Bodybuilder photo collage, cut to the pose

A bodybuilder photo collage, cut to the outline of a man flexing one arm with the other hand on his hip, and filled with your own photographs. The pose is the whole product, and it is held by two gaps rather than by bulk: the triangle under the raised arm, and the smaller one between the forearm on the hip and the waist. Both are enclosed by his own limbs rather than cut round them, which is why this outline prints as two separate pieces in one frame instead of one solid mass. Close either gap and the silhouette stops being a man flexing and becomes a shape. That is also what sets the photograph count. Both gaps are cut by the mask rather than built from cells, so they have clean edges at every count the table offers; the minimum is where the layout starts dropping clipped cells and one shows as a white bite, and the suggested figure above it is where each photograph prints about two inches on each edge. It prints square. The name and the line beneath it are editable text in Canva.

See how it works in Canva: watch the how-to video.

How many photos fit

Every figure comes from the layout engine rather than a rule of thumb. The suggested count is where each photograph prints about two inches on each edge - large enough to make out a face across a room. Because this collage is cut to an outline rather than filling the sheet, that is far fewer photographs than a plain grid of the same size takes. The minimum is 9 photos; below that, parts of the outline can be left without a photo.

Questions

How many photos does a bodybuilder photo collage need?

The table above suggests a count for each size. It is the one that lands your pictures at roughly two inches on a side. Both of the gaps that make this shape read are cut by the mask, so they are clean edges rather than staircases at any count in the table; the minimum is where the layout starts dropping clipped cells instead. Going past the suggestion buys you more photographs and smaller ones, which is a choice about what you want on the wall rather than about whether the pose survives.

Why does it print as two pieces?

Because of the gap between his forearm and his waist. It is enclosed on all sides by his own arm, so there is no way to cut round it from the outside - the outline is split into two pieces that sit in one frame and print as one picture, which keeps the gap open. You will not see the join: the pieces meet where the eye reads a continuous body, and the gap stays a gap. The alternative was filling it in, which was tried first and makes him a solid wedge from shoulder to hip.

Is it a specific physique?

It is a heavily built man in a classic front double-bicep stance, drawn as a solid shape with no face and no kit. It is not a likeness and will not resemble the person you are making it for. That comes from the photographs inside - training pictures, competition day, the ordinary ones in between - and in practice the mix of those is what makes it worth hanging rather than the silhouette.

What do people make these for?

A first competition, a long cut finishing, a coach leaving, a milestone birthday for somebody who lives in the gym. The template names no occasion and both lines of text are yours, so it carries a joke as easily as a tribute. The one thing worth saying is that it reads as effort over time, which is why people tend to fill it with years of photographs rather than one shoot.

What do I actually get?

A Canva template cut to this outline, both pieces positioned and every cell laid out, opening in a free Canva account. You drop the photographs in, set or delete the wording, and export it to print wherever you like. Nothing is printed or posted from here, and the file stays yours to reopen and change.

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• Female bodybuilder photo collage
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