Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with collage

Stained Glassy Collages?

soelo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:30:09 -0800

What software can I use to make a photo collage using non-rectangular photos? I'd like to make a photo collage similar in layout to the cover of Sims 3 using triangles instead of diamonds. I currently use PhotoScape and have access to but haven't used PaintShop, but I am willing to try some other software if it can do what I want.

I'd like to be able to create my own layout using triangles (or any other non-rectangular shape), select pictures to insert and be able to resize and rotate to get exactly what I want aligned in the triangle. It will look a bit like stained glass with pictures instead of a solid color between the leading.

Is there some Windows compatible software that will let me do this easily? If it's spendy but has a free trial, I'll try it. I'd be willing to do the cropping and rotating before trying to insert the pic into the layout.

1-to-N, a single photo file to many pages

Brettus — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:55:42 -0800

How can I print a high-res photograph as multiple pages? I saw a website on here recently that I can no longer find. The website allowed you to upload a photograph. It then returned a multi-page PDF that you could print. You could hang all of these photos on the wall and create a HUGE poster. What is this website?

The website I recall had an online and an offline version of the program that you could use.

"multiple images"
"poster"
"collage"
all turned up nothing.

Thanks a ton, metafilter freaks.

Surrealist collage artist(s)?

JoanArkham — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:01:45 -0800

ArtFilter: Looking for the name of an early 20th (late 19th?) century artist known for manipulated photo/engraving collage... I am fairly sure the artist is French, maybe considered a Dadaist or Surrealist. He did a number of prints and book illustrations of things like women with bird heads and such, made from collaged engravings (lithographs?) and photos.

Any ideas? I saw a very small exhibit of his work (or maybe it was more than one artist?) about a year ago at the National Gallery of Art, but I can't find anything on their site.

How to display bits of paper?

mattbucher — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:03:46 -0800

Artfilter: I have a bunch of arty things printed out on 8.5 x 11 copy paper and other scraps of stuff I've saved from various places (old calendars, transparencies, catalogs) and I'd like to do something with all of it to make it presentable. But what? I'm open to glueing the pieces on to something with wheatpaste or whatever but I don't really have anything that needs covering. A collage the doesn't look like I made it in middle school? What should I do with this stuff?

collage

amsterdam63 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:07:14 -0800

I'm looking to make it easier for me to learn by adding pictures, mind maps and maybe animation to the standard taking notes. What is the best computer program for this? I would like to be able to create mind maps out of what I draw on paper and scan in along with what I can draw on the computer. Also, take pictures and scan them in, edit them and make collages out of all these different things. I would also like to be able to create simple animations. How could I best go about this? I have a computer with Windows XP and one with Ubuntu, so programs for either would work.

How do I make a photo collage?

mcarthey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:33:45 -0800

How can I make a photo collage out of a collection of words and/or photos? I'm interested in building something similar to this out of my own collection of words and/or photos. It'd be best if I could automate this process by typing in my own sentences and providing my photos. I'm hoping this process could be automated instead of having to cut up a bunch of photos.

Photo collages: the sticky and the permanent

lisa g — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:32:09 -0800

I'm starting a series of collages where I'm attaching bits of photos to other photos, and I'm curious about the best adhesives and sealants for archival purposes. The photos in question are C-prints, not inkjets. Some will be digital C-prints from a lab, and some might be from a darkroom -- but they'll all be on Fuji Crystal Archive paper.

My goal is to have the adhesive be as permanent as possible and for the sealant to dry clear and stay clear over the years (and not alter the colors of the photos).

I'm new to collage, so I'm learning as I go along. I've done some Googling and looked at various web forums (like this and this), but none seem to deal specifically with photos on photos. I guess I've got it easier than some collagists (sp?), as I'm dealing with relatively thick photos and not thin old newsprint, but of course photos have issues of their own.

I've done a few test runs with Crafter's Pick brand "Decoupage and Collage Gel," which says it's archival; it dries clear and seems fine. But I know there's a ton of stuff out there.

Bonus: If I mount these collages on wood or aluminum or cintra, what's the best permanent adhesive for that? I've previously had some C-prints professionally mounted on cintra, and a few are beginning to unstick at the corners after only a few years. Though maybe it was just a bad mounting job. I'm not sure what adhesive they used.

thanks for any help!

Adhering tissue paper in the very best way possible?

actionpact — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:01:00 -0800

I want to glue and layer tissue paper to bristol board. Help me pick out the right kind of adhesive! I got really inspired by Eric Carle this morning and now I really want to play around with gluing and overlaying painted tissue paper. But I haven't done this before and am a)impatient and b) on a bit of a budget and c) wanting to be as kind to the environment as I can in the process.

Reading about Eric Carle's process, he says he brushes on wallpaper paste. But I read that such paste is harmful for the environment. I'd like to get a glue that will glue flimsy papers down flat without being really harsh chemically if I can. I've used Yes! glue in school but no place around here carries it, and I don't think Elmer's or Mod Podge are going to do that well with it, though I could be wrong.

