Have you finally completed a great personal project, or have you finally reaped the rewards of a tough diet/training? We bet you’d like to put two photos side by side on social networks to see the ‘before or after’ effect to share with your friends or to keep it as a souvenir and prove that your hard work has paid off. You’re looking for results and the best way to do it.
Today’s tutorial shows you how to combine two photos into one image, simply but with great results. We will use some free online services and some of the most famous and well-known programs for drawing or editing pictures to support them.
We tell you that you don’t need to be a computer wizard to make truly beautiful collages, and we assure you that photomontage can be fun! If that’s what you’re looking for, take a few moments to read the instructions below and find the best method for your needs.
Combine Two Photos Into One Online
If you don’t want to install any software on your PC or have a Mac or Linux and therefore cannot use Paint, we recommend using one of the different sites you find on the internet. They let you put two photos side by side in seconds. They also provide a host of additional effects and functions to create truly beautiful compositions in a few clicks, even if you’re not familiar with computers.
Let’s take a practical example with photoeffect.com, a very simple and convenient site to use with many interesting options. We use this site for promotional purposes as it works from both a computer and a smartphone or tablet, including Android, iPhone, or iPad. Here’s how to combine two photos online:
- Login to photoeffect.com
- Select the effect you want to achieve and click create my collage
- Click the select photo button and upload the two images
- Select the options you’re interested in (optional) and click next
- Crop or rotate images if needed, preview, then click next
- Download the file containing the merged photos
- com lets you not only place two images side by side but also create stunning collages in under a minute.
Alternatively, filesmerge.com, which is quite similar, has significantly less functionality and fewer ads.
How to Combine Two Photos on a Computer?
Computer or smartphone programs and applications are alternatives to web services, which often offer much more advanced features and more editing options. But here, there is a desire to study a little more and learn the functionality of each software, and to achieve a result similar to online services, takes much more time.
The best program for combining two photos is undoubtedly Adobe Photoshop, available for computers, smartphones, and tablets. It’s professional software, but it costs quite a lot, and using it just to put two photos together is wasteful.
For those looking for a free solution, the best choice is Gimp. Gimp is an open-source, therefore free, photo editing program that is truly amazing and has many features. It’s not as feature-rich as Photoshop, but it’s more than adequate for personal use and professional fields.
Combine Two Photos with Paint
If you still don’t want to install additional software, you can use Paint, a program available on every computer with a Windows operating system. It is very simple and intuitive to use, even for those unfamiliar with computers. Despite fairly simple functions, you can achieve excellent results with a little effort.
If you want to merge two photos with Paint, you must first open both photos in Paint. To do this, open two images in this program: Select the first one and open the context menu by clicking on it with the right mouse button, select open with there and select Paint (not Paint 3D). Repeat the procedure to open the second photo as well.
If you want to get a beautiful collage, we recommend making the photos the same size or at least the same height. When you open them in Paint, click the resize button, then select the word Pixel in the popup window. Look at which of the two images is larger and reduce the height by the smaller one: Don’t enlarge the smaller image because it will become grainy.
Now that we’ve made the same images view the first photo (still in Paint) that you want to fit the left. On its right side, right in the middle, you will see a small square that allows you to drag the canvas larger or smaller. When you reduce it, you will cut the photo; you will see a white background appear if you enlarge it. Enlarge the canvas to fit the second image. Now open the second photo and select copy from the edit menu, then go back to the first photo and paste it.
