Soccer Photo Ball Collage in Photoshop

In today Photoshop tutorial, I'm going to take you through the process of creating a soccer photo ball collage in Photoshop. We'll be using the hexagon shape in the custom shape tool and the spherize filter that both come with Photoshop. To create the shadow, we will use a layer mask and the gradient tool. 

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Download This Template

Download Photoshop Soccer Photo Ball Collage template here or find others free Photoshop Collage Templates here. 

Steps to make a soccer photo ball collage in Photoshop:

1. Create new document

Choose File> New (or just press Ctrl+N). In the pop-up window, type a name in the Name field and enter the following information: Width 3000 pixels, Height 3000 pixels, Resolution 300 Pixels/Inch, Color Mode RGB color, and Background contents Transparent or White. Click OK.

2. Grab the Custom Shape tool

Select the Custom Shape Tool from the Tools panel (or just press U). Press Shift+U to cycle through the six available shape tools until the one you want is active. 

In the Options Bar, make sure Shape is chosen from the menu then choose shape color. To choose the color of the shape, click the color swatch in the options bar, and then choose a color available. 

You can also choose a color from the Color Picker. 

Lastly, enter a value for the stroke size and select a hexagon shape from the Custom Shape pop-up panel. 

If you do not find a hexagon shape in the panel, click the arrow in the upper-right corner, and choose “All”. 

When asked to replace current shapes, click OK to replace current shapes with the shapes form “All”.

3. Draw a hexagon

To draw a Hexagon Shape, click inside your document and drag away from the starting point. When you release your mouse button, Photoshop completes the shape and fills it with your chosen color.

4. Duplicate the hexagon

Now duplicate the Hexagon shape by going to Layer> Duplicate Layer, or else by pressing Ctrl+J. Then reposition your duplicate shape layer using Edit> Free Transform Path.

You can edit the shape as follows:

• Resize the Hexagon shape by dragging any corner while holding down the Shift key to keep the shape does not distort (if you need to resize it).
• Move the Hexagon shape by clicking and hold anywhere inside the shape and drag.
• Rotate the Hexagon shape by moving your cursor farther out from any corner until you see two arrows. Click and hold, then drag the shape (if you need to rotate it).
• Press Enter key when you are done.

Duplicate the Hexagon shape layer as many as you want and then arranged it all to your satisfaction.

5. Insert image

Stock images used in this Photoshop Collage tutorial: children-2440214, boy-2619201, child-613199, football-452569, football-606235, football-828218, football-1275123, football-1276327, football-1350720, football-1486353, football-2286933, football-2340841, football-2389444, football-2887720, girl-1004432, jump-1822412, kid-1465534, people-1355497, and soccer-2093960.

Select the hexagon layer to which you want to insert a picture. Go to File> Place command in the top menu to open the picture you'd like to insert. Navigate to the folder that contains your image file then select the name of the file you want to open. If your file does not appear, try to view all files by selecting All Formats from the Files of type list. Click the Place button.

You can now edit the picture as follows:

• Resize the picture by dragging any corner while holding down the Shift key to keep the picture does not distort.
• Move the picture by clicking and hold anywhere inside the image and drag.
• Rotate the picture by moving your cursor farther out from any corner until you see two arrows. Click and hold, then drag the picture.
• Press Enter key when you are done.

6. Create clipping mask

On the Layers panel, make sure the layers to be clipped are listed consecutively. Remember, you must stack the image layer above the Hexagon layer.

Click the image layer to be clipped, then choose Layer>Create Clipping Mask (or just press Alt+Ctrl+G). When layers are put into a clipping mask, the content of the bottommost layer (the Hexagon layer), clips the layers above it (the image layer).

7. Insert all images

Repeat steps 5 through 6 to open and manipulate each image you'd like to insert.

8. Group the all hexagon layers (just for backup)

While holding down the Shift key, click all the hexagon layers. Then choose Layer>Group Layer. 

Duplicate the layers group for backup by choosing Layer>Duplicate Group.

You can hide the original group layer by clicking on its eye icon on the left.

9. Merge layers

Click the duplicate group layer then select the Layer> Merge Group. We need to merge the layer group because we can't apply the Spherize filter to a layer group.

10. Draw a circle selection

Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool at the top of the Tools panel. or else just press M. Press Shift+M to cycle through the four available marquee tools until the one you want is active. 

To draw a circle selection, drag mouse in the document window while holding down the Shift key to keep the circle selection does not distort.

11. Apply the Spherize filter

Next, choose Filter> Distort> Spherize command to apply the Spherize filter. The Spherize dialog box appears. Drag the “Amount” slider to 100% and for the “Mode”, choose Normal. Click OK.

12. Create layer mask

With the circle selection still active, choose Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection to create a Layer Mask.

13. Adjust it

Choose Edit> Free Transform command. You can now edit the Soccer Photo Ball collage as follows:

• Resize the photo ball collage by dragging any corner while holding down the Shift key to keep it does not distort.
• Move the photo ball collage by clicking and hold anywhere inside it and drag.
• Rotate the photo ball collage by moving your cursor farther out from any corner until you see two arrows. Click and hold, then drag the photo ball collage.
• Press Enter key when you are done.

14. Create a new layer for shadow

Create a new layer for shadow by choosing Layer>New>Layer (or just press Shift+Ctrl+N). The New Layer dialog box appears allowing you to name your layer and specify other options. Leave the default settings and click OK.

In the Layers panel, a layer with the default name of Layer 1 appears. Move the new layer down just below the soccer ball collage layer.

15. Create the shadow

Select the Gradient Tool from the Tools panel, or else just press G. Press Shift+G to cycle through the six available shape tools until the one you want is active. 

Choose Black to White color and Radial Gradient in the options bar. 

Make sure Layer 1 is selected by clicking on it. 

Click in the middle of the document and drag it out. 

Arrange the shadow using the Edit> Transform> Distort. You can click and drag to set the position of the shadow in the document.

16. Save document

Choose File>Save (or just press Ctrl+S) to save your project file. The Save As dialog box appears. Navigate to the folder where you want to store the file. Type a name in the File Name text box and leave the default Photoshop (*.PSD;*.PDD) format. Click Save to store the image.

Once you have finished, you will probably also want to use File>Save As (Shift+Ctrl+S) to export the image in a more widely used format, such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.

There you have it! a Soccer Photo Ball Collage in Photoshop.

See also other Photoshop Collage tutorials:

• Heart-Shaped Collage in Photoshop
• Heart Collage in Photoshop (Contact Sheet)
• Circle Photo collage in Photoshop
• Easy way to create mosaic in Photoshop CS6

Generative AI in Photoshop. You have to try it to believe it.