Top 7 Collage Design Tools Every Graphic Designer Should Know

Graphic designers are always at work in look-often writing, and collage designs have become an indispensible tool in their arsenal. Whether you are designing lively social media posts or creating mood boards or complex ART, it’s important that you use the right tools for the job. Collages help designers place images, textures, and illustrations of interest together to form attractive compositions. However, software is now a broad field with many options to consider and not everyone knows which tools will be effective for his business. This article will present the **7 best collage design tools a graphic designer should be aware of** and how they can add value to your creations.

1.     Adobe Photoshop: Today there is very little variation from the Industry Standard for graphic design.

Adobe Photoshop is all but unspoken when it comes to graphic design software. Popular for many reasons, this all-in-onner is perfect for designing the most complex and high-quality collage design.

Key Features:

Layer control: Through the use of collage design, Photoshop offers designers the ability to manipulate different layers of the image hence get total control of each component of the picture.

Blend modes: Different blend modes in Photoshop avail you to blend different textures, colors and images with ease.

Advanced masking: The excellent products allow you to mask objects from images with a considerable degree of accuracy to ensure that it’ll perfectly fit within the collage you’re creating.

Smart objects: Being able to work with smart objects is useful in Photoshop because edits can be made without compromising on their quality – scaling, transformation and applying effects.

Why It’s Essential:

The complexity of features that Photoshop offers accounts to why it is widely used among professional graphic design artists. It has an ability to offer flexibility and precision which are untouched in other similar programs and this makes you have the full control on your collages.

2. Canva: The Convenient Way of Creating Simple Collages

Those of you who want a quick and easy to use tool that enables you to create stunning collages design should consider using **Canva**. Being a tool that allows easy drag and drop of objects onto the canvas, Canva is not necessarily a weak application when it comes to design.

Key Features:

Templates: Canva for instance has thousands of templates, thus it does not take one a long time to get to work.

Stock images and elements: Next to images and illustrations, Canva has a vast gallery of elements that you can add to your collage without any problems.

Collaborative design: One of the most important features Canva has is collaborative editing which makes it preferable for teamwork.

Why It’s Essential:

This light and intuitive design does not affect the quality of the platform. It is ideal for those designers who have to create a perfect collage design with the alternative of using a sophisticated application.

3. Adobe Spark: Collage Creation in a Flash

Adobe Spark is another great option, especially if you’re already in the Adobe world. It simplifies Adobe’s design tools and brings the best in an easy-to-use platform.

Key Features:

Simple interface: Spark comes with intuitive and simple visuals and the tools are quick as all of this makes it perfect for a beginner.

Pre-made templates: To a large extent, Adobe Spark resembles Canva, and for this reason, it also has a set of templates for users to begin with.

Instant sharing: You can share collage design as soon as you would like to social networks, or export collages to various formats.

Why It’s Essential:

Adobe Spark can be useful if you’re creating content for social networks or other digital platforms, and need a collage urgently. One of its simplest features is, that it can easily be interchanged with other programs like more complex projects in Photoshop or Illustrator.

4. Fotor: The Online Collage Creator

**Fotor** is web-based photo editor that has recently attracted a lot of users thanks to the simplicity that it offers in terms of collage design. That makes it suitable for those people who are uncomfortable with software installations.

Key Features:

Collage templates: Fotor gives the designers an opportunity to select from a number of given collage templates than can be adjusted to the preferred one.

Easy photo editing: collage design fotor also comes equipped with a photo editor that let the user adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation and the likes before actually putting the photo right into the collage.

Filters and effects: Use filters effects, and borders for style and personality for your pictures.

Why It’s Essential:

Fotor is useful when you maybe you are a designer and you need to do some touch ups on the move. It is an online based platform hence can be accceded from any where and for anyone with busy schedule as per their studies or job.

5. PicMonkey: Easy Casual mPatting of Multimedia Collages

The PicMonkey is one of the most enjoyable and powerful tools with many features that are quite appropriate between the professional and the layman. Of course, its emphasis on collages and the simplicity of the interface are the primary reasons the software works well for newcomers as well as vetted designers.

