Tutorial Tuesday- how to use a facebook cover photo

Hi

Tutorial Tuesday again. My! How the time flys!

So, I thought I would share a little tutorial about facebook cover photos. (It is maybe foolish to say, but if you don't have facebook, this will be like me talking double dutch. I'm sorry!)

Well, for those of you in the know, there is a new setting on facebook, that of the "Timeline" I ummed and ahhed about this for quite a while it has to be said but eventually conceded at the thought of the possibility of a cover photo!

(The timeline is a new setting, that tracks your post year by year month by month, more like a blog really. It's great advanatge is that you have a profile picture and a cover photo)

The cover photo is lovely- it is a really large picture at the top of the profile- but it is a really awkward shape, I mean, who has a photo that can fit in that, without cutting off a head? So this is what I did..

You can tell I am a blogger right?!
To make a collage photo like this is a whole lot easier than it looks!

First, start with a selection of pictures. I tried to choose ones that reflected different aspects of me; sister, girlfriend, gap student etc.

Next, edit your pictures. I used Pixlr-o-matic to make the polaroid frame like so..

Then I used Rollip to add a vintage filter

Save all your images. Next open Picasa. This is a free google program. Select the pictures you want and then click "make collage" ( You could easily do this on photoshop too)

You will need to change your canvas size. A facebook cover photo is 850 x 315

The next step is the most fun: arrange your edited pictures so that they fill the canvas. They can be on the slant, straight on etc etc.

Save the collage or flatten the photoshop image and save this. Then load up facebook, switch to the daunting prospect of time line and upload your collage as the cover photo. Voila!

I hope this is pretty clear or at least gives you some ideas of the possibility the facebook cover photo has beyond just being one odd shaped picture!

Thanks for stopping by