Trying to create a collage

Question

Dear Friends:
I am presently using Elements 10:
I am trying to create a collage. Once I have selected my pictures, i go to the Create bin and select collage. I receive an error that says " Apply layout."  Any ideas?
I was wondering if I uninstall elements and reinstall it if that would work.
Thanks,
Bert

Answer 1

Why not design your own? It is possible to make a collage manually and its quite easy.
Click File >> Open and select all of your photos
That will add them to the project bin
Then select File >> New >> Blank File
Select background color White (or whatever you prefer) and add your width and height for your final image (set resolution 72 for web usage or 240 to 300 for printing) then click OK
In the project bin click your first photo and drag it up into the main window on top of your new background.
Click on the move tool and click in the center of the photo and drag to arrange it where you want on the background - you can hold down the shift key to maintain original proportions whilst dragging the corner handles of the bounding box to get the size you want.
Do the same with the next photo (drag it up into the main window) and use the move tool to position it. Then continue with each image.
Finally Click Layer >>Flatten image and save as jpeg. (Save as PSD if you want to preserve the layers for editing again)
N.B. as you add images they get dropped in the center. So you need to use the move tool to drag them apart. Click in the middle of one and move it around, and then the others until you get them positioned as you want.
When you click again with the move tool a bounding box appears around the image and you can drag out the corner handles to re-size your photos. Hold down the shift key when dragging the corner handle and that will maintain the proportions of the original.
Finally click Layer >>Flatten Image and save your collage - you may then want to use the crop tool to cut away any surplus white canvas, and then re-save.