Had small problem activating but third was the charm. Now reports PRO version work fine now. Had tried older version but did work this version is fine. Note if you can't get it to activate you can still use the free version....

Keep in mind, people, that running the activate.exe program probably requires you to be logged on as an administrator, not to be running as a standard user - as I'm sure all of us are, as a matter of course for ordinary usage during the day.

Programmers presume that everyone operates as an admin, a sackable offence in commerce - and it just ain't so.


Operating as an admin grants every piece of malware or every exploit the same privileges as you have - which is to say, ALL of them.

@18 Jimbo - really? Not ONE single useful comment?? AND 'this' is "as usual"??? i take issue with that remark... Even the BAD comments are 'useful'... take your's for example: it's a GREAT example of a useless comment... so, using a certain kind of logic, you have indeed contributed to the melee - thank you!

@28 ksmail1 - look up above at (4)Goiv's comment. The first link goes to the site where the second choice is your heart's desire...

@12 Vulture - i gave you a "yes" flag man(/babe?) - eye two wood lik 2 sea wut Stortch gives us. (PS: other users shud knot underestimate
this gut)

Regards 2 Tortch...

Hi, seriously, this Program offers enough features (even in Win version dare I say) for playing around to get something decent out of it, surely. At first it appears to be so basic, so lacking in Templates that the immediate reaction could be "oh whaaat??" (mine was!:)
Then I discovered good old manipulation with Layout, Rotation, Sparse and Random Layout to see how to get less/more photos (to my satisfaction, and each Template changing from "auto" to customized) and the rest of it.

I would say tests I've done on 5 pics of a child - turn out interesting and ok, because I controlled what I could "spare" of each photo so it didn't lose too much of what I considered important - yet making it "fun looking". Let's not forget that sometimes it can be mercifully kind to chop this and that, especially when it comes to portraits..(double chin perhaps, bold head..? lol)
Later I discovered image backgrounds on which the Collage can be placed on and thought yeah, it gets better and better..
The whole thing (end product) saved (exported here) - can naturally be framed elsewhere.
I'm not sure I would use it for holiday snaps, I would probably get too annoyed that it tries to slice too much of scenery I passionately care about, but hmm, who knows.

Not bad Tool for my specific needs, I'm keeping it, thanks GAOTD and Pearl Mountain for this Gift.

Another aspect away from this Software and seeing some People cannot register it (activate) as Pro. Please feel free to what I use in a shape of a simple extractor Prog and You'll always have all downloaded Files in one Folder in neat way. I use older version of (free) "extractnow", as it is simpler and good enough, You'll find it here: http://www.extractnow.com/releases/ (462), or latest version from here: http://www.extractnow.com/
If on Win7 (or Vista, if behaving the same way?) - You'll have to right-click downloaded gaotd zip and "Send to" (not Open with) - extractnow, click extract and hey presto - Setup, Activate, Ac gcd, readme all there. Hope it helps.

Downloaded and installed fine on Win7 32bit laptop. Only need to click on setup.exe then activate exe - ignore other files in zip. Check "about" in "help" menu of CollageIt - it should now be the pro version.

Tested with a selection of photos. Does a neat job quickly of setting up a collage. Easy to reconfigure layout, background and arrangement. Random choices - if you want to use this to specifically shape a collage I would think that may be challenging as there is minimal fine-tuning. Easily exports to jpg, flickr, facebook or wallpaper.

For the average hobbyist or those wanting a semi-pro collage for business, this does the trick. Thumbs up from me.

Not that I don't like to try and use different freeware, but isn't the intent of this site to give the author(s) some constructive comments on their free offer? Not advertise alternatives.

Runs OK for this type . program needs to be closed, not running, to activate! even if this means killing it in task manager of some sort first, just like some times I.E. won't close but appears to be off, I call these clingers. always kill with task-man, run cleaner, then proceed, Everything looks good (pro version 1.9.3 build 3556)

I've had good luck making collages with PhotoSpills. The current version is still free and provides a lot of flexibility on how you create your collage.

#16 I agree with you 100%. I have been looking for something like that also! Wouldn't it be great?

Installed easily on Windows 7 x64. Ran both installation and activate.exe under administrator account, but without "Run as administrator." Checking Help|About after activating showed it to be the Pro version. Program is easy to use, reasonably flexible, does pretty much what you should expect of it.

I don't understand all of the complaints. It is particularly flexible when PSD output is selected, since each photo/frame, and the background, are separate layers, so you can rotate, transform, change stacking order, change background, change canvas size, etc. You can even add text, or import into Illustrator with layers intact. Nice little program for what it does, and it's free. What's to complain about? Thanks GAOTD, and Pearl Mountain Software.

I cannot activate it to Pro version either. It tells me it is Free version. I activated it after installation using the activate.exe icon and the .gcd file is in the folder also. Guess I won't be able to get this program.

