Upload a picture and get a printable mosaic map. Build it by hand with pieces of magazines, old photos or any scraps that match the colors on the key.
| Code | Find | Pieces | Share |
|---|
The preview shows pieces slightly off-color and roughly cut, the way a group really builds it. Use Fit to see it from across the room and 4× to see it up close. Letter-size pages print at actual size with ½ in margins.
A collage mosaic is a big picture made by hand from small pieces of paper. You print a map of squares, each marked with a letter. Then you find a scrap in that color, from a magazine page, an old photo, a cereal box or anything else, and glue it on its square.
Up close, every square is a fragment: half a word, a bit of an ad, someone's old vacation photo. Step back and the picture appears.
The Collage Mosaic Maker does the hard part. It picks a short list of colors that are easy to find, and turns your picture into a map anyone can follow.
A drop-in activity that runs itself. Hang the map on a wall, put out a basket of old magazines, scissors and glue sticks, and let visitors add a few pieces whenever they stop by. Over a few weeks the picture fills in. It's a good passive program, a natural fit for Earth Day, and a use for withdrawn magazines.
Everyone contributes, and nobody can get it wrong. Use your school mascot, a class photo or a book cover. Each student takes a page, then the class puts the pages together for the reveal.
Start one on the dining table and add to it a little at a time, like a big jigsaw puzzle. Mix in pieces of old family photos, and you'll find faces and memories hidden throughout the finished picture.
Reunions, retirements, community celebrations, scout troops and church groups. Build something together, then keep it, frame it or give it as a gift.
Any paper or flat material that matches a color on the key:
Squares marked "anything dark" or "anything light" take any piece of that brightness, whatever the color. They're the easiest squares, and a good place to use up leftovers.
It depends on the size. Each piece takes roughly half a minute to find, cut and glue.
| Project | Pieces | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 1000–1500 | A family afternoon or one class period |
| Medium | 1500–3,000 | A week of classroom or family sessions |
| Large | 3,000+ | A library or community wall over several weeks |
Yes. Create, download and print as many maps as you like.
No. The map itself is black and white. A color printer helps for the color key on the cover sheet, but the color names work too.
Yes. Upload a PNG with a transparent background, and the transparent areas are left empty, so the mosaic takes the shape of your picture.
Yes, and it's one of the best parts. Cut out a part of a photo that's mostly one color, like a shirt, the sky or a face, and glue it on a square that matches. For public displays, follow your organization's policy on photos of children.
Try the Photo Mosaic Creator. Upload your photos and we'll arrange them into one picture, ready to download or print.