LinkedIn is a great platform for showcasing your photos in creative ways. One popular format is to post a collage of photos to highlight different aspects of your work, interests, or events. Collages allow you to combine multiple photos into one visually appealing graphic.
Posting photo collages on LinkedIn can help you:
- Demonstrate the breadth and depth of your experience
- Showcase your skills, talents, interests and participation in events
- Add visual interest to your LinkedIn profile
- Engage your professional network in a new format
However, LinkedIn doesn’t have a built-in collage feature, so you’ll need to use a graphic design app or website to create your collage first before uploading it.
In this article, we’ll walk through the full process step-by-step, including:
- Choosing the right photos
- Using design apps and sites to create a collage
- Uploading and posting your photo collage
- Best practices for optimizing engagement
Let’s get started!
Choosing Photos for Your Collage
The first step is selecting the right photos to include in your collage. Here are some best practices:
- Choose high-quality photos with good resolution, lighting, and framing. Pixelated or blurry photos won’t look good enlarged in a collage.
- Pick photos that cohere around a theme or tell a story. For example, photos from a conference, client project, team event, etc.
- Aim for 5-15 photos. Too few and the collage may look sparse. Too many and it can look cluttered.
- Include photos with you or your team to showcase your work. Be sure you have permission to use photos of other people.
- Mix portrait and landscape orientation. Collages look best with photos in different shapes and sizes.
You may need to do some editing beforehand like cropping, resizing, or adjusting color, contrast, and brightness to ensure all photos look their best.
Here are some examples of themes you could use:
- A collage showing the stages of a project from beginning to end
- Headshots of each member of your team
- Product photos highlighting your work
- Behind-the-scenes photos from an event, conference, or tradeshow
Get creative and choose photos that align with your brand, interests, and the story you want to tell.
Creating Your Photo Collage
Once you’ve selected your photos, it’s time to assemble them into an eye-catching collage. There are many free and paid apps and websites you can use to create collages easily. Here are some top options:
Design Apps
- Canva – Provides templates and easy drag-and-drop tools to create collages for social media. Free and paid options.
- Adobe Spark – Collage maker with templates, icons, overlays, and text options. Free with limited features or paid subscription.
- PicMonkey – Photo editor with collage templates and graphic design tools. Free trial or paid subscription plans.
- InShot – Mobile app for iOS and Android with collage templates and editing features. Free or paid upgrade available.
Collage Maker Websites
- BeFunky – Online collage maker with templates, shapes, backgrounds, and editing tools. Free or paid subscription plan.
- Collage Maker – Simple online collage maker with templates and drag-and-drop function. Free to use.
- Photo Collage Editor – Customizable grid collage maker with templates, stickers, backgrounds, and fonts. Free online tool.
- Fotor – Photo editor and collage maker with templates, design tools, and editing features. Free or paid subscription.
The process for actually creating your collage is straightforward with these tools:
- Select a template or layout with the number/size of frames you want.
- Upload your photos and drag-and-drop them into the frames.
- Resize, rearrange, or replace photos as needed to get your desired look.
- Add filters, stickers, text overlays or backgrounds if you want.
- Adjust spacing between frames and preview your final collage.
- Download or export the finished image in high resolution.
Take some time to explore different templates and editing options. Rearranging a few photos or adjusting the spacing can make a big difference in the overall aesthetic.
Uploading Your Photo Collage to LinkedIn
Once your collage graphic is complete and downloaded, it’s time to upload it to LinkedIn. Here’s how:
- Go to your LinkedIn homepage and click “Start a post” to create a new post.
- Select “Photo” instead of “Text” below your name.
- Click the icon to upload a photo and select your finished collage graphic.
- The collage will be uploaded and displayed as a preview within your post.
- Adjust or crop the image if needed—you may have to resize or tweak it for LinkedIn’s dimensions.
- Add a caption and description to accompany your photo collage post.
- Click “Post” to share your collage and caption with your connections.
Your eye-catching photo collage will now be visible on your LinkedIn profile and to your connections in their feeds.
Optimizing Engagement
Here are some tips for getting the most visibility and engagement out of your photo collage post:
- Use brief, descriptive captions. For example, “Highlights from XYZ Conference 2022.”
- Tell a story with your caption to provide context.
- Tag people who appear in the photos using @mentions.
- Include relevant hashtags like #industry, #networking, #tradeshow, etc.
- Post consistently at times your audience is most active.
- Interact with comments and reactions to your post.
- Consider promoting high-performing posts as paid advertisements.
Monitor the likes, comments, shares, and engagement on your post. Photo collages tend to elicit higher engagement on LinkedIn compared to regular photo or text posts.
You can create and share new photo collages regularly to build an eye-catching LinkedIn profile showcase different facets of your work and expertise.
Conclusion
Posting customized photo collages is an impactful way to stand out on LinkedIn. With the right high-quality photos, some simple design tools, and a captivating caption, you can create beautiful, engaging visual content for your professional network.
Aim for cohesive collages tied to themes and events that authentically connect with your industry and interests. The personalized nature of DIY photo collages can help you build meaningful connections and showcase your unique story on LinkedIn.
So pull together your favorite photos, fire up Canva or PicMonkey, and start creating some stellar branded collages to boost your LinkedIn presence today!