Skip to product information
Tennis photo collage, cut to a player stretching for a forehand
$9.99
A tennis photo collage, cut to a player reaching low and wide for a forehand, with the ball printed as a piece of its own in the air beside the racquet. Two shapes rather than one, in other words: the figure takes almost all of the photographs and the ball gets a small cluster with clear paper between it and the strings. It is the leanest figure sold here - a stretched, open stance covers only about a quarter of the box it sits in, less than any other person or animal in the shop - and the practical effect is that photographs inside it run a little smaller than they would in a compact shape at the same count, around an inch and a sixth at fifty-five photographs on a two-foot square. What the lean pose buys is instant recognition: a body at full stretch with a racquet at the end of one arm is not mistakable for any other sport. The two lines underneath are editable Canva text.
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 10 photos; below that, parts of the outline can be left without a photo.
| Print size | Photos | Suggested |
|---|---|---|
| 12 × 12″ | 10–60 | 10 |
| 12 × 18″ | 10–100 | 10 |
| 16 × 20″ | 10–140 | 10 |
| 16 × 24″ | 10–170 | 10 |
| 20 × 20″ | 10–180 | 15 |
| 20 × 30″ | 10–275 | 15 |
| 24 × 24″ | 10–250 | 25 |
| 24 × 36″ | 10–375 | 25 |
| 30 × 40″ | 10–525 | 40 |
| 36 × 54″ | 10–875 | 55 |
| 40 × 60″ | 10–1075 | 70 |
Questions
How many photos do I need for a tennis photo collage?
The suggested figure in the table above, which is where each photograph prints about two inches on each edge - and on this outline it is worth keeping to the low end of whatever range you are given. The figure is spread out rather than compact, so a given number of photographs is divided across a wider reach and each one lands smaller than it would in a broad outline. At its floor of ten the typical picture is over three inches across; by the top of the range it is under half an inch. The silhouette itself is just as clear at fifty-five as at two hundred, because the pictures are cut to the shape rather than arranged inside it.
Why is the ball a separate piece?
Because it is in the air. Drawn touching the racquet it would read as a lump on the frame; printed apart, with a real gap between it and the strings, it reads as a ball in flight, which is what the pose is about. The layout fills both shapes, so you get a small round cluster of photographs floating off to one side of the figure. It is the same arrangement the soccer collage uses for the ball at the player's foot, and it is the detail that names the sport from across a room.
Is the racquet head open or solid?
Solid. The drawing has a small opening at the throat where the handle meets the head, and it is filled in rather than kept: at the sizes this prints at the gap would be a white triangle about an inch across, too small to read as strings and large enough to look like a mistake. So the racquet comes out as a filled oval on a handle, which is how a racquet reads in silhouette anyway. The head holds several photographs.
Forehand or backhand, and does it matter?
A forehand, played low and wide off the player's right. In outline the difference between the two is mostly which side the racquet is on and how the shoulders turn, and at a distance few people parse it. If the person receiving it has a famous backhand, they may notice; nobody else will. Nothing on the print names a shot, a surface or a tournament.
Who buys this one?
Club players more than professionals-in-waiting, in practice: a long membership ending, a coach retiring, a junior finishing at a club they grew up in. It is also bought for parents who spent years driving to courts, with the photographs being the years rather than the matches. The outline is nobody in particular, which is what lets it carry any of those.
What arrives, and can I edit it?
A Canva template with the outline cut, the ball included as its own shape, and every cell already positioned - it opens in a free Canva account. You decide which picture goes where, set or delete the two lines, and export at whatever size you are printing. Nothing is printed or posted by us. Everything on the sheet except the outline is editable, and the file stays in your account for next time.
More collages like this
See how it works
Not sure how it works? A 3-minute tour of the designer, from picking a shape to the Buy button.