Collage: how it works

A practical guide with real examples

PT

How to make a photo collage online, with no sign-up and without uploading your photos

Putting the best photos of a trip, a party or a product into a single frame usually takes an editing program or an app full of ads. This guide shows how to build the collage in your browser: drop the photos, pick a theme or an arrangement, change the background and download as PNG, JPG, WebP, in several sizes at once or as a video.

Guide written by Marcelo Amantino · updated on November 4, 2026 · about us

Open Collage

Where your data is processed

Photos are read and drawn by your own browser: nothing is sent to WebFaz. The only download is Google’s public AI model that finds faces (about 8 MB), once, and no photo is uploaded. The collage in progress and the designs you save stay in this browser, on your device; to take a collage elsewhere, download the file. In practice, family and work photos do not go through an unknown service just to become a nice frame.

See the full list on the Privacy page.

Real-world use cases

Build a collage with the photos of a weekend trip

Situation: You have five good photos from a weekend and want a single frame to post.

  1. Open Collage and choose or drop the photos in the middle area (up to 60).
  2. See the collage already built and, if you want another look, click “Random style”.
  3. Click a photo to see its bar. “Frame” moves the tile; “Content” adjusts the photo inside the tile (a click on the selected photo toggles it).
  4. In the “Photos” tab, drag a thumbnail to change the order, or drop it on a tile to swap that tile’s photo.
WebFaz Collage with five photos arranged in tiles: the forest photo selected with the photo toolbar below it and, on the right, the Photos tab with the numbered thumbnails and the Add photos and Shuffle order buttons.
Photos: the collage builds itself; click a photo to see its tools.
  1. Point 1: The photo bar: Frame or Content (what dragging moves), edit in Studio, a shape for this photo only, reframe by face, swap places and delete.
  2. Point 2: Rolls a new look (arrangement, background, frame and decorations). The app already does it once when the photos arrive, so you can see how it works.
  3. Point 3: Thumbnails follow the photo order. Drag one to change the order or drop it on a tile to swap that tile’s photo.
  4. Point 4: You can add more photos at any time: the collage rebuilds itself.

Result: An arranged collage, with the photos in the order and framing you chose.

Scatter the photos like on a table, hiding no one

Situation: You want a loose look, with rotated and overlapping photos, but there are people in the photos and nobody can be left out.

  1. Open the “Layout” tab and choose the format (for example, Landscape 16:9 or Story 9:16).
  2. Under “How to arrange the photos”, choose “Scatter”.
  3. Adjust the photo size, the overlap and the tilt.
  4. Click “Shuffle” until you like the distribution.
WebFaz Collage in Scatter mode: loose, slightly rotated, overlapping photos with every face in view, and the Layout panel with the arrangement modes and the scatter controls.
Scatter: loose, rotated and overlapping photos, hiding no faces.
  1. Point 1: Photos can overlap and hang a little over the edge, but no face leaves the frame or is covered by another photo (the face AI runs on your device).
  2. Point 2: Tiles, Scatter, Pattern, Free, Cutouts (people cut out like stickers) and Photo mosaic: six ways to arrange the same photos.
  3. Point 3: The format is the size of the final image: square, portrait, story, landscape, cover and others. The arrangement is redone for each proportion.

Result: Loose, rotated and overlapping photos with every face in view: none is outside the frame or covered by another photo.

Start from a ready-made theme

Situation: You do not want to build from scratch and prefer to pick a nice template.

  1. Open the “Themes” tab.
  2. Use the counter to pick how many photos to use and the filters to see only one kind of theme (grid, film, classic, fun…).
  3. Tap a template: the thumbnail is already your collage with that look.
  4. Adjust whatever you like on top, in the “Layout”, “Background” and “Style” tabs.
WebFaz Collage on the Themes tab: the collage with a theme applied and, on the right, the template gallery with thumbnails made from your own photos, the photo counter and the filters.
Themes: complete templates shown with your photos.
  1. Point 1: Each thumbnail is your collage with that template (layout, background, frame and decorations). One click applies it; then adjust whatever you like.
  2. Point 2: Templates adapt to the number of photos: choose how many to use and see only the ones that fit.
  3. Point 3: Filter by theme type.

Result: Layout, background, frames and decorations applied at once, still fully adjustable.

Swap the background for a watercolor

Situation: The photos look good, but the plain background makes the collage dull.

