Arrangements, not a column count
A grid with a number of columns can only make one shape of collage, and it is the shape where every photo is the same size and the same importance. That is rarely what a set of photos is like. There is usually one that carries the moment and three that set the scene, and the arrangement should say so.
So the choice here is between twenty-two arrangements rather than a number: three photos as one large on the left with two stacked beside it, four as one big with three down the side, five as two above and three below. Each is shown as itself in the picker, because a list of names would make you build each one in your head before you could choose. Past six photos, grids are generated to suit the count — and one that turns out to be identical to a named arrangement is dropped rather than offered twice.
The shape matters more than the arrangement
Pick the canvas shape first, because it changes which arrangements look right. A row of three across a 9:16 story leaves three slivers; the same three stacked fills it. The presets are square, 4:5, 9:16, 16:9, 3:2 and A4, and the arrangement previews are redrawn in whichever is selected so what you are choosing between is what you will get.
4:5 is there because it is the shape a social feed actually gives the most room to, and most collage tools offer only 1:1 and 9:16. A4 is for the collages that get printed — a school project, a memory board, something going in a frame.
Moving photos, and moving what shows
Two different drags. Dragging one photo onto another swaps their places, which is how you get the right picture into the big cell without reordering anything by hand. Dragging inside a photo moves what part of it is showing, which is the fix for the crop that cut somebody in half — a cell is rarely the same shape as the photo going into it, so something always has to be left out.
If you would rather nothing were cropped at all, switch to showing the whole photo and it is letterboxed inside its cell against the background colour instead. Spacing and corner rounding apply to every cell at once; the spacing is measured between two photos, so the gap you set is the gap you see rather than twice it.
Frequently asked questions
Can different photos have different sizes?
Yes, and most of the arrangements do exactly that — one large photo with smaller ones beside or below it. Only the plain grids give every photo the same cell. Pick the arrangement that puts the emphasis where you want it.
How many photos can I use?
Up to twelve. Two to six have hand-made arrangements to choose from; above that, grids are generated to fit the count, with the last row spread across the full width so a leftover photo does not sit alone in a corner.
One of my photos is cropped badly. Can I fix it?
Drag inside that photo to move what is showing. A cell is rarely the same shape as the photo, so something has to be cut — this decides what. Or switch to showing the whole photo, which letterboxes it instead of cropping.
How do I move a photo to a different position?
Drag it onto the one you want to trade places with, either on the collage itself or in the strip of thumbnails underneath. Shuffle rearranges everything at once, which is a quick way to see an arrangement you would not have tried.
What size does it come out?
The long edge is 1080, 1440, 2048 or 2732 pixels and the other follows the shape you picked. 1080 is enough for anything going on a screen; the larger sizes are for printing, where the extra pixels do show.
Are my photos uploaded?
No. They are read by the page, drawn onto a canvas and saved back out, all on your own machine. You can watch it work with the network disconnected, which is the clearest proof there is nowhere for them to have gone.
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