Create a colourful mosaic from any photo

Use our mosaic grids as a starting point for vibrant, creative images in Photoshop CC

If you want to get arty with your images, this technique will provide you with the opportunity to really fill your boots! It starts by segmenting a picture into a mosaic of tiles using one of the provided templates, then allows you to hand-paint colour washes onto the tiles in any way you wish, changing the character of the image as you go.

You can further customise the effect by changing the perimeter to add a boost in contrast and colour, and even remove the grid in specific places to allow the subject of your picture to float proud of it.

This technique works with a large array of shot types and styles, but when you’re choosing an image, the best results tend to come from relatively simple shots that have a distinct subject and an uncluttered background.

1 Blend your pic with the mosaic

Open your image into Photoshop CC (or practise with Daisy.jpg). Press Ctrl/Cmd+A, Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+W to select, copy and close it. Now go to File > Open and load the mosaic grid you want to use. If your image is in portrait format, go to Image > Image Rotation > 90º Clockwise. Press Ctrl/Cmd+V to paste in your picture. In the Layers panel, set the Blending Mode to Screen. The pic will appear through the grid. If you want to change the size of your pic, press Ctrl/Cmd+T to enter Free Transform mode, and drag the corner handles of the bounding box to adjust. Press Return when you’re done.

2 Add colour washes to specific areas

Click on the Adjustment Layer icon and select Hue/Saturation from the list. Tick Colorize and adjust Hue and Saturation to create a single colour. Press D to reset the foreground and background colours, then press Ctrl/Cmd+Backspace to fill the mask with black. Select the Brush Tool and pick an arty brush like Chalk 60 Pixels. Set the Opacity to about 50%, increase the brush size with ] and paint over the squares wherever you want the single colour wash to appear. Repeat this step with a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, but now choose a contrasting colour and reveal it in different squares.

3 Change the edges

To create a contrasting edge effect around the periphery of the image, select the Lasso Tool and draw a rough margin around the edge. Once the selection is complete, get the inverse of the selection by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I, then click Select And Mask in the Options bar. Move Feather to around 150-200px to soften the edge. Now create a Curves Adjustment Layer. Push the curve up to brighten the area, then click where it says RGB and select the Red, Green or Blue channel. By pushing or pulling the curves for the individual colour channels, you can change the edge colours to suit your image.

4 Break out your subject

If you want your subject to break out of the grid and sit above it, click on the Background layer to select it, then press Ctrl/ Cmd+Alt+Shift+N to create an empty new layer above it. Press D to reset the colours, then use the Brush Tool to paint black into the new layer wherever you want to lose the white spaces between the grid squares. If you want this to be very accurate, use a small round brush and zoom in tight to paint out the spaces with precision. Adjust the Opacity of your Adjustment Layers to get the colour balance you like. To change any colours, click on the Adjustment Layer concerned, and alter to taste.