Six Christmas collage layouts
| Layout | Photos | Download size | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| One large + two small | 3 | 2,100 × 1,500 px (5×7 landscape) | A family portrait with two supporting moments. The most balanced printed card. |
| One photo | 1 | 1,500 × 2,100 px (5×7 portrait) | The classic photo card, when you have one portrait everyone looks good in. |
| Greeting over a 2×2 grid | 4 | 1,500 × 2,100 px (5×7 portrait) | Four children, four seasons, or one photo of each person in the family. |
| Our year in photos | 12 | 2,100 × 1,500 px (5×7 landscape) | A month-by-month recap. Small frames, so choose clear, simple photos. |
| Greeting in the middle | 8 | 2,400 × 2,400 px (8×8 square) | Instagram and Facebook posts, or a square print for the fridge. |
| Phone story | 5 | 1,080 × 1,920 px (9:16) | Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp stories, or a phone wallpaper for December. |
How to make a Christmas photo collage
- Gather a shortlist. Pull 10 to 20 favorites from the year into one folder before you start. Choosing from a small set is far quicker than scrolling a whole camera roll.
- Pick a layout. Start from how the collage will be used. A card someone holds needs fewer, larger photos; a social post can carry more.
- Choose your photos and order them. Photo 1 always goes in the largest frame. Use the arrows to move your strongest photo to the top.
- Write the greeting. Keep it short so it prints large. Put names and the year in the sign-off.
- Pick colors and snow. Classic red and evergreen feel traditional; snow white and kraft are calmer and suit busy, colorful photos.
- Make, check and download. Look at faces near the frame edges. If someone is cut off, try “Fit the whole photo” or reorder so that photo lands in a wider frame.
Everything happens on your device, so you can try several versions without waiting for uploads. Make one for print and one for your phone in a couple of minutes.
15 Christmas photo collage ideas
The year in twelve months
One photo per month in the 12-photo layout, January at the top left. It answers the “what have you all been up to?” question before anyone asks.
Then and now
This year’s family photo next to one from five or ten years ago, taken in a similar spot. Put the new photo in the large frame of the 3-photo card.
One portrait, two candids
A posed photo where everyone is looking at the camera, plus two unposed moments that show what your family is really like.
Matching pajamas, every year
If your family has a pajama or sweater tradition, put this year’s photo with two from earlier years. The repetition is the fun.
Each child, one frame
The 4-photo card with one portrait per child or grandchild, in age order. Grandparents tend to keep this one.
The big moments
A wedding, a new baby, a graduation, a new home. Lead with the biggest news and let the smaller frames tell the rest.
Our trips this year
One photo from each place you went, captioned only by the sign-off: “From the beach, the mountains and our back yard.”
The pets’ Christmas card
Let the dog or cat send the greeting. “Merry Christmas from Biscuit (and the humans)” makes people smile.
Baby’s first Christmas
The one-photo card for a newborn portrait, or the 4-photo card with the baby at one, three, six and nine months.
Christmas past
Scan old Christmas photos of parents or grandparents as children and pair them with this year’s photo of the same family.
The tree, the table, the people
A detail collage: decorations, the meal, the wrapping paper chaos and the people around it.
A team or club card
For a sports team, choir or office: the group photo in the large frame and two action shots beside it.
Advent in photos
Take one photo each day of December and use the 8-photo square to share the best eight at the end.
Long distance family
Ask relatives in other cities for one photo each and send everyone the combined collage, so the whole family is on one card.
New Year instead
Missed the Christmas deadline? Write “Happy New Year” and send it in early January. People often notice a New Year card more because fewer arrive.
Greetings and sign-offs
The greeting is large text, so two or three words work best. The sign-off is small and can carry names and the year.
| Greeting | Sign-off example |
|---|---|
| Merry Christmas | Love from Ana, Ben, Lily and Max · 2026 |
| Happy Holidays | Warm wishes from the Okafor family |
| Joy to the World | With love from our house to yours |
| Peace on Earth | Wishing you a calm and happy new year |
| Season’s Greetings | From all of us at the Riverside office |
| Merry and Bright | The Novak family · Christmas 2026 |
| Our Year in Photos | Merry Christmas from the four of us |
| Happy New Year | Here’s to 2027 · love, Sam and Priya |
| Feliz Navidad | Con cariño, la familia García |
| Home for the Holidays | Merry Christmas from our first home together |
Check the spelling of every name before you print. A short handwritten line on the back of a printed card adds the personal note the collage can’t.
Printing your collage as a card
The card layouts export at 1,500 × 2,100 pixels, a 5×7 inch card at 300 PPI, so you can upload the JPG to a photo printer or card service and order a 5×7 print or a flat card. If the service asks for a different size, such as 5×7 with a bleed area, set the spacing to 30 px or more: the colored border is then wide enough to lose a sliver at each edge without trimming photos or text.
- Order a single proof first if you’re printing dozens. Screen colors are brighter than paper, and deep reds print darker.
- Print at home on 5×7 photo paper with “fit to page” turned off, then trim if needed.
- Make a square version too. The 8-photo square is the one to post online; the 5×7 is the one to post in the mail.
- Mail early. Check your postal service’s published holiday mailing dates, especially for cards going abroad, and order prints a week or two before that.
Not sure your photos have enough pixels? The photo print size calculator shows the largest size each one prints well at, and the photo print sizes chart lists the pixels for every common size.
Other ways to put Christmas photos together
Want a plain grid with no greeting? The photo grid maker takes up to 60 photos. For a party, the photo booth strip maker makes classic 2×6 strips. Add a Polaroid-style frame and a caption to a single photo with the photo border tool, or turn hundreds of the year’s photos into one big picture with the photo mosaic maker. If you’re planning a printed album of the year, our photo album ideas and album title ideas are good starting points.
Questions
Is the Christmas photo collage maker free?
Yes. There is no account, watermark or download limit. The collage is made in your browser and your photos are not uploaded to SkyAlbum.
What size should a Christmas photo card be?
The most common photo card is 5×7 inches. At 300 PPI that is 1,500 × 2,100 pixels, which is exactly what the card layouts above export. Square 8×8 and phone story sizes are there for sharing online.
How many photos should I use?
One to five is easiest to read on a card that people hold in their hand. Use the 8-photo square or the 12-photo “year in photos” layout when the collage is mainly for sharing online or for a larger print.
Can I write my own greeting?
Yes. Type any greeting and sign-off. Short greetings print larger; the tool shrinks the text to fit the space so it never runs off the edge.
Will a print shop crop my collage?
Many card printers trim a small margin from every edge. Keep the spacing at 24 px or more so the colored border absorbs the trim, and check the printer’s preview before ordering.
Can I use it for Hanukkah, New Year or other holidays?
Yes. Change the greeting to “Happy Holidays,” “Happy New Year,” “Season’s Greetings” or anything you like, and choose the snow white, midnight or kraft theme if red and green don’t fit.