Feeling constrained by being able to use only one photo for your Facebook Cover Photo? There are a number of ways to create a collage for your Facebook cover photo. But if you’re already using Lightroom to organize your photos, there’s some appeal to creating a collage directly from there and saving the intermediate steps of exporting each of the photos out and importing them into something else.
So here’s a step-by-step guide to making a collage image using Lightroom Classic, whether you’re going to use it for your Facebook cover photo or something else.
Choose Your Photos
Using Lightroom’s Library module, select the photos you want to work with.
There’s more than one way to do this. One option that keeps things fairly uncluttered later is to add the photos to a Quick Collection (select the photos and then press “B”). You can then find them in the Library module in the left panel under Catalog. Select the “Quick Collection +” line so it’s highlighted like this. You’ll then see just those photos in the film strip at the bottom of the page.
Setting Up Your Lightroom Workspace
Make sure you have access to the panels on either side. If they’re not visible, press the TAB key to display them.
Print Module
Next, choose the Print module from the horizontal menu at top right (or through the Window menu item at top).
Page Setup
The first thing we need to do is set up the canvas. Because we’re doing this through the print module, which is designed to print to a hard copy, the canvas in this case is referred to as the page. So at the bottom left of your screen, choose Page Setup.
The popup should look something like this. What we want is the Paper Size drop-down menu item. Click on that, then scroll down to the bottom of the list to Manage Custom Sizes.
If you're looking to create banners, thumbnails, or other graphics for your social media accounts, a good option worth looking at is Canva. It runs in a web browser, which means nothing to install on a computer, and you can even use a mobile device. So you can do it from anywhere, and it's very straightforward to use. There's a very capable free plan, and you can get many more useful features, photos, and fonts with the Pro plan. The Pro plan has a 30-day free trial, which you can get here.
Create Custom Paper Size
Press the + button at bottom left, then set the Paper Size to 85.1 in by 31.5 in. This will create a canvas with the same aspect ratio of Facebook’s Cover Photo image size. It’s also possible to use 8.51 by 3.15, but that gets messier later. So the easiest is to use 85.1 by 31.5. We’ll be sizing it down when we export anyway, so the large size isn’t a problem. (Note: Because this is designed for print output, you can’t specify pixel measurements here.)
Once you’ve done that, click on the item in the list of paper sizes in the box and rename it to something descriptive. In this example, I’ve renamed it Facebook Timeline Cover Photo.
Then click OK.
Make sure that your new paper size is displayed in the drop-down Paper Size menu item like this.
Creating Your Layout
Now that the canvas is ready, we can start adding things to it. In the panel at right, under Layout Style, choose Custom Package.
In the panel at right, the Cells section is what’s going to create the spaces for our photos. It comes with 6 standard presets. You can access more by clicking the small down arrow at the right of each drop-down menu.
You can also create your own cell size presets, which can be handy if you want to use multiple cells of the same size. In one of the cell size drop-down menus, go to the Edit option at the bottom of the list.
Now we want to start adding cells. Click on one of the cell size options. You’ll see it add a blue guide box to the canvas. Click it again, and it’ll add another next to it.
Resizing the Cells
By default, the boxes are only small on the canvas, because we’ve set our canvas so big (85 in by 31 in). But that’s fine, because it’s very easy to resize them. Just click on one of the little squares on that boundary and drag. Sometimes you might want to be very precise about the cell size. For instance, you might want to create a grid of cells all the same size. Or you might be adding some illustration or text to surround your profile photo when it’s displayed on Facebook. In that case, you can also use the Adjust Selected Cell sliders in the panel.
If you have the Lock to Photo Aspect Ratio checked, the size will change but the aspect ratio will stay fixed. If you uncheck it, you have a much more free-form control. It doesn’t matter which you use–it just depends how much control you want over the size of each individual cell.
Adding Cells
Now, add a bunch of cells that you can work with. It doesn’t matter for now if they’re aligned or not. Resize each one to whatever dimensions and shapes you want. If you want to put two cells flush to each other, drag one cell slowly to another and you’ll see a subtle magnetic snapping. (If that’s not happening, go to the right panel under Rulers, Grid & Guides and make sure that Grid Snap is set to Cells.)
Lay them out however you want. Remember that part when you add it to Facebook, your Profile Photo will obscure part of the bottom left of the Cover Photo, so you might want to use larger photos in that part. But really, it doesn’t make any difference. You can do a random assortment like this.
You’ll notice some of mine overlap. That’s fine–we’ll fix that shortly.
Now, the fun part. Drag a photo from the film strip at the bottom into the cells. If you want to replace a photo, simply drag a new one into the same cell.
Fill the canvas however you like. You can add as many cells as you like, as big or small as you like. If there’s a blank section where you can’t add an image, make sure you have a cell in that spot.
