size in KB. Nothing is uploaded.
- Convert an imageSee your own picture measured in PNG, JPEG and WebP before you choose, then convert. Transparency is handled deliberately, and HEIC is explained.
- Flyer size resizerDrop a flyer and see it refitted onto all ten builder canvases at once, each drawn at its true shape, with the ones that will print soft flagged in words.
Background reading: the question page on this.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .