With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we’re starting to see flower shops arranging their wide assortment of bouquets, and people making a beeline for the best chocolate boutiques in town. While roses, chocolates and stuffed toys have become enduring symbols of love during this time of the year, there’s also nothing quite like love notes and cards to convey your affection towards the special person in your life. If you’re in a last-minute scramble, and are still looking for that perfect card to give to your sweetheart, do know that DIY cards are easy and fun with the PicCollage App!
With visual steps to guide you below, we’ve made it even easier for you to follow along. Now get started and get creative, and show your loved ones just how much they mean to you.
If you have 5 minutes:
Begin by choosing a photo.
A tip is to choose a photo that makes you smile, or best represents your relationship with your loved one.
Step 1: Import your photo to PicCollage, and select your preferred canvas size.
Open the PicCollage app, tap Get Started, select your photo and tap on Sizes to adjust the dimension of your card to your liking. For this example, we are using the 2:3 for a standard portrait orientation.
Step 2: Use the Cutout feature to remove the background from your photo.
Tap on your image twice, and select Cutout. Tap on Scissors to manually trace the silhouette/ outline of your photo, or tap on People to automatically generate a cutout for you.
Step 3: Use the Background and Text feature to begin personalizing your card.
Tap on Backgrounds at the lower left corner of the menu bar for a wide selection of free and custom-made VIP backgrounds. After choosing your background, tap anywhere on the empty canvas, and tap on Text to begin typing your personalized message.
Protip: The England Hand font has a formal script that is perfect for an elegant card look.
Step 4: Add Stickers to decorate your card.
Tap on Stickers at the lower right corner of the menu bar for a variety of Valentine’s and other themed sticker designs. There are over 12,000 stickers to choose from so get creative and play around!
Step 5: Save and print your card once you’re done.
Tap Done at the upper right hand corner of your screen, and tap Save to Library and/or Print to directly connect to your printer at home!
Protip: A sweet, handwritten note at the back of the card will make your receiver feel even more special!
Extra: You can always add a frame to your card with Backgrounds.
Tap Get Started, select your card, and resize by pinching and making your card smaller; thereby creating an illusion of a frame. Tap Backgrounds and have fun choosing your frame.
If you have 10 minutes:
Step 1: Use the Cutout feature twice.
Simply repeat the steps above from 1 to 3, all the way until you’ve selected a background that best complements your cutout. Once you’re done, export your collage by tapping Save to Library, and importing it once again to the app so that you can perform a second cutout —this time, select the smart result with a wide margin around your outline, to showcase the background you’ve chosen. Check out the effect below!
Step 2: Let your creative juices out and begin decorating your cutout.
How to replicate the effect above: Tap on Duplicate to create an extra copy of your cutout. Resize it to make it slightly bigger than your original cutout. Double tap and select Effects. Choose Filters and select BW1. You can adjust the Tint of the cutout according to your preference. When done, bring the duplicated cutout behind your original cutout by tapping Back.
Step 3: When you’re done decorating, save your card and import it to PicCollage. Use Cutout Shapes to create a frame cutout of your card.
You can also add a border to your frame by double tapping on the cutout, and tapping Border.
Step 4: Add a background and save your card.
Print it and don’t forget to write a sweet message at the back of your card!
If you have 15 minutes:
Step 1: Keep the card you made above, and create another one on PicCollage.
Since the first card highlighted your couple’s photo, the second card could depict a special note or text written for your loved one. The phrases below are just an example, as there are other ways to say how much he or she means to you!
Step 2: Use Grids and Sizes to convert the two portrait cards to landscape.
Once you have the two cards saved, import them back to PicCollage. Tap Sizes and select 4:3, then tap Grids and select the double vertical card slots. You can also designate whether a particular card appears on the left or right, by simply using your finger to flick the image to the appropriate side.
Step 3: Adjust the Grid slots.
You may choose to add a background color, or simply fill up the whole slot with your cards. When you’re done, don’t forget to print it out on a nice thick paper, and watch them smile as you give them the best present yet!
Don’t forget to tag @piccollage or use the #mypiccollage hashtag to show us your creations!