When is the last time that you changed the wallpaper on your computer desktop? It’s something you look at every day, why not make it fun! Picasa has a terrific tool set to help you create a quick collage of your favorite photos. With the tips in this class, you’ll have a new desktop after just a few clicks.

To get started, you need to pick your favorite photos that you want to use. Just a few will do… too many and you quickly can overclutter (unless that’s the look you want!). I use the “star” feature in Picasa to tag all my favorite photos. There is a special album you’ll see in Picasa that gathers all your starred photos together in one place. This is a good starting point to create a collage from.

Select the photos that you want to use. (Tip: Click your first photo and then Ctrl+Click each additional one – this allows you to select multiple photos into one set). When you are done selecting, click the “Collage” button which you’ll find on the ‘actions’ toolbar at the bottom of the Picasa window.

Notice at the left side of your window is a pane with various tools and settings. Let’s start at the top. You can choose the type of collage that you want (feel free to experiment). However, the “Picture Pile” setting works great for desktop backgrounds. Next, why not choose a good background color. I find that the darker hues are less of a strain on your eye.

If you choose the “Select All” button at the top of the window, then you can apply the same setting to all the photos. Try out the “Picture Borders” settings. I like the one in the middle which puts an even white border all the way around.

In the “Page Format” list, choose a setting that matches your monitor. You can choose the “Widescreen Monitor” setting or the “Current Display” option in the list depending on what type of screen you have. The “Draw Shadows” setting also creates a nice effect.

Next, let’s work on the presentation of the photos. At the bottom of the screen are two buttons: “Scramble Collage” and “Shuffle Pictures”. These are ok and you can play with them but their randomness never quite gets the exact results that I like. So when you are ready you can take over and fine tune: position, size, rotation.

If you select a specific photo, you can drag it wherever you want it to be. Also, don’t overlook the right-click menu. “Bring to Top” and “Move to Bottom” are two commands that will get the right placement in your “stack”. Notice also when you select a photo that you get a rotation and sizing ring. Grab the handle and notice how you can rotate the photo. If you drag the handle to the right, the photo gets larger (to the left, it gets smaller). Use a little creativity with size and rotation to create your photo stack.

Finally, if the desktop is your destination, click the “Desktop Background” button on the left side pane (or if you are looking for a printout, choose the “Create Collage” button)

That’s it. Enjoy your creative collages!