# How to Make a Photo Collage on iPhone (3 Ways, One With Shapes) > Make a photo collage on iPhone three ways: a Shortcuts action, a grid app, or a shape collage app that fits 30 to 100 photos into a heart. Steps and limits. Source: https://phinsh.com/photo-collage-on-iphone/ Published: October 10, 2026 ## Key takeaways - Apple documents no collage maker in Photos. Your options are a Shortcuts action, a grid app or a shape collage app. - A Shortcuts action or a grid app can handle a handful of photos in boxes. - Phinsh fills a heart, number, name or map with as many photos as you like, and the first collage it makes is a heart. - Four steps in Phinsh: Start, Shape, Adjust, Save and Export. Standard export (1500px) is made for sharing; High (3000px) is for printing and needs PRO. - Phinsh has no photo filters and does not print. Save the image and print it anywhere. You can make a photo collage on iPhone, but Apple documents no collage maker in the Photos app. You can join a few photos with the Shortcuts app, drop them into a grid app, or use a shape collage app such as Phinsh that packs 30, 60 or 100 photos into a heart. This guide covers all three, says when each one fits and walks through the shape version step by step. The collage on the iPhone screen below is based on a real Phinsh render. *[Image: Person holding an iPhone that shows the Phinsh collage maker with a heart-shaped photo collage of a couple and the Photos, Shape, Adjust and Shuffle toolbar — The Phinsh collage editor on an iPhone, with a heart made from a couple]* ## Can you make a photo collage on iPhone? Yes, with one of three routes. Apple’s [guide to editing photos and videos on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/edit-photos-and-videos-iphb08064d57/ios) describes adjusting light and colour, filters, cropping and Markup. It does not describe a collage tool, so for a collage you need a shortcut or an app. ## Way 1: Shortcuts, no extra app The Shortcuts app on your iPhone has a Combine Images action, which Apple lists among the transform actions in its [Shortcuts User Guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts/transform-actions-apd1d9413cfb/ios). You build a small shortcut yourself: choose photos, combine them into one image and save the result to Photos. It is free and already on your phone, so it can work for a few photos you want side by side. It joins pictures into one image, so use it as a quick stitch. Menu labels change between iOS versions, so follow Apple’s guide for the taps instead of a walkthrough that will be out of date next year. ## Way 2: A grid collage app Grid apps are a common option. You pick a layout, tap each box to add a photo, adjust the border and save. Each layout has a fixed number of boxes, so they suit a handful of photos, and the result is a rectangle of boxes. Before you spend time on one, check three things in the free version: whether it puts a watermark on the saved image, how large the exported picture is, and how many ads get in the way. ## Way 3: A photo collage on iPhone with shapes A shape app works the other way around. You choose the shape and the app packs your photos into it. [Phinsh Collage Maker](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1545021381) is free to download from the App Store, and the first collage it makes from your photos is a heart. It handles 30 or more photos in one picture, which the other two ways are not built for. *[Image: Heart-shaped photo collage made from 32 photos of a couple — A heart collage from 32 photos of Maya and Daniel, made with Phinsh at 3000px.]* ### Make it in four steps 1. **Start.** Open Phinsh, tap Start and pick your photos. There is no upper limit on how many. The heart appears on its own, with the photos packed into it. 2. **Shape.** Want something other than a heart? Tap Shape. The Shapes Collection has category tabs such as Love, Geometric, Symbols and Nature. The same panel has Text for words, names and numbers, Rectangle and Square for plain grids, and Custom Shape for your own image. 3. **Adjust.** Tap Adjust for three sliders: Size of photos, Space between photos and Accuracy level. The heart in the screenshots uses size 65, space 20 and accuracy level 2. Also in the toolbar: Shuffle changes which photo goes where, and Edit Photos lets you tap a photo to Swap, Change, Crop, Rotate or Remove it. 4. **Save & Export.