What are your ideas? Bonus points if they're things I can find easily at a chain store or art supply store (Home Depot/Lowe's are also good options) or are mixtures I could make myself using household ingredients. (wheatpaste? I'm clueless, so advice is appreciated.) I'd rather not blow a lot of money experimenting with glues I'll probably not use otherwise. Hoping I won't have to go ordering through the internet on this one!

A little pillow talk

nakedcodemonkey — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:29:28 -0800

Ribbons criss-cross over a thin wall-mounted cushion so that lots of photos can be tucked between the ribbons to form a collage. What the heck is this frame/mount/doohickey called? Googling for obvious phrases like "collage pillow" and "photo ribbon" turn up only unrelated items.

Two turntables and a pen and a piece of paper

sleevener — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:21:15 -0800

Most interesting poetry which makes use found or appropriated language? Who are the best or most interesting poets who make use of "found" or "appropriated" language? Anything counts, from movie quotes to chatter overheard in the mall to Chinese ideograms (looking at you, Ezra). I already know Pound, Eliot, blee blah. I love Rae Armantrout's work like crazy, and her subtle use of appropriation. I'm going to comb Ubuweb. Ted Berrigan's _The Sonnets_ is a favorite, and maybe has the qualities of what I'm looking for: vital, purposeful and optimistic. Who haven't I heard of? Oddball and regularball suggestions welcome. Double points for links to specific books. Double and a half points if the work's online.

Using an unknown quote in artwork

agregoli — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:38:17 -0800

If I use a quote from an internet source (not famous, but from a blogger, etc.) in an art collage, without crediting the source (because I cannot find the source), what possible trouble could I get into? Does this sort of random, "I heard this" violate any kind of copyright law or anything like that?

Celery Stick, Taxicab, and Viking Ship

kidsleepy — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:40:08 -0800

What's something fun and creative I can do with paint chips? They are too short to make a
paint chip wallet
and not wide enough to make a
paint chip card holder.
They're your standard 2"x6" strips.

One idea was to take my favorites and somehow attach them to my moleskine planner, but I'm not getting a new one until Christmas and am dying to do something cool now!

Disappearing libarry books!

soviet sleepover — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 23:06:40 -0800

Dear artists/collagers/librarians, I have a two-part question, and the first part is a doozy: I'm looking for a specific book of copyright-free clip art/etchings & I don't know the title. The second part: recommend your favorite books of copyright-free etchings! Specifically, I'm looking for a particular book of copyright-free clip art/etchings. It's a very thick book (~300+ pages) with thousands of images, devoting whole pages to beetles, for instance, as well as to fish & undersea creatures, printmaking equipment, early machines, architecture, the human body from bone structure to fully clothed, etc.

Almost all the images are monotone: black & white etchings from the 18th & 19th centuries (I think). Towards the latter part of the book whole scenes show up, rather than a page full of 50 winged insects.

The book itself (not jacket) is off-white (or tan, or khaki?), about 1.5x wider than it is tall, probably something like 8"x12", & not an oversized book. In my old library it was a reference book in the clip art & copyright-free images section (I'd call them, but last time I was back, it was missing from the shelves!).

Part 2: If there are any similar books of illustration-style etchings that you really like (& that are public domain), tell me about 'em! I'm looking for old-style etchings (like this), not the silhouettes or more recent-looking drawings that the Dover clip art collection mostly features. (I'm mostly looking for bizarre plants & animals, as well as medical illustrations.)

What software to create photo collage?

gfroese — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 06:43:56 -0800

What software can you recommend for creating a large collage suitable for printing at poster size? I want to make a collage of at least 100 pictures and create a poster size print out of it. I'm looking to print at least 18" x 24" and maybe 24" x 36" so the resolution of the final image must be quite high.

Preferably, I don't want just a grid layout (contact sheet) as that has zero artistic flare to it.

Are there any software packages (windows or linux, sadly no Mac available, free is always better too) out there that do a decent job of creating a large collage where the photos are kind of mish-mashed together and piled on top of each other? Basically anything other than just a straight grid. Picasa has a decent collage feature for a handful of pictures, but is not feasable for a large number of pictures.

OS X Wireless Collage

mkelley — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 08:52:59 -0800

I had an app a few years back, that would create a collage of the images floating around in real-time, over a local wireless network. It ran on OS X or OS9 and I remember a fellow blogger talking about it. I can't remember the name of it, but maybe someone else does.

Help me with display ideas for small laminated cards.

helcat — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:52:55 -0800

Help me with display ideas. I have a collection of probably 40 or 50 small laminated cards (picture backstage passes) that I would like to display in my apartment. I had them all taped to a wall forming one giant blocky collage, but was wondering if there's a better way.

Smaller than big is great!

robbie01 — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 12:23:48 -0800

Is there a name for the (somewhat overused) graphic technique of using many small images to form a larger, overall picture? It's used a lot in posters and advertising, I was just wondering if it had a name, or whether there was some central repository for such images on web. (I'm sure there's software available to create the effect, but I'm not so much interested in that.) Couldn't find anything on Google since I don't know what to search for.