  1. Open the “Background” tab.
  2. Choose “Watercolors” (or “Color blots”): a ready-made background goes behind the photos.
  3. Click the same button again to swap to another image; the note shows which of the five backgrounds is in use.
  4. Use “Brightness” to lighten or darken. For a transparent background, choose “Transparent”.
WebFaz Collage on the Background tab: the collage over a watercolor background and, on the right, the background types (color, gradient, blurred photo, watercolors, stains and others) with the brightness control.
Background: color, gradient, blurred photo, watercolors, stains or transparent.
  1. Point 1: Choose the background type. With Watercolors and Stains, clicking the same button again swaps to another image.
  2. Point 2: The background rotates itself (0° or 90°) to fill the chosen format better.
  3. Point 3: A transparent background works too: use PNG or WebP when downloading to keep it.

Result: A collage with a watercolor background that fills the chosen format well, or a transparent background to use elsewhere.

Download for the feed, stories and video

Situation: You need the same collage as square, portrait and story, and also an animated version.

  1. Open the “Download” tab.
  2. For a single file, choose PNG, JPG or WebP, the size, and click “Download”.
  3. Under “Download in several sizes”, tick the formats you want and click “Download … sizes (ZIP)”: the arrangement is redone for each proportion.
  4. Under “Animated collage”, choose how the photos come in and the time between them and click “Generate and download the video”.
WebFaz Collage on the Download tab: the PNG, JPG or WebP file type, the size, the Download button, the list of formats to download in several sizes as a ZIP and the animated video collage.
Download: one file, several sizes at once (ZIP) or an animated video.
  1. Point 1: PNG, JPG or WebP. For a transparent background, use PNG or WebP.
  2. Point 2: Tick several formats to get, in a ZIP, the same collage redone for each proportion (feed, story, cover…).
  3. Point 3: The animated collage generates a video where the photos come in one after another, to use in the Video Editor or Slideshow.

Result: Files ready for each network, in a ZIP, and a video where the photos come in one after another.

Tips for a better result

  • To keep what you made, use “My designs” (up to 12 collages with their photos); “Continue where you left off” reopens the last one from the entry screen.
  • If you leave the page (for example, to the Video Editor) and come back with the browser’s back arrow, the collage in progress is still there.
  • Click outside the collage to clear the selection and see how it looks, without the bar and the outline.
  • With “Send to…”, take the finished collage to Studio, Slideshow or the Video Editor; the Video Editor gets the separate layers, one per photo.
  • Before removing all photos the app asks you to confirm; “Undo” reverts most adjustments.

Limits, and when this is not the best option

  • Up to 60 photos per collage. Each photo is used as a working version of up to 2,000 pixels on the long side, which is enough for social networks and for A4 at 150 dpi.
  • The final file is limited by your device’s pixel budget (about 16 megapixels on iPhone and iPad, 64 on a computer). The app tells you when it scales the size down.
  • Face protection applies to Scatter and Cutouts (and to the decorations); if you move a photo by hand in Free mode, the arrangement is yours.
  • Cutouts depend on the AI and only cut out photos where it finds a face; the others go in whole. The cutout is not perfect on loose hair or on backgrounds close to skin tone.
  • The photo mosaic works best with 20 photos or more, in varied colors. The animated video has no sound and comes out as MP4 (or WebM, depending on the browser).
  • Saved designs stay only in this browser: clearing the site data erases everything, and they do not move to another device.

Frequently asked questions

Are my photos sent to a server?
No. The collage is built in your browser. The only download is Google’s public AI model that finds faces (about 8 MB), once, and no photo is sent. You can check it in the browser’s Network tab (F12).
Do I need an account or to pay?
No. It is free and needs no sign-up.
How do I save the collage with a transparent background?
In the Background tab choose Transparent and, in Download, PNG or WebP. The checkerboard in the preview does not go into the file. JPG cannot keep transparency and comes out with a white background.
Can I use the same collage in several sizes?
Yes. In Download, tick the formats (square, story, 16:9, A4…) and download the ZIP. The arrangement is redone for each proportion instead of just cropping the image.
Is my collage saved?
Only in this browser. “My designs” keeps up to 12 collages with their photos, and “Continue where you left off” reopens the last one. Clearing the site data erases everything.
How do I edit a photo before putting it in the collage?
With the pencil icon on the photo bar or on the thumbnail, which opens the photo in Studio. When you save there, it comes back to the same place as a new version. Undo brings the original back, and the compare button shows the before and after.
Why do some flowers or hearts not show up?
Decorations move off faces, shrink or, when there is no free space, are not drawn in that corner, so they never cover anyone.

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