I am new to the site.  Right now I am just messing around with photos.  My neighbor takes pictures...she let me use her camera the other day.  I am thinking about purchasing a camera, but want to make sure I can really do some stuff first.  So I am using CS2 Photoshop and trying to make a collage...to be honest I think that is what you call it... I want my final printed picture to be 11x14 with 9 photos in side of my collage...(all the same size...3 rows of 3).  Can some one please lend me a hand?  

Hi mara and welcome to the forums

I just posted this on all the forums recently, maybe it will give you a helping hand on the best place to ask things (this section is a little quieter then others)..again, welcome and it's nice to have you here.

 

This is a very quick nutshell of an explaination, but here goes.

First, get all the images you want to use edited to your satisfaction.  (Obvious, but I like to be complete.)

Then start a new document sized as you want it.  In this case 11x14 at 300DPI.  I'd start with a white background or another solid color if you want.

Use the rulers to lay out your guide lines for where you want to place the images. Turn on "Snap to Guides".  That will be handy in a moment.

Open you first image and select all and copy it to the clipboard.  Go back to the collage framework and insert it.  Odds are it will be too large and not the right propportion for the space you want to fit it into.  Go ahead and scale it to fit in one direction.  (Ctrl-T and hold the shift key while resizing to maintain aspect ratio.)

You could just crop off the unneeded portion, but I would prefer to add a layer mask to show only the part within the guides.  Make a selection of that area (which is easy with snap to guides on) and add a layer mask.  That should show only the part inside the box.  The nice thing about doing it this way is you can then move the image around to get the best framing but only the part inside the maske will show.

Repeat this for the rest of your images.  Add any text you want and viola!  Done.  I threw the one below together from some images I happened to have handy here at work in about 10 minutes.

funny, I was just about to post a collage question and saw this thread.  I made my first photoshop collage last night,  and I did start with a new 11x14 document in photoshop 7...  today I uploaded it and mpix will only let it print up to 5x7!!  I dont think I changed the dpi.. is it too late to change it if I still have it in the photoshop format?  Is that even my problem?  Thanks!  Linda

The DPI setting in the file itself isn't so much the problem as is the fact that during creation you didn't start with a higher DPI.  The total number of pixels is the problem.  When creating the intitial file if you didn't change the DPI from 72 (the usual default) then you simply don't have enough pixels for the 11x14.  You can resample (upres) the image but you will almost certainly loose quality.

Sorry to say but you probably should do it over.

awww man!! hours of work.. guess thats just a "stupid tax" or better yet.. learning experience!  LOL....

At least it should go faster this time now that you've got the hang of it.

I guess so... I do enjoy working with the photos.... Here I go again...

Have a look at this thread.  I posted one there that just might blow you away.

If any Mac users have a need to make collages, there is a useful piece of software called "Posterino" it is very easy to make collages. They have no Windows version available according to their website. They have several templates that are easy to use. You can use one of the templates that has room for 365 photos and the others of course have less spaces for photos, if the template has to many spaces for your photos you can remove some of the spaces and enlarge the photos to fin the extra area. http://zykloid.com/posterino/ you can also download a demo version from the Apple page, there is also a review and product description on the page, here is a link to that page, http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/posterino.html

 Thank you so much.  This info is very handy. 

Thanks so much for all this info!  Ok, so I started out with a new document:  Went to File, then New...I set it up with a dpi of 300 for 11x14.  So now when I added my picutes that were sized for 4x6...and I resized them once in also...they are look streched.  I did go back and look at each individual photo and each one has a different dpi.  So is that my problem?  Before I crop my images should I make it a habit of changing the dpi...or doing so after my crop?  I would like to post the image here...but when I hit copy paste it won't let me...I even changed to Explorer from Firefox.

To post an image, click on reply and on the top you will see 4 tabs, choose options, add/update image, browse for the image and click save.

Hello....    I found a FREE program to make collages.  www.shutterflystudio.com

It is very easy and you can print your own or buy from shutterfly.  when you get your collage made....just go down to the bottom of the page and click export and it saves as a JPEG.  

Hope this helps some.... I love the collages that I have made with shutterfly.   If I knew how to put my pics on here I would...lol.... I am new at this... so if ya want to see them.... let me know! 

 

Thanks,

Liz