How to Make a Product Collage

Hello friends! Today I'm blogging about a question that you guys have asked me over & over... how to make a product collage. Whether you are a student, employee, teacher, blogger, or just curious, knowing how to make a collage is a handy skill to have. Although it can be a complicated process, hopefully I can answer most of the basic questions you have.

First off, let's talk about programs. I use Photoshop Elements to create all of my product collages. I took a class in college that taught me the basic uses of Photoshop Elements and since then I have learned a lot just through trial-and-error and by teaching myself. (The easiest way to learn is just by diving in!) You can also create collages in the full version of Photoshop, although I stick with Photoshop Elements because it's a lot simpler and easier to use. Anyone can learn how to use these programs, however, they do take some effort and a bit of trial and error. If you get stuck on something, try looking it up on YouTube (I've had to do this so many times!). Anyways, I highly recommend Photoshop Elements for collages and photo editing in general... so let's get started on how I make collages using the program.

The first step is determining which images you want to include in your collage. I usually pick a theme for my blog posts, whether it is "spring products" or "save vs. splurge items," etc. and then look at different online retailers to find products that fit into my theme. I create a specific folder on my computer for these images, and I title the folder after the name of the blog post I'm working on. Once I find an image online that I want to include in the post, I right click and save it to the dedicated file on my computer. When searching for images, make sure you are paying attention to the background - a white background will make the whole process 20,000 times easier - trust me. 

If you don't want to save the images to your computer, you can also take a screenshot of the product. On a Mac computer, press Command, Shift, and the 3 key at the same time to take a screenshot.

Next, open up Photoshop Elements and choose File > New > Blank File. Everyone will have a different dimension depending on the width of your blog posts. For example, my blog posts are 640 pixels wide, so I set all of my collages to 640 pixels wide. You can make the length whatever you choose. Make sure the background contents is set to white.

Click File > Open and choose the images that you rounded up for your collage. They will each open up in Photoshop Elements as a different document. 

Remember that blank file you created? Now you're going to copy and paste each image onto that document. Using the rectangular marquee tool, outline the image that you want, copy it (Command + C), then paste it onto the blank file (Command + P).

Once the item is pasted onto the blank file, you can resize them using your mouse - just hover over the corner of the rectangle and it will turn into a resizing tool.

You'll have to play around with the images to get the best arrangement of products. Try making them bigger and smaller, and moving them around until they all "fit" together.

To add text to your collage, click the horizontal type tool on the left hand side. Above, you can change the font, size and color. I always play around with fonts to determine the best one to fit the collage. Once you've written the text, you can move it around on the page.

Adding shapes is pretty simple. Select the custom shape tool on the left. From there, you can select the exact shape you want (circle, arrow, heart, etc.) and draw them onto your collage. You can also select the color of the shape.

Once you're happy with how the collage looks, it's time to save it! Right now it's still a psd (photoshop file), and you will need to change it to a jpeg in order to put it on a website. Click File > Save As. Under the Save As portion, name your collage. Under Format, make sure that it says JPEG. Then hit save! 

And voila! Your collage is done. This one happens to feature some items I'm loving right now... and most of them are less than $40!

Chloe look-alike bag ($36) // Baublebar earrings ($38) // circle sunglasses ($12) 

fringe heels // Sunday Morning tee ($34)

You can purchase Photoshop Elements here. I know that some of those steps can be kind of confusing... If you have any questions about Photoshop Elements or any of the steps, feel free to leave them in the comments!

Are there any other blog-related things you'd like to learn? If you have an idea, let me know!