How to Make a Photo Collage Wallpaper for Windows 10

Many Windows 10 users like to have a slideshow of images on their wallpaper. Windows supports this with the slideshow feature, allowing you to set up a series of images that display one after the other. The usual way to add multiple photos to the Windows 10 desktop as wallpaper is to select the Slideshow option, which this Tech Junkie guide told you about. The slideshow displays each picture separately. However, some users would prefer to have several images put together as a collage for their desktop background. There are software packages that will let you combine, or merge, multiple images into a single wallpaper by setting up photo collages. Then you can include your favorite photographs in one desktop wallpaper instead of a slideshow.

In this article I will show you the basics of using several free tools to create photo collages and collections that you can then use on your Windows 10 desktop.

Set up a Collage with Google Photos

Google Photos is a very powerful and free image library package that is, of course, free to use. Visit Google Photos to create an account if you don’t already have one. To create a collage, just click the “+ Create” button and select Collage from the dropdown options.

You can then select from two to nine photos to put into your collage. Just click the selection checkmark on the photos you want to use, then click the “Create” button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Google Photos will automatically arrange your photos in a collage.

Unfortunately you can’t change the arrangement of the created collage, but you can apply built-in filters, rotate the collage, change the aspect ratio, and make other basic adjustments. Then you can save your collage as a new image and use it on your desktop. Google Photos doesn’t have the most full-featured collage creation tool, but it’s free and very easy to use.

Set up a 3D Photo Presentation with Showcase

Showcase isn’t exactly photo collage software, but it’s something similar. With this you can set up photo presentations that have 3D effects. This program enables you to combine five photographs into desktop wallpaper. Open this page and click Showcase 1.0 to save its setup and install. Then launch the software’s window as shown in the snapshot directly below.

The default number of images for these presentations is three, but you can select 5 Images from the drop-down menu. First, add your favorite photos to the wallpaper by right-clicking the picture boxes and selecting Set image. You can also delete photos by selecting Remove image, and adjust their placement on the presentation by clicking the Swap with image … options on the context menu.

Showcase includes three bars for you to configure the images with. The Offset bar moves the picture left and right. Drag the Distance bar left and right to expand and reduce the photos. The Angle bar adds that extra 3D effect as you can drag it right and left to rotate the pictures as shown below.

Below that you can adjust color of the presentation by selecting the Background check box. Then drag the bars there to customize the background color. Adjust that so it matches your taskbar and Start menu color scheme.

The presentations include reflections beneath each photo. Click the Reflections check box to switch that effect on. Then drag the Height and Opacity bars further to the right to enhance the effect as below.

Click File > Save as to save the wallpaper. Select a JPEG file format from the Save as type drop-down menu, choose a folder for it and press the Save button. Then you can add the 3D photo presentation wallpaper to the Windows 10 desktop.

Set Up a Photo Collage Wallpaper with Fotor Web App

You can also set up photo collage wallpaper for the Windows 10 desktop with the Fotor web app. This is partly a free app, but it also has an upgraded version that expands its options. Click here to open the website, and click Collage to open the tab in the shot below.

Next, click Import Photos to select the images to include in the collage. A sidebar on the right of the page includes thumbnail previews of the pictures, and you can drag and drop them into the photo collage boxes. To adjust the image dimensions, hover the cursor over the borders, hold the left mouse button and then drag the borders left, right, up or down.

To select alternative collage layouts, press the Classic, Funky or Artistic Collage buttons on the left vertical toolbar. Then you can choose a number of layouts that can include eight or more photos in them. The classic template sidebar has a Color & Texture button for you to choose alternative background colors with. Drag the Border Width and Corner Rounding bars shown below to expand the borders and add rounded edges to them.

One thing Fotor has that Google Photos doesn’t is stickers, which add extra décor to the collage. Click the Stickers button on the left toolbar to expand the sidebar below. Then select a category to drag and drop some stickers onto the collage. Drag the stickers’ borders with cursor to adjust their dimensions, and you can also rotate them by clicking the Flip and Rotate button on their toolbar.

When you’ve set up the collage, click Save on the toolbar above the collage preview. That will open a window with a couple of save options and a Print button. Select Save to My Computer to save it to disk. Then add the collage to your Windows 10 desktop.

Collages are a great alternative to slideshows to show off some of your favorite photographs on the desktop. Google Photos, Showcase and Fotor have plenty of options to set up collages with snazzy effects that can be terrific Windows 10 wallpaper.

Have any other tips on creating collages for use on Windows 10 desktops? Share them with us in the comments below!