You’ll notice that some of my cells overlap. You can easily change which photo overlaps which by right clicking (CTRL-click) and sending photos forward, back, to the bottom or the top of the stack. You can also rotate cells if you like.
So you might end up with something like this. You could just use that if you like.
Add Borders
Adding borders is optional, but it makes each image stand out more from its neighbors. The border color is the Page Background Color. I’ve left that option unchecked, so the Page Background, and therefore the borders, are white. Change the width of the borders by using the Photo Border slider. If the borders look uneven, adjust the cell boundaries to be flush with its neighbor.
If you want to change the borders to, say black (or any other color), go back to the Page Background Color option under the Page section in the right panel and choose your color there.
TIP: Since Facebook’s page background is white and pale blue, black or dark borders in your Cover Photo can make it stand out well.
Add Identity Plate
You can also add your Identity Plate if you like. Watermarking images also works. In this example, I’ve added my Identity Plate at top left. You could also use the Identity Plate feature to add text like a title, name, etc.
Save Your Work
I’d recommend saving your work at this point (or even before). This isn’t the same thing as exporting your image. You’re saving the working file so you can go back and edit it again later.
From the top menu, choose Print and then Create Saved Print. Name it something descriptive. The Placement option refers to the Collections–that’s where your saved work is going to go. Put it either in the Top Level or in a Collection (you don’t have the option of saving it to a Smart Collection).
Getting Ready for Exporting
Now that we’re happy with how it looks, we need to set up the exporting so we end up with a single image we can upload to Facebook.
In the right panel, scroll down to the bottom where the Print Job section is.
Change Print to to JPEG File.
Turn Draft Mode Printing off.
File Change the File Resolution to 72 ppi. If you leave it at 300 ppi or higher, you’ll get Lightroom warnings about the size of the file you’re about to create.
Print Sharpening is optional and isn’t going to affect the result much since we’re going to have to resize before we upload.
Set Color Management to sRGB.
Print Adjustment of Brightness and Contrast shouldn’t be necessary because we’re outputting a digital file.
Set your JPEG Quality fairly high. When you upload to Facebook the image is going to be compressed again, so if you start with an image that has only been lightly compressed you’ll end up with a better result. 85 above seems to work well. I’m using 100 here because I want to do another resizing (and compression step) before I upload to Facebook.
Exporting Your Cover Photo
To actually export your image, use the Print to File buttom at the very bottom of the right panel. (If that button us grayed out, make sure you’ve set the Print To option above to JPEG File.)
Save the image on your computer. When you click Save, Lightroom will go through the process of rendering the files (preparing the print job) and create your JPEG file.
Resizing and Uploading
There’s one wrinkle we need to iron out before we upload the image. Because we’re using a module designed primarily for printing a physical copy to paper rather than creating digital files, some of our options for resizing up to this point have been constrained. So what we’ve ended up with now is a very large image that we need to reduce before we upload it to Facebook.
There are a bunch of ways you can resize the image. Photoshop, XNConvert, or any other image processing software will have resizing options. Or, if you want to stay entirely within Lightroom, just import the image you just created into the Lightroom catalog and then export it again using Lightroom’s export image size options. (Here’s a guide for resizing using Lightroom’s export function.)
The ideal target size is 851 px wide by 315 px high.
So here’s what the final result looks like after it’s uploaded to Facebook.
Different Layouts
You don’t have to do the kind of random-size like the example above. Here are some other examples of grids and triptychs.
Enjoy!
Justin says
Each time I try to make this cover photo, i get the error message – There are 6 photos in your print job which are missing their file source. They will not be printed.
Please let me know what I’m doing wrong as I’m extremely frustrated at this point!!!
Thank you,
Justin
David says
It sounds like the original files are missing from their location on the hard drive even though they’re still registering in Lightroom’s database. A quick way to check is to right click on the image and choose Show in Finder (Mac) / Show in Explorer (Windows). That should take you to the original file on your hard drive.
It’s an especially common issue when using external hard drives if the drive is disconnected or not mounted for some reason.
Ralf says
Hi David,
Thank you for the tutorial, I was almost an Lightroom ace in 2015 after following your advice, but had almost forgotten everything when I referred to it again this week. As they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it.
I’ve got a question: I preparing a FB header image with some of the images I’m dragging onto the canvas being bigger then the space they occupy (even at 85.1 x 31.5 inches). I’ve also found that matching the image to the rectangle size results in a warning from Lightroom, i.e. too many pixels etc. Is it advisable to reduce the image size before dragging it onto the canvas? Will this later result in a sharper FB image as there will be less compression when one reduces it to the <100kb FB limit? I found that FB compresses a 110kb image to +-65kb, but leaves a 97kb image as is.
