How to Make a Photo Collage in GIMP

What We Will Make

In this post, I will explain how to make a simple photo collage in GIMP.

Project details:

• We have 4 images. Each image is in landscape orientation and has a 4:3 aspect ratio.
• We want to create a 2 × 2 horizontal collage, also with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
• The collage resolution is 1024×768.
• There are no borders or spaces between the images.

Steps

Step 1: Create the Canvas and Define the Size

1. Click on File -> New…
2. A window called Create a New Image will appear.
3. Enter the dimensions in the Image Size section: 1024 for Width and 768 for Height.
4. Click the OK button.

Step 2: Create Guidelines

1. Click on Image -> Guides -> New Guide (by Percent)…
2. A window called Script-Fu: New Guide (by Percent) will appear.
3. Set Direction to Horizontal and Position (in %) to 50.00. These are the default values, so just click the OK button.
4. A horizontal dashed line dividing the canvas in half will appear.
5. Click on Image -> Guides -> New Guide (by Percent)… again.
6. The Script-Fu: New Guide (by Percent) window will appear again.
7. Set Direction to Vertical and keep Position (in %) at 50.00. Click the OK button.
8. A vertical dashed line dividing the canvas in half will appear.
9. Make sure View -> Snap to Guides is enabled.

Step 3: Open Images

1. Click on File -> Open as Layers…
2. A window called Open Image as Layers will appear. Select your images and click the Open button.
3. Each image will appear as a layer in the Layers panel.

Step 4: Arrange the Images

1. Click on the layer containing an image. Press Shift+S to scale.
2. A Scale window will appear.
3. Enter 512 in the Width field and press Enter. The Height will adjust automatically to maintain the aspect ratio. Press the Scale button to confirm.
4. Repeat steps 1–3 for the remaining three images.
5. Use the Move Tool to arrange the images so they align with the guidelines.
6. If an image is outside the canvas boundaries, it can still be selected using the Move Tool. It will appear as a yellow outline, as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 5: Export the Collage

1. Click on File -> Export As…
2. An Export Image window will appear.
3. Expand Select File Type (By Extension) and choose the desired format (e.g., PNG, JPEG).
4. Enter a file name, choose a location, and click the Export button.
5. Depending on the format, an additional window may appear with format-specific settings.
6. Click the Export button again. You’re done!

Notes

These guidelines were written and tested using GIMP 2.10.34.