I wondered why the same company would make two different programs, one called "Collage-It" ($20) and one called "Picture Collage Maker" ($40). They both do the same thing, according to the title. Looks like this is a dumbed down version of their $40 program. I might be wrong, but I'm envisioning a lot of ads coming my way for "Picture Collage Maker" if I install this, or at the very least decide on my own to pay $40 if I want a program that does even better collages with more options.

Of course GAOTD is an advertising outlet for software manufacturers, and that's okay and understandable. I just resent it when manufacturers use it to offer a "fully licensed version" of a "retail program," when it's really a hook to sell a program that's the truly full version.

I found it very easy to use and am very pleased with this application.

Going by previous comments, the OSX version of CollageIt may be a better choice to use as a program example.

Since I for one can use either/both versions, can the software authors provide the Mac version free today too?

Downloaded and installed with no problems. Immediately turned to pro version just by following directions in the packet.

I had no problems installing it and activating it on Windows 7 64 Bit. My user has Admin privileges, but I did not run as admin. My installation shows Pro edition in Help->About, version is 1.9.3. I unzipped the contents into a folder, ran setup.exe, then closed the program and ran activate.exe. Done.

I had most of the same issues as Roz@13. I agree the interface is too small. They need to embiggen the collage editing window. However, the program seems to listen to my windows settings and makes the UI text large enough for me to work fine with it. Better than I can say for Adobe and their teensy fixed text in multiple hundreds of dollars in software, *cough* But that's another review.

ANYWAY, I've made two collages with the program. It's easy and fun. I picked a layout first, and chose my photos on my hard drive the usual way to bring them into the program. You need to double-click to get a full screen preview of the collage, but you cannot edit in that view. The program does a pretty decent job of placing things in the photo frames, but to move or crop, you click on the picture which highlights it in yellow, you choose the crop button tool, and a window that is plenty large will come up and you can position the picture better into the frame/crop it, whatever. If you want to swap a photo with another in a different place in the collage, you just click and drag. You can also drag from the photo pool to replace a photo, or choose one in a different folder in your hard drive.

If you DO choose to change your spacing or margin between pictures, or change your mind and decide you want your collage at 13x19 inches instead of 11x14, it does mess up all you've done in cropping/placing photos. You will need to decide what you want in a layout, template, size, EVERYTHING... and keep it there before positioning your pics just right or you will need to start over.

I am happy that I can export the finished product in many different sizes and resolutions which are suitable for framing, I can also save in PSD format for Photoshop you can save and load your layouts to work on later. PSD exports in layers, each photo and frame in the collage is a separate layer, but the frames and photos are combined so you can't swap a photo out of a frame easily. However, anything else is possible with the layer as usual. There is also Facebook and Flicker and Email options, which I didn't try.

All in all, I'd say for free, it's a keeper. It would be nice to have more templates, and addition of text options would be nice, but since it exports to PSD I can do what I want later. If they have the text and template option in the Mac version, they should offer it in Windows too. I'm glad I downloaded it, but some of the issues give me pause to pay for it if the deal today wasn't offered.

I had no problem installing the software. I'm running Win XP.

I'm having the same problem as Philip, # 17 post. I ran setup, then the activation, and GOTD says it was activated successfully, but now I need the registration number to save anything. I can't find that anywhere.

Also it shows I have the "free edition" and not the pro. What do I do now?

This is the first time I've ever had a problem installing a GOTD offering in about 3 years of use. Not to bad, not bad at all. :) Nita

its either a free version of collage it being offered or i am unable to activate . any help. i am using 64 bit win 7

FYI, I had to run my Activate.exe as Administrator before it would work. I didn't need to run the Setup.exe as Administrator. Go figure.

I downloaded as normal, used the setup and activation apps, but do not know how to open the "gcd" file. Windows automatically opened it with Wordpad and that just looked like a huge mess. Need help with this one GAOTD

As usual. Not one useful comment here. Nothing to describe the workings of this program to help me decide if I should try it out. Just the usual schill from people who spend the time instead stating all the other programs that (in their opinion) are much better.

Downloaded, installed, activated software. Now I need the "registration number" or I won't be able to save a file and there is a watermark on the new image file. Activation DID NOT provide a registration number.

Installed fine on Win7-64. No issues running program. Nice options of setting page size, and drag and drop and cropping for photos. It basically takes the size of the space and the number of photos, and splits the page into enough "boxes" for the photos, and then you can either have the program shuffle them, or shuffle them yourself, so is a standard collage program.

I would love to see one a collage program where you are able to set the size of the page, and then drag the photos to where you want them within that space, without being limited to boxes. So you could layer them overlapping one another, like you would in an actual collage.

It would also be nice to be able to fade out the edges, so it looks less like just a bunch of photos slapped onto a space, and more like something done with thought and an artistic eye.

I downloaded and installed as usual, from the Giveaway link. It appears to have installed only the Free edition. Download was CollageIt19.zip and it did have the activate.exe and giveaway readme.

