I’m graduating high school soon and I wanted a way to be able to keep all of my favorite memories with my friends as I get ready to go to college. I thought that putting together some kind of photo collage would be an awesome gift for my friends’ grad parties, so I started looking into it some to see what I could find.
There weren’t a whole lot of apps that really spoke to me. A lot of photo apps are good editors but didn’t have the specific collage functionality that I was looking for. And then I came across this website that has a list of the best apps for making a collage – um, hello, yes please.
I tried a few of them out and got such good results that I’ve been working on putting together collages for all of my friends – not just a few like I was initially intending. Oh my gosh, the quality is so good on these collages. My friends are going to love these collages – I can’t wait!
PicCollage – Rating: 4.6, Downloads: 50M
PicCollage is really nice because it has a really sleek design with clean layouts that are perfect for aspiring for people (a.k.a. my friends) who want to impress their Instagram followers and new college roommates. It’s even had great reviews by really notable publications like USA Today and the LA Times, which is really cool because you know it’s going to be good.
The one negative of this app is that, unless you pay for it, the free version will leave a watermark on the images. For me, it depends on the image – if the watermark is really noticeable, that will annoy me, but for the most part, I find that it’s not that hard to ignore. It’s honestly just up to you.
Pros: Clean layout, sleek and modern, has reviews by top publications
Cons: Watermarks are put on free images
Overall: As long as you don’t mind a watermark here and there on the free images, you’ll love how clean these image collages come out
Pic Stitch – Rating: 4.5, Downloads: 1M
In my research, I discovered that Pic Stitch is a total icon in the online world of collage making. It’s actually been around since the very beginning of Instagram, which I didn’t know at all – fun fact! What’s fun about this app is that it has 200+ collage picture frames in 15 different aspect ratios so everyone in the image stands out in a really impressive, beautiful way.
Strangely enough, I do find that using this app for an extended period of time makes my phone hot. I don’t know what’s up with that, but I thought I’d mention it anyway because it’s kind of odd and not my favorite thing if I’m being honest.
Pros: More than 200 frames, 15 different aspect ratios, makes everyone look good
Cons: Can make your phone heat up
Overall: As long as you use this app in short stints, you’ll love how many options you have to really deck out your photo collages
PicsArt Photo Studio – Rating: 4.5, Downloads: 100M
I’ve recently discovered that I love adding image stickers to my collages. It makes them so much more fun and personal; my friends have been loving the ones I make for them. PicsArt is a totally free collage maker that also has a massive collection of graphics stickers for you to add to your pictures. There’s also art tools that you can use to make your photos stand out.
Once, this app crashed while I was trying to make edits. If that happens to you, you do risk losing your progress, which is what happened to me. I don’t know why it happened, but it only occurred once. I thought I would mention it anyway so you can be aware that you should always be saving your progress!
Pros: Free, add tons of stickers to your collages to make them extra unique
Cons: App crashed on me once and I lost progress
Overall: Make sure you save frequently and I’m sure you’ll have a great time adding fun stickers to make your photos extra special
Conclusion
While I’m super bummed to be saying goodbye to my friends (at least for a little while), I’m excited I’ll have something permanent that I can give them to remind them of our time together. I’m excited, myself, to have one of these amazing collages in my dorm room; more than just memories, I think it will be a great conversation starter with anyone who sees it. Fingers crossed!