Key Features:

Customizable layouts: A collage design is fully customizable at PicMonkey and it is up to the designers to arrange every single design.

Easy layering: The collage design features that are available in PicMonkey help to rearrange various aspects of the collage through layering of tools.

Photo editing tools: As with Fotor, PicMonkey has an array of photo editing options available to optimize your pictures before placing them in your application.

Why It’s Essential:

In general PicMonkey has balance of fun and usefulness. Its collage design tool is as basic as it gets for quick designs, however, if you need to go a level deeper there are additional tools that are available.

6. PiZap: A Collage Tool that is Best Experienced Through a Mobile Device

PiZap is one of the best collage design tools for those who prefer mobile design. That’s why it’s a perfect choice for those who need to make collages on the go since it has a very straightforward yet engaging design.

Key Features:

Mobile and desktop versions: The convenience of heterogeneity is supplemented to the users- PiZap is also a mobile application but also the desktop application.

Text and sticker options: With PiZap it is also possible to add character to the collage through the available stickers and filters and the text available in the site and.

Pre-set templates: As in the case of Canva, there exists so much choice by way of the templates available at PiZap.

Why It’s Essential:

I would recommend PiZap to graphic designers who use their devices or tablet to collage design and to those designers who design simple collage design in a rush and without a computer. Because of its entertainment-oriented features, it could be used effectively by casual designers.

7. Affinity Photo: The Professional Equivalent to Adobe

When it comes to search for a strong competitor to Adobe Photoshop, **Affinity Photo** deserves to be mentioned. It has professional tools for photo editing and collage design amid more affordable compared to competitor software.

Key Features:

Advanced editing tools: Raw photo editing can be done through the use of live filters, brushes and blend mode which competes with those of the photoshop.

Non-destructive editing: Like smart objects of Photoshop, Affinity Photo provides non-destructive editing for its collage, as it lets you try different aspects of your image.

Performance: Affinity Photo has a reputation for its momentum, and this program is perfect for working with large files and collages, for example.

Why It’s Essential:

Affinity Photo has been collage design for graphic designers, who seek professional outcomes but do not wish to pay for a subscription to Adobe. Its one-time purchase makes it affordable without sacraficing quality and it is loaded with lots of features.

Conclusion

I know it is quite obvious to say so, but when it comes to collage design, the point depends on instruments you choose. From the powerful tool of **Adobe Photoshop** to the simplicity of **Canva** and **Adobe Spark** every single tool on this list is as useful and as different as the other depending on a users’ level of proficiency. If you’re an experienced designer or new to the profession, the choice of the collage design tools will allow you to create bright and interesting visual information.

FAQs

1. Is it possible to design professional collage using only free tools?

Indeed there are free and quite effective tools, such as Canva and Fotor, which can be used to make professional collages. Yet, you may get even more refined tools and looks if you subscribe to a pro edition of the software.

2. To answer the question which one is better for a new-comer to use I’ll list them below.

Canva is one of the best tools for beginners because its interface is quite simple, and a huge number of templates are available. That is why Adobe Spark and PicMonkey can also be helpful for beginners.

3. Is it necessary to learn Photoshop in order to make collages?

Although Photoshop is the best when it comes to designer-specific software because of the powerful tools it’s equipped with, you don’t have to use it to make wonderful collages. It is a strong advantage to use the simplest online applications, such Canva, Fotor and PicMonkey as they do not need some skills.

4. Is it only for the mobile pal user?

Not at all, collages can be made from the mobile or desktop version of PiZap depending on the user’s www. But it is very convenient for those who like to design on the move..

5. That brings us to the question of what major benefit can be derived from Affinity Photo compared to Photoshop?

Affinity Photo has significantly more professional tools than any of Apples software at a fraction of the cost of Photoshop with its monthly subscription base. If you are interested in a product that is reasonable in price while being excellent in quality, then Affinity Photo will be for you.