How to create an image montage with ImageMagick

A montage turns several separate images into one tiled preview, which is useful when a reviewer, designer, or automation job needs to inspect related assets together instead of opening each file one at a time. ImageMagick can build that combined image from a terminal while keeping the original files unchanged.

In ImageMagick 7, magick montage reads the input images, lays them out in rows and columns, and writes one output image. The -tile option sets the grid shape, while -geometry sets the preferred size of each tile and the spacing around it.

The example below creates an unlabeled 2-by-2 montage from four frames. Use filenames that sort in the intended order, and point -font at a TrueType font file that ImageMagick can read; some builds fail during montage layout when no default font is available, even if labels are not being drawn.

1. Open a terminal in the directory containing the images to tile.
2. Check the input image order and dimensions.

   $ magick identify -format '%f %m %wx%h\n' frame-*.png
   frame-01.png PNG 480x300
   frame-02.png PNG 480x300
   frame-03.png PNG 480x300
   frame-04.png PNG 480x300

   Shell globbing passes frame-*.png in filename sort order. Rename files with zero-padded numbers when the montage must keep a specific sequence.

3. Create a 2-by-2 montage image.

   $ magick montage -font /Library/Fonts/NotoSans_Regular.ttf frame-*.png -tile 2x2 -geometry 220x140+14+14 -background '#111827' -bordercolor '#334155' montage.png

   

   Replace the -font path with an installed font file on the system, such as a DejaVu Sans or Noto Sans TrueType file. The 220x140+14+14 geometry fits each source inside a 220-by-140 tile and leaves 14 pixels of spacing around each tile.

4. Verify the output image format and dimensions.

   $ magick identify -format '%f %m %wx%h\n' montage.png
   montage.png PNG 496x336

   The exact dimensions change when the tile size, spacing, border, or font metrics change. The check should report one output image rather than four separate files.

5. Open montage.png and confirm that every expected image appears in the intended position before handing it off or replacing an existing preview.