You can create collages using third-party online tools, but most of them are either loaded with ads or add a watermark. The good news is that you can create a collage using Google Drawings. For those who don’t know, Google Drawings is a free tool for basic graphic creation and editing. We’ll show you how to create a picture collage in Google Drawings.
You can access Google Drawings directly from Drawings.google.com or open them from Google Drive. In Google Drawings, you can add multiple images, text, layer images, and perform various other image manipulations. We explained all this in our article.
Let’s learn how to create a collage in Google Drawings.
How to Create a Picture Collage in Google Drawings
Stage 1: Open drawings.google.com in a web browser on your PC.
Step 2: A blank canvas will open. Click Insert and then Image. You will be presented with several ways to add your images. You can add from Google Drive, Google Photos, your computer, insert via a URL, or search the web on Google Drawings. Select the mode to add your images.
Stage 3: Add all the pictures you want in your collage using step 2. All images will be stacked on top of each other. You can add more images later. Do not worry.
Step 4: Now, you need to customize the collage according to your need and preference. Various editing tips for creating a beautiful collage in Google Drawings.
Resize Photos
To resize an image, click once to select it. After selecting them, use the small boxes located in the four corners to increase or decrease the size of the image evenly. Drag in or out using the corners. You can also resize the image using the small boxes in the middle, but this will not preserve the height-to-width ratio.
Move Photos
To change the position of any photo, you can select it by clicking on it. Then drag the image to its new location. You can also use the four arrow keys on your keyboard to change its position.
Use Guides
When resizing or moving an image, you will be guided by the red lines to perfectly align the image with the other images. You can take their help to make well-crafted collages.
If the red alignment lines are not visible, click View in the top menu bar. Go to Snap and select Guides.
Rotate Image
To rotate an image, right-click on it and select Rotate. Then choose how you want to rotate your image.
Alternatively, select the image if you want to rotate the image in any direction. Then rotate the image using the handle above the image.
crop image
Sometimes you may find that one of your images in the collage has an unwanted area. Instead of using any third-party editor to crop the image, you can do the same in Google Drawings.
To crop an image, double-click the image and a black border will appear around it. Use this border to select the area you want to hide. Then press Enter to crop the image. You can also right-click the image and choose Crop from the menu. Alternatively, click on the Crop option in the top menu.
Crop Image in Shape
You can crop your images in different ways to give your collage an interesting look. You don’t have to do this manually. Just select the image and click the arrow icon next to the Crop tool in the top bar. Choose how you want to mask your image.
Double-click and drag the picture to place it inside the shapes. You can rotate, resize, and move the picture inside a shape. This is what the collage looks like using various shapes.
Fly: Browse five websites to crop your images into shapes.
Reorder Pictures
Google Drawing supports layering of images. So you can superimpose one image on top of another and move it forward or backward, just as you would with any regular photo editor.
To do this, right-click the image and select Sort. Choose your preferred option.
Add and Customize Image Border
You can add and customize borders for each image in the collage individually. You can choose the border style, width and color. For this, select the image and click on the appropriate border tools from the top bar.
Fly: Learn how to overlay a picture or text over another picture in Google Docs using Google Drawings.
add text
You can also add text to your collage if you want. To do this, click Insert > Text box. Type the text you want. Similarly, you can add shapes and lines to your collage.
Pro Tip: Go to Insert > Line > Scribble to draw on your collage.
Other Image Editing Options
You can further customize your individual images using various formatting options. For example, you can recolor images, add shadows or reflections, and more. To do this, right-click the picture you want to edit and select Format options. Formatting options will appear in the right sidebar. Apply them as needed.
Step 5: Google Drawing files are saved in your Google Drive account. You can access and edit them anytime from Google Drive.
Once your collage is ready, you can download it as an image file or use the collage in a Google Docs document.
Click File, then Download to download the collage as an image. Choose the image format.
To insert it into a Google Docs document, open the document and go to Insert > Drawing. From Drive select and select the collage. You can check our in-depth guide on how to add Google Drawings to Google Docs.
Fly: You can also create a collage directly in Google Docs. Check out our guide on how to create a collage in Google Docs using two methods.
Use Google Drawings for collage
So you can seamlessly create beautiful collages in Google Drawings. Again, you can use collages created in Google Drawings outside of this. Simply download the collage as an image as shown above. You can then insert it into Google Slides, PowerPoint Presentation, or even a Word document.
Next: Did you know that you can adjust the transparency of images in Google Drawings? Learn how to do this at the next link.
