I love Instagram! This popular (and free!) photography, photo-manipulation, and sharing app is available for both iPhone and Android smartphones. It’s easily the most used app on my phone, and I use it to capture quick pictures of my family when I don’t have my DSLR around. Plus, after I’ve snapped a photo, Instagram lets me add a quick photo filter and fun border, and then post it immediately to my Facebook account to share with family and friends. I love that instant gratification!
Later, when I’ve transferred my phone photos to my laptop (I like to use the Bump app), incorporating Instagram pictures on my scrapbook layouts is quick and easy. Here’s why I love scrapping Instagram photos:
- Just the right size. Instagram photos are sized at 4-by-4-inches square, just the right dimensions for putting several on a standard 12-by-12-inch layout. Not too big, not too small, these pictures are perfectly sized for multi-photo layout designs.
- No editing required. Because of Instagram’s quick-edit features, your pictures are saved to your camera’s memory in both edited and non-edited form. You can warm them up, add a 1970′s feel, and/or custom blur right in your phone and the edited file is saved in your photo gallery alongside the unedited shot. I love using these already-edited photos on my pages. Just drag and drop into Photoshop. If you want to further tweak a picture, the non-edited photo is always an option.
Unedited photo.
Photo edited in Instagram.
- Frames included. Instagram’s filters come with optional frames; simply click on the frame icon to toggle one on or off. From 35mm film frames to rounded corners, Instagram photos require no additional borders when placed on a layout.
Framed photo from Instagram.
Don’t have a smartphone but still want the Instagram look on your photos? Check out these free Instagram photo actions for Photoshop:
Instagram Filters Photoshop Actions by Daniel Box
10 Photoshop Actions to Create Instagram Style Effects
Here’s a recent layout I made using Instagram photos. Some of them I used as edited in Instagram, while others I played with to get an Instagram effect. I love the balance and symmetry of same-sized photos; it made arranging them so quick and easy!
Happy Turtle by Neisha Sykes
Do you scrap with Instagram photos? I’d love to see your layouts! Post them in this forum thread.