Photo mosaic

Already in antiquity, the mosaic with its small stones and tiles adorned villas and palaces. Just like then, in the photo mosaic many small photos are put together to form one whole image.

This makes the mosaic photo a particularly clever way of photo printing: although it still looks like a normal image from a distance, the many small photos become visible on closer inspection.

Gift that feeling of “us” with the mosaic image

The mosaic image is also the perfect gift idea, not least because of its beautiful symbolic statement: "The whole is more than the sum of its individual parts". It's not just about the feeling of community – it's ultimately about those little moments that make up our lives. These make the mosaic visible and thus capitalise on the abilities of photography to capture emotional memories.

If you want to gift your mosaic as a birthday present, for example, you can gather many small pictures of the birthday boy or girl and combine them into a large portrait. But also as a retrospective wedding gift or as a loving Christmas greeting, the mosaic image is the perfect choice.

And it is just as beautiful as a farewell gift or a souvenir of a lovely time together. So, you can even choose school photos, club pictures or photos from the office as the basis for your mosaic image.

Create a photo mosaic: What you need to know

Mosaic images always consist of one large main photo and many smaller photos. The main image determines the motif and thus also to a large extent the effect of the mosaic. Therefore, you should always choose it first.

Large, clear motifs are best suited in this regard. To get started creating the mosaic image, you also need at least 30 small photos. But it's even better if you use 100 or even 1,000 photos for your mosaic.

It is important for the selection of the small pictures that the motif is clearly recognisable.

Since the small pictures on the finished mosaic are only 2 to 2.5 cm in size, small motifs are rather less suitable. After printing, they would be so small that the image wouldn’t be clearly recognisable even on closer inspection. While the main photo should have a minimum resolution of 2 MB, 0.5 MB is sufficient for the small photos. Depending on how many images you want to use for your mosaic, you can also play around with the final format: the smallest size we offer is 60 x 40 cm, the largest is 150 x 100 cm for poster and 100 x 75 cm for canvas.

Once you have defined the main image, the small, individual photos and the format of your photo mosaic, you can still choose from different image media.

You have the choice between canvas, acrylic glass, poster paper and aluminium-Dibond. When selecting the printing medium, you should think about where the finished image will be hung in the end.

Did you know: To ensure the best possible quality, we always send you a free preview of your mosaic image. You place your order for a print, subject to a fee, only when you are completely satisfied with it.

5 tips for unique mosaic images

1. Don't be afraid of colour: When creating the mosaic, the small, individual photos are matched to the colours of the main photo. This results in a homogeneous impression and your main motif comes out better.

2. It doesn't always have to be a portrait: Most of the mosaics ordered from us are full-frame portraits. This is a nice idea - especially if you want to give away your photo mosaic as a present. Nevertheless, it is also worthwhile to look at object photos, animal motifs or landscapes. Depending on what the recipient associates with the specific motif, there are no limits on the imagination in this regard.

3. Play around with different formats: It often happens that the small photos are in different formats. This can look particularly interesting in the final result. Our software detects these discrepancies. As a result, the images are no longer precisely tile-shaped, but rather are arranged in a special grid.

This enhances the puzzle effect of the mosaic, which often looks very original. So if you are open to a special effect, you should choose a good mix of landscape and portrait-format images!

4. Use as many photos as possible: Although you can create beautiful mosaics even with 30 shots and a main image, it is definitely worth using more than 100 different photos as a basis. If you consciously use more images, you will achieve a particularly even and elegant look. On average, our customers use about 150 small photos for their photo mosaic.

5. Use repeated images in a targeted manner: Particularly in cases where you want your mosaic to have a clearly defined theme, you may not always have 100 to 1,000 photos from one particular photo shoot or area to play around with.

Fortunately, this is not a problem at all: if you find yourself with too few individual images, the algorithm will optimally arrange the images you do have. In fact, these image repetitions create a super-exciting memory effect in the end, which really draws the viewer's gaze into the mosaic image.