Hello Larry,

Welcome to the PhotoDirector forum

Since we're in the PhotoDirector forum I assume you don't mean "PowerDirector 9". By "collage", I take it you mean a number of photos arranged in a display, like the example below. Perhaps you mean something quite different.


PhotoDirector can be used to achieve the same sort of thing by using the Edit module with a large presized canvas & adding the photos in different layers.

PhD is not set up with collage templates, as some other photo software is, so contructing such a collage will be a manual task.

Before proceeding, could you post an example of the sort of thing you'd like to make?

PIX PIX YouTube channel

I want to take a collection -- 300 to 500 photos -- of the American flag and somehow turn it into a single collage.

Can I use PD9 to just take the 300 to 500 and dunmp them all into one file in PD9 to create my collage?

Hopefully, that answers your question. If NOT, please let me know.

Larry

Hello again,

If you're referring to PhotoDirector 9 (PhD9), the Layers module is a bit more limited than in recent versions. e.g. in more recent versions, you can start your layers project with a large sized empty canvas (up to 200MP, which is ~18800x10620px). This can't be done so easily in PhD9.

There's Photo Composer under Guided > Extract or Compose, but that is limited to the size of the background image. You could work around that by creating a plain background image of the size required for your flag project.

Either way, each of the 300-500 images would need to be resized & repositioned manually. Nothing like the simple drag & drop process of dedicated collage makers.

There are free applications available that might accomplish what you need, but most seem to be limited in the number of photos they can use. One I've used - PhotoScape X - is restricted to 11 photos!

I think what I'm saying is: what you're wanting to do is achievable in PhotoDirector 9, but the software isn't going to do the work for you, nor make it easier. Possible, but challenging.

PIX PIX YouTube channel

Thanks again. I don't mind that it will take a little more effort, just happy to know I can do something close to what I want.

Thanks again for your help.

Larry

To confirm it for myself, I went through the steps of beginning a layers project in PhD9, as you've indicated.

I began by making some background images that would allow large numbers of photos to be added, using a maximum of 200MP:
4:3 aspect ratio = 15,920x11,940
16:9 aspect ratio = 18,800x10,620

To help you get started, you can download those background images (transparent, black & white).

You should first import your preferred background, then go to the Layers module to import your flag photos as new photo layers. The screenshot below shows the beginning of the project, using a transparent background.



Once a photo is imported it can be resized, repositioned, rotated or distorted. This can happen at any time during the project to rearrange your layout. Layers can be re-ordered to bring different photos to front/back.

As you can see I have only used a small number of photos (not even close to 500!). If I were a PhD9 user doing such a project I'd seriously consider investing in the most recent version (PhD13/365), which has some productivity advantages for this sort of task, such as:

• repositioning using keyboard arrows


• snap to grid & alignment options


• distribution options

Hope that's of some help. Good luck with the project.

PIX PIX YouTube channel

Are you kidding? That was a great help.

I've never really tried this before, so all of your advice very helpful to get me moving in the right direction.

This is very generous of you. THANKS!

Larry