How to make a photo collage with Gemini from several photos

"Make a collage of these photos" is the prompt everyone tries first in Gemini. It usually gives you a random arrangement, an extra panel nobody asked for, and at least one face that's slightly off.

Collages need structure. The prompts that work spell out the grid, the borders, the canvas shape and what goes in each panel. Below is how I set that up, with layouts borrowed from real prompts in the Promptclay collage prompts collection.

First, know what Gemini is doing

Gemini doesn't drop your photos into a grid like a collage app. It reads them and draws a new image. That's the point if you want a styled scrapbook page, matched colours or a themed grid. It's the wrong tool if every photo has to stay exactly as shot. For that, use a normal collage app.

Pick and order the photos

Four to six photos is a comfortable number. More panels means smaller faces, and small faces drift first. Mix a close-up, a medium shot and a wide one so the grid has some rhythm. Attach them in the order you want them placed, so "photo 1" in your prompt means the first attachment.

Spell out the layout

The Cute Black Toy Poodle Collage prompt is a good pattern to copy. It sets a "Landscape 3:2" canvas with "thin white dividers between panels", then describes each panel in order:

Layout: Use exactly 5 photo panels. Panel 1 is a large top-left close-up of the black puppy biting a human finger, showing huge glossy eyes, fluffy curly black fur, long floppy ears, and a tiny muzzle. Panel 2 is a top-right action shot of the puppy jumping or bouncing on a beige pet bed with ears flying outward and mouth open. Panel 3 is a bottom-left full-body shot of the puppy standing on a soft beige blanket, facing forward. Panel 4 is a bottom-center close-up of the puppy gently mouthing a hand, tilted head, fluffy ears framing the face. Panel 5 is a large bottom-right action shot of the puppy running or leaping across the bed with one front paw stretched forward, ears flying, mouth open excitedly. 

Example image from the Cute Black Toy Poodle Collage prompt page (GPT Image 2).

It ends with "Use exactly 5 photo panels" and a list of things not to add. Keep that habit. Without a panel count, models tend to throw in one more.

With your own photos, replace the descriptions with photo numbers:

I've attached 4 photos. Make one photo collage from them: a 2x2 grid, 4:5 portrait canvas, thin white borders between panels. Top left: photo 1. Top right: photo 2. Bottom left: photo 3. Bottom right: photo 4. Keep the people, faces, clothes and scene in each photo the same as the original. Use only these 4 photos. Do not add extra panels, people or text. Give all four panels the same warm, natural colour grade so they look like one set. 

That last line is the bit a collage app can't do. Photos from different days and phones come out looking like one shoot.

Scrapbook style

The Cozy Travel Scrapbook Poster prompt builds a page with a real-looking photo on top and a hand-drawn 3x3 grid of sketches underneath, all taken from the scene.

Example image from the Cozy Travel Scrapbook Poster prompt page (GPT Image 2).

The trick is the list of sketched elements: "a person with a camera, ocean waves and sun, traveler with a map, vintage photographs, a heart symbol..." Replace it with things that are really in your photos. Your hotel's blue door. The ramen. The dog. It reads as your trip instead of a template.

Same person, many panels

For a grid of one person, two habits help. Put the face rule first, in its own block, like the 3x3 Black and White Photo Collage prompt does:

"FaceReference": {"Mode": "Strict face preservation", "Instruction": "Use uploaded reference for exact facial features", "Consistency": "Face identical across all nine frames"} 

And keep the outfit, set and light fixed so only the expression changes. The 3x3 Christmas Collage of a Woman on a Couch prompt keeps one sweater, one couch and one tree across all nine frames. It's a text-only prompt, so add "Using the person in my uploaded photo, keep the same face in all nine panels" at the start and rewrite the description to match you.

Watch for "never merge"

Some photo-to-poster prompts are built to make one poster per photo. The Halftone Travel Collage Poster prompt says so explicitly, telling the model never to merge multiple photos into one frame. Attach five photos to that and you won't get a collage. Read a prompt before pasting it.

Fixes

One per message, same chat:

• "Swap top right and bottom left. Change nothing else."
• "Panel 3's face doesn't match photo 3. Redo only that panel."
• "4 panels, not 6."

Still mixing photos up? Send fewer, or build the top row first and the bottom row second.

More layouts, from simple grids to full scrapbook pages, are in the collage prompts collection on Promptclay. Free to copy.