How I Edit My Instagram Pics
- Alena Black
- Sep 1, 2019
- 5 min read
Most of you guys may know me from my Instagram. I take it pretty seriously and I am extremely extra about it when it comes to creating content consistently and making sure everything looks good. Well, I have had some interest from people who want to know how I edit my pictures, the apps I use, and presets I like. So, I decided to divulge some of my secrets in this post today. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: In order the process, I have used the same picture about a million times in this post, so bear with me here.
Basic Language to Understand While Editing:
Exposure: the overall brightness of a photo
Contrast: the differences between different tones. A higher contrast makes the darker parts darker and the lighter parts lighter
Highlights: solely the bright spots in a photo. You can adjust them to make them brighter or darker
Shadows: solely the dark spots in a photo. You can also adjust this to make them brighter or darker
Temperature: the measure of a light's color. Cool temperature will tend to have bluer undertones and a warm temperature will have more yellow undertones
Hue: the actual colors of the image
Saturation: the intensity of color shown and the strength of the hue
My Must Have Apps:
Lightroom- This app is where I apply my presets and adjust them for each photo. I really like using the app since it is so easy and it is free to use on your mobile device. If you want to edit your pictures more in depth and on a computer, you will have to purchase Adobe, BUT if you attend a university, most of them will have all Adobe apps free to use on school computers in the library or a computer lab. Take advantage of it while you can!
AirBrush- This app is very similar to Facetune, but this one is free. I use this app to smooth out my skin, maybe add a bit of a tan to my legs, get rid of a pimple, or whiten my teeth. It has very basic tools that will allow you to be able to add little bits of detail in your pictures that you might want. Very useful and highly recommend if there is one or two things in your photo that stop you from being in love with it.
PicsArt- This one I use for really only one purpose. The clone tool. If you have ever taken a Photoshop class, you learn about the clone tool to help you get rid of things in a picture you don't want like a person in the background, or a hair out of place. Since Photoshop on the app doesn't really let you do this, I use PicsArt. Again, if you really want to be detailed, use Photoshop on a school computer that has Adobe Creative Suite. I just use this when something larger has to be covered up.
StoryArt- This app, like the name suggests, has to do with your Instagram Stories. I usually use it for the cover art, but occasionally I use the templates as well. The app has pre-made backgrounds and icons for you to use and a ton of them are free. It is really easy and simple to use and I really like the aesthetic of their designs.
Canva- This is a step up from StoryArt. Canva is used by a lot of people when it comes to designing a poster, Instagram story, presentation, business card, etc. It is a very user friendly way to get into basic graphic design with lots of simple templates for you to fill in. I use it mainly for again, Instagram stories, but it is very versatile.
UNUM- Now, if you are like me and have a "theme" to your Instagram feed, apps like UNUM or Planoly help you plan out your feed without posting the picture yet. Using this app, you can move around your potential posts, see what edits might need to be made to certain pictures, and keep track of how your feed looks. It is super great to keep everything organized and helps me remember what content I still have to post, and how everything looks together. This one I couldn't live without.
App Filters vs Presets:
Presets and filters are usually how people get their "theme" on their Instagram accounts. By using the same filter, all the photos look much more cohesive because they all are similar in color and tones. Some of my favorite Instagram theme feeds are, @tesschristine, @brandonwoelfel, @sierrafurtado, @saracovey, and @hirokagei.
App Filters: So here is where it gets a little complicated. If you want easy presets that are very simple to use, I suggest getting an app that comes with pre-made presets/filters. I personally like VSCO and Tezza or some really cute and trendy filters. These ones are the best because you are able to adjust the amount of filter that is put onto your photos so it can cater towards the lighting and composition of the original photo. These filters are usually not very adjustable in the sense that the color is what you get. Most apps will allow you to change the exposure and contrast, but not so much the actual color of the filter themselves. It is easy for beginners and for people who don't really care much about it though so they are nice to start with.
Presets: If you are a little more advanced and want to spend some more time with your edits and want to be able to play with more things like the hue and intensity of specific colors, you would use a Lightroom Preset and adjust in Lightroom from there. I have made my own presets, so if you would like to use them, contact me and we can figure out a way to do that. If you like other presets, there are a lot of free presets on the internet. Just search up some and try them out. It is really simple to download presets onto your app and there will always be instructions on how to do so.
As a general guide, I tend to increase my exposure and contrast, add a warm undertone, lower the saturation on red colors and blue colors, and darken the highlights. But again, it changes for each picture which is what I love about editing. Even if you have a preset, you still tweek it until it is perfect.
I know this blog post was pretty short, but editing pictures just takes practice. Once you find what you love, its really easy and becomes a habit. I can edit pictures for my Instagram pretty fast now because I have gotten so used to looking at a picture and knowing what tweeks could potentially look good. I then save a couple and put them into UNUM to test with my feed and adjust from there! Just takes time and practice but it's really fun after a while!
As someone who wants to get a little more into photography though, I have a long way to go. There is a big difference between and Instagram feed theme and portfolio editing for me so I need to keep working on those presets.
Let me know if you have any questions or want any help on picking out or making presets and I'd be happy to help! Next weeks blog post will be some more dramatic makeup looks for parties or special events!
XO
Alena
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