SocialCollage Free 1.3.2

SocialCollage Free is a handy application that allows you to create nice photo collages, posters, and cards. The source images can be imported either from your computer or directly from social networking services like Instagram and Facebook.

The program comes with a simple and uncluttered interface. The largest part of the main window is taken by the preview panel, so that you can have a clear and adequate display of the collage you are working on. What's great about this tool is that you can add pictures directly from Instagram and Facebook. The utility connects you automatically to the already-mentioned social networks and lets you browse for the images you want to import. If the photos are stored locally, you can browse your computer just as easily.

Once loaded, the selected pictures are aligned automatically in a grid. Uneven photos can be cropped automatically to a similar square size. You have the ability to reorder the imported items according to specific filters. Therefore, you can make use of the pictures' metadata in order to arrange the images taking into account their date or creation. The application enables you to apply special handy filters that refer to the amount of “likes” and comments. The tags of the images and the people tagged in the pictures are alternative sorting options. In addition, you can determine the sort direction and the distance between pads.

Making use of embedded templates for creating posters and cards is also possible. Yet, they are available as a result of some kind of “printing order”. Once you select the layout for your collage and the size of the pads, you are provided with a series of templates organized in clearly-defined categories. Unfortunately, the templates don’t support much customization. Your intervention is mostly reduced to applying the above-mentioned sort filters. The moment your project has reached the final form, you can share it via e-mail or upload it to popular sharing sites. You can also store it locally, but unfortunately not in any popular image format – the collage will be saved with an uncommon file extension, specific to this program.

SocialCollage Free offers a free solution for saving and sharing your precious memories as photo collages. You will appreciate the ability to import photos directly from the Internet. The sort filters are smart and very useful when working with a large amount of pictures. However, managing this app is not as simple and intuitive as I expected. The templates are somehow hidden under a “printing order” option, which leads you to think that the current version is actually nothing but an invitation to upgrading to the pro edition.