Making a photo collage used to mean a clunky app, an account, and a watermark stamped across the corner unless you paid. The free online collage maker does the whole thing in the browser: pick a layout, drop photos in, nudge them until they sit right, add a caption, download. No install, no signup, no watermark - and the output comes out at full 2x resolution, sharp enough to post or print.
Three steps
- Open the collage maker and pick a layout from the gallery at the top.
- Tap each cell to add a photo. Drag a photo to reframe it inside its cell.
- Set a frame color, choose a format, and hit Save for a high-resolution JPG.
That's the core loop. Everything below is the detail that makes a collage look composed instead of thrown together.
120+ templates, sorted by what people actually use
The gallery up top has over 120 layouts split into Grid, Design and Shapes, plus a Popular tab that puts the most-used templates first - so you're not scrolling past dead layouts to find the 2x2 everyone reaches for.
- Grid - clean rectangular splits: 2-up, 3-up, the classic 2x2, big-photo-plus-strip, magazine grids. The workhorses for photo dumps and recaps.
- Design - asymmetric and editorial layouts where one photo leads and the rest support. Good for a hero shot with supporting detail.
- Shapes - hearts, circles and cut-out frames for something less boxy.
Tap any template and it loads onto the canvas instantly. Switch templates whenever you want - your photos carry over and re-fit to the new layout, so you can audition several before committing.
Drop photos in and frame them
Tap any empty cell and pick a photo. JPG, PNG, WebP and HEIC (straight from an iPhone) up to 20 MB are all supported - no converting first.
Once a cell has a photo, you control how it sits:
- Drag inside the cell to slide the photo around and choose what's visible.
- Pinch or scroll to zoom in and crop tighter.
- The photo snaps cleanly to the cell edges when you let go near them, so you don't end up with a thin sliver of background peeking through.
Filled a cell with the wrong shot? Tap it again to replace. Got one photo you want everywhere? Use Apply to all cells to drop it into every cell at once - handy for a single-image split look.
Style the frame
The right panel controls the look of the whole collage:
- Background and Frame color from a curated palette - the gap between photos and the canvas behind them.
- Thickness - from edge-to-edge seamless up to a thick gallery mat.
- Corners - square or rounded.
A white frame with a little thickness reads clean and modern; zero thickness gives you a seamless photo wall; rounded corners soften the whole thing. Small dials, big difference.
Add text in 34 fonts
Add one or more text layers on top of the collage. Each layer has its own:
- Font - 34 to choose from, the same set as Zebra's draw-with-text tool.
- Color - from the palette.
- Size and rotation - sliders.
Drag a text layer anywhere on the canvas. Center guides appear and gently snap it to the middle of either axis, so a title lands dead-center without fiddling. Add a date, a place, a caption, or a title bar across the top.
Every social format, sized right
Before you export, pick the canvas shape so it fits where it's going:
| Format | Ratio | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Post | 4:5 | Feed posts (taller = more screen) |
| Instagram Story / Reels / TikTok | 9:16 | Full-screen vertical |
| Square | 1:1 | Works on any feed |
| Portrait | 3:4 | Print-friendly |
| Landscape | 4:3 / 16:9 | Wide shots, YouTube covers |
Switch format any time - the layout animates to the new shape and your photos re-fit automatically, no re-cropping by hand.
Free, private, full quality
Three things that usually cost money or quality elsewhere, free here:
- No watermark. Nothing stamped on your export, ever.
- No signup. Open the page and start - no account, no email.
- 2x resolution. The export renders at double pixel density, so it stays crisp posted or printed.
And it's private by design: the collage is built right in your browser with the Canvas API. Your photos never get uploaded to a server - they're composited locally on your device and the finished image is generated there before you download it.
Zebra collage vs Canva vs PicCollage - what's actually free
| Zebra collage | Canva | PicCollage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Templates free | 120+ | Many gated to Pro | Many gated to paid |
| Watermark on export | None | None | Free tier adds one |
| Signup to export | No | Account | Account |
| Works in the browser | Yes | Yes | App-first |
| HEIC (iPhone) upload | Yes | Limited | Via app |
| Photos uploaded to a server | No (local) | Yes | Yes |
| Export resolution | 2x | Varies by plan | Varies by plan |
On your phone
The editor is built for touch: tap a cell to add a photo, drag to reframe, pinch to zoom, drag text into place, tap Save to download. HEIC photos straight from the iPhone camera roll work without converting. For frequent, heavier editing - layers, filters, offline - the Zebra iOS app adds a full editor.