A graduation photo mosaic built from the school years
The years behind a graduation are spread across many people's phones. Gather them into one portrait of the graduate, or one picture for the whole class.
Portrait or class emblem
For one graduate, the cap-and-gown portrait is a good choice. A dark gown against a pale background gives the mosaic a strong, simple shape, and the face sits high in a tall frame, which suits the 4 by 5 crop.
For a whole class, do not use the class group photo. With 40 tiles across the picture, each face in a row of thirty students gets about one tile. The school crest, the class year in large numerals or the school building works far better, and the students themselves appear in the tiles.
Reaching beyond the family
Parents usually organise this, and parents mostly know other parents. The best photos are with the graduate's friends. Ask two or three close friends to share the link in the chats you are not in, and ask a teacher or coach to pass it to staff.
Ask for range, not polish: "Send one photo from any year, from the first day of school to last week. A school trip, a match, a rehearsal, a lunch table." Photos from the early years are the ones people stop to look at.
Working around exam season
Open the page about three weeks before the ceremony. Students are slow to answer anything during exams, and relatives need a reminder. A free page takes photos for 30 days, which covers that stretch and the party afterwards.
Send one reminder the weekend before, when exams are over and people are already scrolling back through their pictures.
At the party, and after
Leave the page open on a television or a laptop at the graduation party. Classmates will hunt for themselves, so show them the name search.
An unlocked page includes a large image file. Printed and framed, it is something to take to a first room away from home.
The usual mistake
Collecting only from relatives. The result is a mosaic of family holidays with almost nothing from school itself. Decide on your two or three student helpers before you send the first message.
Questions
Can we make one mosaic for the whole graduating class?
Yes. Make one page, use the crest or class year as the picture, and share the link with the class. A page holds up to 500 photos, so for a large year group ask each student for one or two.
Should the picture be the formal portrait or a casual photo?
Whichever has the plainer background and the larger face. Formal portraits usually win on both counts. You can change the picture later if a better one turns up.
Do classmates under 18 need permission to appear?
Each person who adds a photo confirms that they have the right to share it and that the people in it are happy to be shown. For a school-wide page, check the school's own rules on sharing student photos first, and use "I approve each one first" so you see every photo before it appears.
Free to make and share. No account for you or for the people who add photos.