Making a Collage

Making a collage from your favorite photographs isn't always easy, especially if you are using a pre-cut mat. The holes are invariably the wrong sizes your photos. Photographs may be in a poor state of repair, or may be an odd mixture of color and black and white, leading to a less than pleasing final effect. Additionally, valuable photographs should not themselves be displayed as exposing them to natural light will cause fading. Having your photos professionally scanned, and the images manipulated in the wide variety of techniques described on this web site, will give you the beautiful display you envisioned and will treasure.

Above is an example of a collage put together from photos that required a number of techniques to fit them to one frame in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible. Below are the original photographs, with descriptions of the techniques applied to each.

The couple on the right are the subject of this collage. This photograph was taken in the early 1900s. It has yellowed and suffered a few scuffs, and a tear which needed repairing. To fit it to the mat, it was "expanded" in height.

This photograph was taken at their son's wedding in 1953. This photograph was in excellent condition and the dimensions were perfect. It was reduced in size, then recolored slightly to give it a slight sepia tint to match the other photos in the collage.

This photograph of the couple was taken in 1953 - also at their son's wedding. It was reduced in size and given a slight sepia tint.

This is the couple's son; the portrait was taken in 1983. To match the other photos in the collage, it was de-colored, then given a slight sepia tint.

This is the couple's daughter-in-law. This portrait was taken in the late 1940s. It was reduced in size and given a slight sepia tint.

This is the couple, taken in the 1940s. The people in the background were edited out to make the picture cleaner.