Memorial Photo Collage: How to Make a Tribute That Feels Right

A memorial collage works best when it shows a whole life in one picture: 30 to 60 photos from different decades, packed into a simple shape such as a tree, a butterfly or a dove, and printed large enough to be seen from the back of the room. This guide covers choosing the photos, the shape, the size and the printing, with a timeline for when the service is only days away.

A collage can be as quiet or as full as the family wants, and it can be made in an evening.

What a memorial collage is for

A shaped collage turns many photos into one image. You can use it in several places:

• on an easel or board next to the guest book at a service or gathering
• on the cover of the order of service, in a small version
• on a screen during the gathering, or sent to relatives who cannot travel
• afterwards at home, as a framed print for the family

A funeral picture collage can also be the centrepiece, with a few large single photos around it. We come back to that below.

How to choose photos for a memorial collage

The photos matter more than the shape. These choices help:

• Cover the whole life. Include childhood, school years, young adulthood, work, family and later years, with a few photos from each decade.
• Pick the ordinary moments. At the table, in the garden, with a grandchild, at a favourite chair. The photos that look most like the person are often not the formal ones.
• Include the people around them. Friends, siblings and grandchildren in the photos show who they spent their life with.
• Choose clear faces. In a collage of 40 photos each one is small, so photos where the face is easy to read work best. You can crop a photo to the face inside Phinsh.
• Choose what they would have liked. Skip photos they disliked, even if the quality is good.
• Ask relatives for their copies. Set up one shared album and give everyone the same deadline.

Old prints are worth the effort. Lay each print flat near a window, photograph it straight on without flash, and keep the original colour, faded or not.

The example collages in this guide follow one woman’s life, from the 1960s, when she was in her twenties, to her late seventies; she was born in 1946.

Shapes for a memorial picture collage

Pick an outline with a solid body, so the photos can stay large and the shape reads from a distance. Phinsh has nearly 400 built-in shapes, and these suit a tribute:

A tree

A tree fits a life with roots and branches. The crown holds the photos, and the trunk can carry the oldest ones.

For a gathering outdoors, the tree can stand on an easel in the shade.

A butterfly

A butterfly is a gentle shape, and its wings give two large areas for photos.

A flower

A flower with five petals and a round centre gives the photos room, and it is easy to place on an easel.

A smaller print of the flower can also go into a memory box with a few keepsakes.

A dove

A dove (a bird in flight) has a calm outline. It looks especially quiet in black and white; see the example in the next section.

The birth year or the years of a life

Type the birth year as a number collage, or both years. Bold digits keep the strokes thick enough for photos. For more on number collages, see our number collage guide.

On a memorial table, a long frame with the birth year sits well beside flowers and candles.

A name, initials or a map

The text option makes a collage from a name or initials. A map of a country or region can also suit someone who spent their life far from where they were born. Phinsh has maps of 25 countries plus some regions.

Something that suits the person

The shape list includes a guitar, a fish, a paw print and dozens more. A shape linked to a lifelong interest often feels more personal than a general symbol. If the family has an image that matters to them, Phinsh can turn your own image into a custom shape.

More shapes are in the Phinsh shape collage gallery.

Colour or black and white

Photos from six decades rarely match: faded film, early colour prints, phone photos. Two ways to calm the mix:

1. Keep the colour. Choose a soft background, such as a pale grey or cream, so the photos carry the colour. In Phinsh the Backgrd panel offers solid colours and gradients.
2. Convert to black and white. The photos then look like one set, and the collage reads as more subdued.

Phinsh has no photo filters, so convert the photos in your phone’s photo editor first, then add the converted copies. Keep the colour originals in a separate folder.

Layout, size and printing for a service

Orientation. A tree or a dove fits a portrait canvas, and a year or a name fits landscape. The Layout panel in Phinsh sets the canvas.

Words. A name and the dates are usually enough. Add them in Phinsh with a text box, or ask the print shop to add them under the collage. Keep the wording simple and let the family choose it.

Size. Print size depends on how far people will stand from it. Pixels divided by pixels per inch gives the size, and 150 pixels per inch is fine for a board seen from a few steps away:

Where it will be used	Print size, long side	Export size in Phinsh
On a screen, in a message to relatives	no print	Standard, 1500px
Programme cover or framed print up to A3	up to 42 cm	High, 3000px (the app suggests it for papers up to A3)
Easel board or framed print	50 to 100 cm	Ultra High, 6000px (the app suggests it for large prints or a framed picture)
Large board for a hall (web app only)	up to about 2 m	Super UHD, 12000px

The mobile apps export up to 6000px, and the web app up to 12000px. High is part of PRO, and Ultra High and Super UHD are separate purchases.

Paper and finish. Choose matte paper, foam board or canvas, because glossy prints reflect hall lights. Foam board is light enough for an easel. A frame with a wide white mat gives the collage a quiet border.

Proof. Ask the print shop for a quick proof or look at the file at full size first. Check that faces are clear and that nothing is cut off at the edges.

Picture boards and other memorial picture board ideas

A shaped collage works well beside a few large photos. Put the collage in the centre of the board or on the easel, then add 8 to 12 larger prints of the person, each with a short caption. A small table nearby with a few of their things, such as a favourite book or a pair of glasses, gives guests something to talk about. Photo wall ideas has more ways to arrange prints.

How to make a memorial collage with Phinsh

1. Gather 40 or so of the chosen photos in one album or folder on your phone or computer.
2. Open Phinsh on iPhone, Android or in your browser and add the photos. Open Shape and choose a tree, butterfly, dove or flower, or choose the text option for a year or a name.
3. Adjust the size of the photos and the space between them. Tap a photo to swap, crop or remove it, and use Shuffle to spread the decades across the shape.
4. Pick a soft background in Backgrd. Use Save Project to stop and come back later.
5. Export at the size your print needs, then upload the file to any print service. Phinsh does not print or ship.

Our guide to a collage of 100 photos explains how the packing works with larger sets.

A timeline for a memorial collage

If the service is a week away, there is time to do this calmly.

When	What to do
7 days before	Ask relatives for photos and set a deadline three days later.
4 days before	Choose about 40 photos. Convert them to black and white if you want that look. Build the collage.
3 days before	Show the family, adjust, export, and order the print. Ask the print shop how long it takes.
1 to 2 days before	Collect the print, check it, and prepare the easel or frame.
The day	Place it near the entrance or the guest book.

If you have only two or three days, ask for photos the same day, build the collage the next morning and ask a local print shop whether it can print on the same or the next day. A screen at the gathering is a good back-up.

Where to display a memorial collage

At the service, place it where people arrive, next to the guest book, with flowers or a candle on a table. Make sure there is enough light on the print.

Afterwards it can move to a shelf, a sideboard or a hallway wall at home. Keep the file so that other family members can print their own copies as keepsakes; our photo collage gift ideas has more ideas for collage gifts.