Many thanks.
Ralf
David says
Off the top of my head, I don’t recall running into that warning in Lightroom. You shouldn’t have to resize before adding them to the canvas–that should be handled silently in the background.
As for Facebook’s compression, you might find this post of interest.
chance says
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! While I did not use this for FB I used it to export a template that kept exporting as one photo.. I am over the moon that I finally have this figured out (thanks to this well written tutorial)!
theresplendentcrow says
This worked flawlessly! Thank so much! I almost cried when I tried to do something like this (using some YouTube video) a few months ago. Yours was so detailed, so easy to follow!
David says
Glad it’s useful!
dsgoldfarb says
Strange thing (Lightroom for Mac): when I set up the cells, whatever picture I click on a shot in the film strip, it goes automatically into EVERY cell….i.e. I don’t have to drag it in as you say, it just goes into every cell. If I click on another pic, it too then goes into every cell! Any ideas appreciated.
Alexa Forsyth says
i have made my collage and everything went perfect. but, when i export my collage it is very pixelated/blurry. i have tried playing around with the ppi, print sharpening setting, and the JPEG quality but nothing is working and i cant seem to figure it out. suggestions? is there a way around this? thank you!
sasphotography570 says
So, I am not sure where I got mixed up at. I have been trying to do this for hours now. I am unable to drag the cells around. I am also unable to fill the cells with photos. I do not see where in this tutorial either of those issues are noted and I do not see anywhere in lightroom to fix this issue. Please help!
phoenixrestoration says
Excellent tutorial – worked perfectly for me. THANK YOU!!
David Coleman says
You’re welcome!
Monica says
Hi,
Amazing post, you introduce how to set or size the collage suitable for Facebook in detail. Are there easier way, I know some photos tool can offer the pre-template for special layout like invitations, book cover, maybe including facebook cover.
David Coleman says
If you’re using Mac, TurboCollage is a good option.
Ralf says
Personally I found the quality with TurboCollage very poor. One drags good quality images onto the canvas, TurboCollage then overcompresses and ruins the pic.
David says
Interesting. I’ve not run into that issue. Here’s one from a couple of days ago, for example. I’m importing them as 1000px+ high-quality JPGs and exporting the finished collage as either a high-quality JPG or TIFF.
Katie says
Great tutorial! Do you think it’s possible to follow similar steps to create a custom layout for a series of photos shared on your timeline?
David Coleman says
There’s no problem uploading collage’s as photos to your timeline, but I’m not sure how you have in mind using that to create a custom layout.
Coffee and Crumpets says
Thank you so much! It worked perfectly!
David Coleman says
You’re welcome. Glad you found it useful!
anne says
Looks great and was all ready to have a go but I don’t seem to find any way round setting up the correct page size set up. I use Windows and have tried the various suggestion but the maximum size that my printer set up allows me, via print user defined,in printing properties/printer preferences) is 8.50 inch width and 44 inches height. A long way from the 85.1 x 31.5 inches needed. Any other way round on a PC please?
Anonymous says
You dont actually do this in the printer options like in Mac. On windows it is on the right-hand side under Print Job, and Custom File Dimensions.
AH! Photos Winnipeg says
Oh thank you so much. I was going crazy trying everything I can and it just wasn’t working. You saved me!
Christopher McRae says
Hi so I followed every step and everything has worked out great except my cover is not nice and crisp sharp. I tried at 72 and 300ppi but still the same results.
What are your thoughts on this? My photos are nice and crisp when I upload them to Facebook in a normal circumstance. Cheers.
David says
Sounds like something to do with Facebook’s image compression. If you’re already uploading an image that has very little compression applied, the next things to try would be to try to change the layout so it uses fewer color gradients.
Ralf says
FB compresses the cover photo (sometimes down to 60kb) if over 100kb, upload at around 96kb and FB won’t compress it further.
Iain Lea says
Nice Article.
If you are looking for an alternative way to generate a facebook cover photo come and take a look at the free little webservice I have put up at http://www.pixtools.org/ which also generates Sedcards for Models, MuA’s and Photographers as well.
Iain
David says
Thanks–looks interesting. I’ll try to take a proper look soon.
Billig says
I think I might have to bookmark your site as I found this great article after finding your guide to Facebook image sizes. Looks really easy to make a good looking coverpicture this way. Cheers mate!
Nick Case-Leng says
Very useful tip, a time-saver compared to doing it in Photoshop! Many thanks!
BRENDA BAIRD says
Very good tutorial. In trying the different layouts, I came across the problem of my pictures not fitting and keeping proportions within a box I created for the collage. I understand how to resize the box itself, but my problem is w/the picture itself within the box. Any advise? Thanks.
