Why did every collage cell take the shape of my first photo and crop my landscape shots?
Because “Cell shape” starts on “Same as the first image”, so every cell copies the proportions of the first photo in the list. A portrait first photo makes every cell portrait, and landscape photos are cropped at the sides to fill them. Pick a fixed shape such as 1:1 or 4:3, move a landscape photo to the top of the list, or switch the fit to “Contain whole image”.
Why the tool works this way
In the Image collage maker maker all cells in a grid share one height, so they need one shared shape. The default takes that shape from the first photo, which is ideal when all your pictures come from the same camera in the same orientation: every photo fills its cell with no cropping at all. The trouble only starts when you mix orientations, such as a portrait shot of a model wearing the dress followed by landscape close-ups of the fabric and embroidery.
The first photo is a 1200 × 1600 portrait, so the cell shape becomes 0.75, which is 3:4. With 4 photos in 2 columns, a 1020 width, a 20 gap and 0 margin, each cell is 500 × 667 and the output is 1020 × 1354.
A 1600 × 1200 landscape photo in one of those cells keeps only its middle, about 900 px wide, and loses roughly 350 px on each side, more than a third of the picture.
Three fixes, each with a trade-off
- Choose a fixed shape in “Cell shape (width:height)”. 1:1 is a compromise that trims the top and bottom of portraits and the sides of landscapes, but less than before. 4:3 or 3:2 suit a set that is mostly landscape.
- Move a landscape photo to the top of the list with the move buttons. The cells turn landscape and your landscape shots survive, but now the portrait photo is the one cropped. Use this when most of your photos are landscape.
- Keep the shape and switch “Cell fit” to “Contain whole image”. The 1600 × 1200 landscape photo is drawn at 500 × 375 inside the 500 × 667 cell, with 146 px of background above and below. Nothing is cut, but the empty space is obvious.
How to choose between them
Ask what matters most in each photo. If the product sits in the middle of every shot and survives a crop, a fixed 1:1 shape gives the cleanest grid. If details near the edges count, such as a sleeve or the end of a table, contain is the safer choice. And if you have five landscape photos and only one portrait, moving a landscape one to the front fixes five photos instead of sacrificing them all.
There is a fourth option if you want full control: crop each photo by hand to the same shape before building the collage, so you choose what stays instead of always keeping the center. The collage maker itself does not let you move the crop area.
Things that surprise people
- Removing or moving the first photo changes the shape of every cell at once, because the shape follows whichever photo is in first place.
- In the “One large + small” layout the shape sets the small cells, and the large cell takes the height of their whole column, so the same rule plays out differently.
- A phone screenshot at the top of the list makes every cell very tall, so watch what you put first.
Common questions
Can each photo have a different cell shape?
No, all grid cells share one shape. The only exception is an incomplete last row whose photos are stretched to fill the width.
Where can I see the shape the tool picked?
In the preview and the dimensions line above it. Reordering the photos updates both immediately.
Does contain shrink the photo and lower its quality?
It draws the photo smaller inside the cell, but from the original file, so it stays sharp at that size.