Why does the big photo get cropped in the featured layout with small photos beside it?
Because the large cell takes two thirds of the width and is as tall as the whole column of small photos. With three small photos the large cell turns tall and narrow, so a landscape main photo is cut hard at both sides. Use fewer small photos, give the small ones a wider cell shape, or switch the fit to “Contain whole image”.
How this layout is built
In the Image collage maker maker, the “One large + small” layout puts the first photo in a large cell on the left and stacks the rest in a column on the right. The small column takes a third of the inner width and the large cell takes the rest. “Cell shape” sets the small cells only; the large one is as tall as all the small cells plus the gaps between them. In other words, the big photo's shape is not a setting you choose but a result of how many photos you add.
4 photos, a 1200 width, a 10 gap, 0 margin and a 1:1 cell shape: the three small photos are 396 × 396, the large cell is 794 × 1208, and the output is 1200 × 1208.
A 1600 × 1200 landscape main photo in that tall cell keeps only its middle 789 px, less than half its width. That is the annoying crop you are seeing.
The count changes the large cell's shape
- One large and one small (2 photos): the large cell is 794 × 396, very wide, so a landscape photo loses its top and bottom and keeps 1600 × 798.
- One large and two small (3 photos): the cell is 794 × 802, nearly square, and a landscape photo keeps 1188 px of its width.
- One large and three small (4 photos): the cell is 794 × 1208, tall, and only 789 px survive.
Every small photo you add makes the column taller, and the large cell grows taller with it. So a portrait main photo, such as a model or a perfume bottle, sits well with three or more small photos, while a landscape main photo suits two.
Four fixes; choose by your photo
- Cut the small photos down to two if your main photo is landscape or square.
- Give the small photos a wider “Cell shape”: with 4 photos and 16:9, the small cells are 396 × 223 and the large one 794 × 689, so the landscape photo keeps 1383 px of its width. The trade-off is that the small photos become landscape too.
- Choose “Contain whole image”: the 1600 × 1200 photo is drawn at about 794 × 596 inside the large cell, with roughly 306 px of background above and below it. Nothing is cut, but the empty space is large.
- Use a portrait main photo in the first place, or crop it to a tall shape yourself before building the collage, so you decide what stays.
Common mistakes with this layout
- Forgetting that the large photo is always the first in the list. If a secondary product shows up big, move the right photo to first place.
- Leaving “Cell shape” on “Same as the first image”: the shape is taken from the big photo and applied to the small ones, so the large cell changes in ways that are hard to predict. Pick a fixed shape.
- Adding 8 or more small photos: the column gets very long and the large cell becomes a tall, thin strip. This layout works best with two to four small photos.
Common questions
Can the large photo go on the right?
No, in this tool the large photo is always on the left and the small column on the right.
Can I move the crop to another part of the photo?
No, the crop is always around the center. To choose what shows, crop the photo to the shape you need beforehand.
Why is there no column setting in this layout?
Because it always has two columns, large and small. The column count and the last-row stretch option belong to the grid.