Make a collage of pictures

[jenniferdunton]

I would like to make a collage of pictures. 3 columns by 3 rows. No fancy stuff just the basic pictures lined up.

1. I don't know how to crop a picture and have each of the 9 pictures the exact same size.

2. I don't know how to open the first picture and put it in the top left and then open up the 2nd picture and line it up right next to it, so on and so forth.

Thanks

[Zieon Eslador]

Alright, for part 1-

Hidden Content:

1.)Use the tool while holding Shift to drag a perfectly square selection on the picture. (Don't hold Shift if you want a rectangle)

2.)Use the tool to move the selection if you need to.

3.)When you have the selection over the part of the picture you want it cropped to; hit Ctrl + Shift + X.

4.)Now select the whole picture, and open up the next picture you want to crop. Create a new layer in the new picture and hit Ctrl + V.

5.)In the layers mini-window select the bottom layer. (You can delete the empty layer)

6.)Follow steps 2 - 5 until all of your images have been cropped and are open in PDN tabs.

For part 2-

Hidden Content:

1.)You should have 9 PDN tabs open in the top right under the close button. Hit Ctrl + N and make a new image that is big enough to contain all nine pictures. (9 100x100 pictures = >900x100)

2.)Go to the first tab and select the entire picture with the tool, hit Ctrl + C and go back to the new image.

3.)In the bottom layer, hit Crtl + V and move the picture around to where you want it. (Use the coordinates at the bottom-left if you want)

4.)Now, create a new layer.

5.)Follow steps 2 - 4 for each tab until you have all the pictures in the new image.

Good luck, and feel free to ask again if anything in this post doesn't make sense. :wink:

[jenniferdunton]

thank you for the speedy response. I am a novice at this so bear with me. I am thinking that this must be too complicated for the average person.

1. In part 1 I completed up to step 3 and got lost in step 4.

I successfully cropped the picture. I didn't understand how then to "Now select the whole picture, and open up the next picture you want to crop".

- How do I save the 1st cropped picture or do I even need to?

- It puts the new cropped picture as a background in the Layers window, is that right?

- am I supposed to be adding a new layer before opening up the 2nd picture to crop?

- When I add a new layer a new layer window opens up.

- If I try to add a new layer the box is grey and white checkered, what does that mean?

- How do I "Create a new layer in the new picture and hit Ctrl + V?"

- My layers window box on the bottom right went away and now I don't know how to get it back.

- Is layering going to put my pictures on top of each other or side by side? I want them side by side.

[Zieon Eslador]

-1 How do I save the 1st cropped picture or do I even need to?

-2 It puts the new cropped picture as a background in the Layers window, is that right?

-3 am I supposed to be adding a new layer before opening up the 2nd picture to crop?

-4 When I add a new layer a new layer window opens up.

-5 If I try to add a new layer the box is grey and white checkered, what does that mean?

-6 How do I "Create a new layer in the new picture and hit Ctrl + V?"

-7 My layers window box on the bottom right went away and now I don't know how to get it back.

-8 Is layering going to put my pictures on top of each other or side by side? I want them side by side.

1 - You don't need to save it since Pant.NET keeps tabs of artwork(Little boxes under the Minimize, Maximize and Close buttons), but you can save them by going to File > Save As... and them saving the image as a .pdn.

2 - Yes, that is supposed to happen.

3 - No, once you open the second picture you add the new layer.

4 - That mini-window gives you info on the layers in your image. Selecting a layer highlights it in blue in the layer window and allows you to only draw in the selected layer.

5 - That is the way Paint.NET shows transparency. It just means that there are no pixels there and if you save the image as a .png, the areas filled in with checkerboard patterns are invisible. (Yes, this is supposed to happen in my instructions)

6 - In the mini-window there is a button that looks like a white rectangle with a green plus sign, click it. Or simply hit Ctrl + Shift + N. Crtl + C is the keyboard shortcut for Copy and Crtl + V is the keyboard shortcut for Paste.

7 - Hit F7 on your keyboard.

8 - When they are on different layers they can be moved over top of each other, but you can move the pictures individually by dragging them. You don't need more than one layer, but it is easier to more the individual pictures if they are on different layers.

To select the whole picture just follow Part 1, Step 1 but click on the :ZoomOut: and drag the mouse from the bottom left of the light blue Pant.NET background to the to the top right of the Paint.NET background.

I don't mind helping, everyone starts somewhere.