** Tap the download icon at the top right and choose a size. Standard is 1500px and made for social media. High is 3000px (PRO), meant for a t-shirt, a pillow or paper up to A3. Ultra High is 6000px and a separate purchase; it is the largest size on the phone. The web app goes up to 12000px for very large prints. *[Image: Phinsh start screen with the Start button next to the editor showing a heart collage of a couple — Step 1: tap Start and pick photos. The editor opens with the heart collage already built.]* *[Image: Phinsh Shape panel with heart shapes next to the Adjust panel with three sliders — Steps 2 and 3: the Shapes Collection, and the Adjust sliders for photo size, spacing and accuracy.]* *[Image: Phinsh Save and Export screen with the Standard 1500px image size selected — Step 4: Save & Export opens with Standard (1500px) selected, and High and Ultra High sit below it.]* > Make your own photo collage with Phinsh: https://phinsh.com/app/ [Download Phinsh on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1545021381) and try it with 30 or 40 photos from one trip or one year. For a longer look at hearts, see [heart shape collage in 1 minute](/heart-shape-collage-in-1-minute/). ### What Phinsh does not do - It has no photo filters, brightness or contrast controls. If you want matching colours, edit the photos in the Photos app first. - It does not print or ship anything. Save the image and print it with any print service. - The free version shows ads on mobile. PRO removes them. ## Which way should you use? | | Shortcuts | Grid app | Phinsh | |---|---|---|---| | Best for | 2 to 4 photos side by side | A handful of photos in boxes | 30 to 100 or more photos in a shape | | Result | One joined picture | A rectangle of boxes | A heart, number, name, map or nearly 400 shapes | | Setup | Build a shortcut once | Install an app | Install an app | | Watch out for | Manual build, menus change | Watermark, ads, export size | No filters, no printing | If you only want two photos next to each other, use Shortcuts or any grid app and move on. If you want one picture that holds a whole year, a trip or a family, use a shape. ## How many photos, and what size to save The heart above uses 32 photos, and 30 to 60 is a good range to start with. Some photos appear more than once in it, so add more photos if you want every cell to show something different. For ideas beyond the heart, such as a number for a birthday, read our [number collage maker guide](/custom-number-collage-maker/) and [shape photo collage art](/shape-photo-collage-art/), or browse the [shape collages gallery](/shape-collages-gallery/). Save at 1500px if the collage only lives on a phone or goes to WhatsApp or Instagram. Pick 3000px or more for anything you will print. For 100 photos or more in one frame, see our guide to a [photo collage with 100 photos](/100-photo-collage-in-one-frame-unlimited/). ## Send or print your collage Use the share button in the editor to send the finished collage to apps such as WhatsApp or Instagram, or save it and send it like any other picture. To hang it on a wall, take the saved image to a print service and see our [photo collage ideas](/photo-collage-ideas/) for sizes and places to display it. [Get Phinsh for iPhone on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1545021381) or open the [web app](/app/) and start with the heart. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you make a photo collage on iPhone? Yes, but Photos has no built-in collage maker that Apple documents. You can join photos with a Shortcuts action, use a grid collage app for a few photos, or use a shape collage app such as Phinsh to fit many photos into a heart or number. ### How do I make a photo collage in the Photos app? Apple’s guide to editing in Photos covers adjusting light and colour, filters, cropping and Markup, and it does not describe a collage tool. For a collage, use the Shortcuts app or a collage app. ### How do I make a collage on iPhone with a lot of photos? Use an app that is built for it. Grid apps give you a fixed number of boxes, while Phinsh packs any number of photos into a shape such as a heart. Our heart example uses 32 photos, and Phinsh has no photo limit. ### How do I edit a photo inside a collage on iPhone? In Phinsh, tap a photo in the collage, then choose Swap, Change, Crop, Rotate or Remove. Phinsh has no photo filters or brightness controls, so adjust colours in the Photos app before you add the photo. ### How do I send a photo collage on WhatsApp from my iPhone? Finish the collage, then use the share button in the Phinsh editor to send it to apps such as WhatsApp or Instagram. You can also export the image and send it like any other picture. Standard export at 1500px is sized for social media.