David says
Unfortunately you can’t resize or reshape the photo to fit the box–you have you do it the other way around by creating boxes with the aspect ratio you’re after and then insert the image into it.
Htet says
Thank you so much…!
You explained really in detail and very clearly. I followed step by step your instruction and succeeded without any difficulty. I’ve just changed my very first Facebook timeline photo collage a few minutes ago. It’s all thanks to you. :)
Cheers.
David says
Glad it was helpful!
Tiffany | baking at tiffanys says
This is a great tutorial! Thanks so much, I never how to do this! I just followed this to create a new cover photo for my page.
Sean Kelly says
This might help with windows.
Tommy S says
Hello.
Thanks for a nice post and a great webpage.
Im having a problem setting up my canvas as well. I see you are using a Mac, while Im using a PC. In the bottom left I only have one button: “Page Setup” while you have “Print Setup” too. I cant scale the canvas beyond whats the max output for my printer. I think it might be a problem relating to windows, but Im not sure. Any chance you could try to do this on a windows-pc to try a workaround?
The collages looks good so I really want to get a chance at creating them.
David says
Unfortunately I don’t have easy access to a Windows version, but will see what I can do.
Nick Case-Leng says
I too have a PC, and I’ve found the solution. I’m afraid it’s outside Lightroom – in Windows settings.
You need to set up your custom size by going to Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Devices and Printers in Windows, then “Print server properties”, and “Create a new form”. I’m using Windows 7; it may be slightly different in another version of Windows, but it will be somewhere under Printers.
Use David’s sizes (or ratios) as in this article. Then you will find it appears as an option in Lightroom.
Mia's Musings says
Thank you, I’ll try this as I’m in Windows 7 as well!
Mia's Musings says
I’m using Win7 Pro. There is no Hardware and Sound in the Control Panel options, just Devices and Printers and no tab for “Print server properties.” Unless I’m missing something.
Ralf says
Under “Devices and Printers” click on any of the devices in the “Printers and Faxes” column and “Print Server Properties” will appear alongside “Add a Device” and “Add a Printer” near the top.
Lisa Eve says
Aloha David!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Awesome tutorial and I have now updated one of my FB pages with a new cover photo!
I’m so grateful for this post! I learned so much while following your instructions.
Many mahalos!
Lisa Eve :)
John Whitlam says
Many thanks for another great article, David…. very informative!
Rick says
Hello David,
Thank you very much for sharing this in such detail. It made my work very easy!
I have one issue regarding the final steps, though. After saving the JPEG at the original huge canvas size, I import the JPEG back into LR4 for export at the recommended size for FB cover photo. However, the imported photo has a blueish haze, the borders have turned blue instead of dark grey and the character name plate has also turned from dark grey to blue.
Would you have any idea what might cause this behaviour? I don’t think I have alternative programmes on my Mac that can replicate the resizing steps.
Cheers,
Rick
David Coleman says
No, I can’t think what might be doing that. If you open the image directly from Finder in Preview, does it look fine? If so, the only thing I can think of is that an import preset might be interfering, either by applying an effect or making the white balance much cooler. You could check in the Develop module that the temp of the image is set to neutral and hit the reset button bottom right to clear any effects that might have been applied during import, but other than that I’m not sure.
Gautam says
Dear David,
I am using Lightroom 5 and I am on Windows 8.1. My issue is, whenever I try and open Page Setup it directly opens Print Setup and by default it has my HP Laserjet 1020 listed….and there is no “Custom” or “Any Printer” option also this does not show me an option of custom page size in the page which is for the printer. Please help. Thanks in advance. Cheers
David says
I’m afraid I don’t have a Windows 8.1 machine handy at the moment to take a look, but hopefully another reader can help.
Ralf says
Hi Gautam,
I have the same problem when trying to set a “Custom” size on my HP Deskjet printer. Install PDF-XChange Lite and you will be able to set custom sizes (it worked for me), or install the correct driver package for your current printer, rather than using a generic package.
Regards,
Ralf
Ready2KillU says
Thank you so much this was very useful!
heather says
Hi David,
When I attempt to set-up my canvas (page), I am not able to find “manage custom sizes”. I get an option for User Defined, but am unable to enter the dimensions specified.
Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Heather
David Coleman says
I’m afraid I can’t replicate what you’re seeing. Any chance you could email me a screenshot?
Ralf says
Hi Heather,
Although this post is 4 years old, my reply may help someone else.
I had a similar problem when running Lightroom on Windows 7 inside VMware. In my case I managed to solve the problem by installing the correct printer drivers (PDF-XChange Lite) on the virtual machine, rather than trying to use the drivers on my actual Windows 7 installation.
Regards,
Ralf