Software runs in a non-resizeable window--it's about 800x600 at MOST. Not the size I want to design a collage in. Will uninstall immediately. No thanks.

I left out that I DID purchase CollageItPro. As I said above it IS the most frustrating piece of software I own. IF they would make a few improvements it would be one of the best. Roz Fruchtman.

Personally I purchased CollageIt. It is the MOST FRUSTRATING piece of software I have ever used. It "slices images" willy nilly and there is no way to fix that. Also, if you make any adjustment it changes the images in the collage. For example, if you want to change the size of the entire completed image, change space between images, etc. My only success was to make 4-5 image collages and "EACH" took a great deal of time because of the automatic slicing. On the other hand CollageIt has a wonderful array of features. IF we had more control over the size of the images in one collage, even to have a templates that was like a photo gallery (one-size images) it would be a FABULOUS piece of software. The Windows version has been neglected in favor of the Mac version. I have windows. The Mac version has MORE of EVERYthing. I would not recommend it, OR would, but be ware IF you have images that you do not want sliced away it is fine. Roz Fruchtman, roz @ designsbydaybreak.com


My suggestion would be that there be more templates in the Windows version of CollageIt as there are in the Mac Version. Text be able to be added as there is in the Mac Version and that one be able to create collages "with SAME-SIZE" images and NOT have their images sliced up willy nilly and change he time one makes an adjustment.

You get a collage set up the way you like it, change the spacing or something minor like that and the images change and you have to start all over again.

What should take a few minutes to create a Collage, CollageIt can take me 30-60 minutes to adjust the sizes and get it the way I want it.

I would NOT recommend the Windows version to anyone without telling them the pitfalls.

IF you can fix these few things I would say that CollageIt was one of the most unique ideas and a Fabulous piece of software.

It seems to me YOU care MORE about the Mac version than you do about the Windows version. There are more Windows people than Mac people, no matter how much people love their Macs.

You also DO NOT respond on Facebook and shun you customers or perspective customers. Shame on you.

I AM a paying customer.

Roz Fruchtman
Roz @ DesignsByDaybreak.com

#7, Stortch, keep me posted, this is so exciting...

Installed fine on a Windows 7 64 bit machine. Don't like that it leaves the pictures so small compared to the background and even if you change the spacing, it does not extend outwards, just makes the pictures overlap or smaller. I changed the background and the program moved my picture shapes around so now the pictures that I had chosen did not fit nicely into their preset area. UNINSTALLED! Thanks anyways...

the program says it's a free edition in the about section. so why do you have to activate it. I don't think mine activated. I'm using win7 32bit Intel processor. do this suppose to be a pro edition or what?

What do I need to open the GCD file?

The College photo thingie looks to be a good app. Probaly will give it a try, Thank

#4, Giovanni, I appreciate your taking the time to look up alternatives, but only the first appears to be the same as this offer, just available for a little longer. E.M. Free Photo Collage is more for kids, but some people like that. The rest make mosaics, not collages AFAIK, so they aren't directly comparable.

I have used the free version before, now get the pro from GAOTD is so cool! Thanks to GAOTD and the developer! +1 !

FREE here also:

http://www.collageitfree.com/promotion/promotion-download.html#sthash.jqTNpJci.dpbs

It does the job but.....

* Mosaizer Pro 9.2 (==> My Personal First Choice)
http://www.mosaizer.com/

* (Portable) Andrea Mosaic (==> Excellent Tool)
http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/

Screenshots:
http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/screenshots/

* Foto-Mosaik-Edda
http://www.sixdots.de/mosaik/en/index.php

* PhotoMosaique
http://www.photofiltre-studio.com/freeware/photomosaique-en.htm

* E.M. Free Photo Collage
http://www.effectmatrix.com/Free-Photo-Collage/index.htm


==> All FREE and always UPDATABLE tools without paying a dime <==

I advise checking out the website videos and images. Very easy-to-use, and unlike some similar offerings, no weirdness. No time to check installation now, but most Pearl Mountain software installs cleanly. If you want more sophisticated but limited collages, (Microsoft Windows) Photo Gallery 2012 will create them for free. Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008 will generate sophisticated collages automatically, $20 (free trial).

I have version 1.6 from an earlier giveaway. I chose to install this in the same folder. The installation was smooth and easy. The program found the locations of the program folder and my start menu item (neither is in the default location). After the install, starting the program showed up as the Free Edition. Running the activate.exe bumps it up to the Pro Edition.

I have used this in the past to make some decent pictures. I’m not the most artistically gifted person but the program is easy enough to use. I will leave further reviews to those that are more qualified to do so. But I can point you to Download.com to read their opinion along with some user comments…

http://download.cnet.com/CollageIt/3000-2192_4-75211006.html?tag=mncol;1

For Softpedia go here…

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Others/CollageIt.shtml

Thank you GOTD team for your efforts and thank you Pearl Mountain Software for you offer

no thanx, picasa does all tese in a easy and efficient way...