17.02.2015

How to Make a Photo Collage with Photoshop Clipping Masks – Step by Step

17.02.2015

How to Make a Photo Collage with Photoshop Clipping Masks – Step by Step

Have you ever come across a blog post that used a photo collage and wonder how it was created? Today I’m going to show you how to create a blog board in Photoshop using a few simple tricks. Photo collages can be a great way to showcase multiple images, as well as create images that are more likely to be repinned on Pinterest. Which as bloggers, is always something we strive to make happen! If you’re tired of resizing and cropping your images to all align correctly, this tutorial will help you streamline the process and cut back on your production time! And when it comes blog photography, my tripod may be my secret weapon while shooting, but Photoshop is definitely my secret weapon for post-shoot editing! This step-by-step will explain how to use clipping masks to insert your pictures into preset boxes that you set up.

Manfrotto  1

Step 1

To start, open Photoshop and go to File > New to create a new document. Set the width the same width as your blog post area, and set the resolution to 72 pixels per inch (standard for web graphics).

Manfrotto 2

Step 2

Once you create the new document, draw four gray boxes using the Rectangle Tool. These will be the placeholders in which you will insert your images. You can make these boxes any size you like, but for this tutorial, I am going to create a 4-image photo board. If you would like the boxes to all be equal size, you can create the first box and then create duplicates of the layer for the other 3 boxes. Duplicating the first box will help you keep the same size, which will also help with the image alignment.

Manfrotto 3

Step 3

When you are finished drawing your boxes, go to File > Place to place your first image in the board. Your image will most likely be larger than the box, so you can either resize it now or wait until you insert it into the gray box. I typically like to resize the image to a little bit bigger than the box so that it doesn’t fill up the whole screen. You just want to be careful when resizing not to shrink it smaller than the box, or the image will become pixelated if you go to enlarge it again. (If this happens, simply delete the photo and replace it.)

Manfrotto 4

Step 4

To insert the image into the box, make sure the image is above the box you want to insert it into in the Layers panel. Once the image is directly above the box, right click the image layer and select Create Clipping Mask.

Manfrotto 5

By doing this, your image is now confined into the box making it easier to create a nice, gridded collage. Repeat the same steps to create clipping masks for the other 3 image and you will be left with something similar to the image below.

Manfrotto 6

Step 5

You can repeat these steps to create larger collages, or even vary the sizes of each box for a less gridded look. Once you lock down the simple steps of clipping masks, you will be able to create beautiful collages for your blog, wall hangings, or photo cards. Clipping masks also help streamline the process of creating collages since you don’t have to resize & crop photos to size beforehand.

Leave a Comment

I hope these tips were helpful for you! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below and I will try to address them in a future post. Or if you have other Instagram tips & tools that you use, please share! Stay tuned next week where I will be sharing another photography post. In the meantime, I would love to connect with you over on Instagram (@designeatrepeat) or on my blog, Design Eat Repeat!

Melissa

Hey there! I’m Melissa – a US-based web/blog designer, entertainment stylist, and blogger at www.designeatrepeat. I love baking, crafting, and obsessing over my sprinkle collection. Find me on Instagram at @designeatrepeat and say hi!

Find Melissa on: 

Instagram: @designeatrepeat

Blog: www.designeatrepeat.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DesignEatRepeat

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