Comparison, updated September 2026
Class composite software,
compared honestly.
A class composite lays out each student's individual portrait in a grid with a name underneath, built from the portraits themselves rather than one group photo. This page lists every class composite tool we could find for school photographers, ours included, with a price only where the vendor actually publishes one.
The short version
Three ways to get a composite built.
Photographers get a class composite three ways. A tool on your own computer, or one that runs in a browser, builds the layout from the portraits and a bit of roster data. A Photoshop plugin does the same job inside Photoshop, using a workflow and assets you already own. Or a lab builds it for you, from photos and data you upload, and hands back a finished piece through its own order system.
ClassPhoto sits in the first group. It runs in a browser, costs $89 a year, keeps every photo on your own computer, and has a free sample mode you can run on your own export before you buy.
Feature by feature
Eleven tools, side by side.
Where a vendor's own pages did not state something, this table says so, rather than guessing.
| Tool | Price as published | Runs where | Photos processed | Corrections after import | Whole-school composite | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClassPhoto | $89/year | Browser (Mac, Windows, Chromebook) | On your computer, nothing uploaded | Edit names, remove, add or replace a student on the layout | Yes | Free sample mode (SAMPLE watermark, up to two classes) |
| GotPhoto QComposite | $149/year licence | Desktop add-on to GotPhoto (operating system not stated) | On your computer | Names come from file names, so a correction generally means renaming and re-importing | No | Not published |
| Pixnub EZ Composites | Part of the Platinum Suite, $349/year (nine Photoshop plugins) | Photoshop plugin | In Photoshop, on your computer | Not stated | Not stated | Not published |
| School Composite | From $29/month | Browser, cloud-based (per its site) | Processed on its servers (per its site) | Not stated | Not stated | 7-day free trial, no credit card |
| Class Photo Composite | Subscription, price not published (checkout via Paddle) | Windows and macOS desktop app | On your computer | Not stated | Not stated | Free demo, watermark on exports |
| Auto Class Composite | Not published (Paddle checkout) | Photoshop extension, plus a separate standalone Easy Class Composite app | On your computer | Not stated | Not stated | Not published |
| Live Class Composite | One-time lifetime licence, amount not published | Desktop (per its site) | On your computer | Not stated | Layouts up to 50 members | Not published |
| Timestone | Not published | Desktop | On your computer | Not stated | Not stated | Not published |
| Darkroom Assembly | One-time perpetual licence, price not published (Darkroom Core $495, Pro $1,395) | Desktop | On your computer | Not stated | Not stated | Not published |
| PhotoLynx PLIC Elements | Not published | Web app | Uploaded to the PhotoLynx Image Cloud and sent to participating labs (per its site) | Not stated | Not stated | Not published |
| Lab-made composites | Priced per lab | The lab's own software and order system | Uploaded to the lab | Through the lab | Per lab | n/a |
GotPhoto also has a free built-in tool called QuickComposite, for a basic layout without buying QComposite. Pixnub says a standalone successor to EZ Composites is in development. Darkroom Assembly also makes service strips, ID cards and class directories.
Sources: gotphoto.com and help.gotphoto.com, pixnub.com, schoolcomposite.com, classphotocomposite.com, autoclasscomposite.com, liveclasscomposite.com, timestonesoftware.com, darkroomsoftware.com, photolynx.com, and hhcolorlab.com, read in August and September 2026. If a price has changed or we got a detail wrong, or you know a tool we missed, tell us through the contact form.
How to choose
It depends what you already use.
If you already use GotPhoto: QComposite round-trips inside GotPhoto itself, exporting student data and importing the finished composite back into your shop. ClassPhoto reads the same GotPhoto export, costs $60 a year less, and lets you fix a name or swap a photo directly on the layout instead of renaming a file and running the import again. See the full QComposite comparison or the GotPhoto workflow guide.
If you already live in Photoshop: Pixnub's EZ Composites and Auto Class Composite both work inside the Photoshop you already own, so the composite is built where your finishing work already happens. That is a real advantage if your retouching and layout live there.
If you would rather the lab built it: H&H Color Lab offers automated class composites through its own hhschools software and order system. PhotoLynx's PLIC Elements has you upload photos and data, arrange the composite in the browser, and send it to a participating lab for processing. Either way the photos go to the lab, and you trade some control of the layout for one less thing on your list.
If you need it on a Mac or a Chromebook, or student photos cannot leave the building: ClassPhoto runs in a browser instead of installing anything, so it works on whatever computer is already open, and nothing is uploaded. See what that means for a school's IT department.
One more thing
What the whole-school composite is for.
A whole-school composite puts every student and every staff member on one page: the frame in the lobby, and often the endpaper of the yearbook. ClassPhoto's own setup screen recommends a 16 by 20 inch page for a school of roughly 150 to 220 students, with panoramic sizes available for a longer roster. Not every tool in the table above builds one at all, which is worth checking before you commit to a lab or a subscription.
FAQ
Questions about this comparison.
Is ClassPhoto the same as Class Photo Composite?
No. They are different companies. ClassPhoto is the browser-based suite from classphoto.net. Class Photo Composite is a desktop application from classphotocomposite.com. The names are close enough to confuse a search, so this page keeps both in the same table on purpose.
Which of these work on a Mac?
Only where the source states it. ClassPhoto runs in a browser, so it works on a Mac. Class Photo Composite states Windows and macOS. School Composite and PhotoLynx PLIC Elements are browser-based per their own sites. The rest do not state an operating system on the pages we read, so this page does not guess on their behalf.
Do any of them avoid uploading student photos?
ClassPhoto and the desktop or Photoshop-plugin tools process photos on your own computer. Cloud tools like School Composite and PLIC Elements, and any lab-made composite, receive the photos on a server you do not control.
Can I try ClassPhoto on my own export?
Yes. Open the sample mode and drop in a real GotPhoto or PSPA export. It builds up to two classes with a SAMPLE watermark, no account and no email required.
More questions are answered in the main FAQ, or write to us and a real person will answer.
The rest of the Suite
ServiceStix
$49/year
Print-ready service sticker sheets, a whole school in minutes.
ClassPhoto IDs
$59/year
CR80 student and staff ID cards with barcodes that actually scan.
Principal's Book
$79/year
The bound whole-school directory the front office keeps on the counter.
List Fixer
$39/year
The school's messy roster spreadsheet, turned into one clean row per student for GotPhoto.
All five together: ClassPhoto Suite, $199/year introductory.