As a blogger who prefers a photo over the written word, Instagram has taken top spot on my list of social media channels. It’s clean, simple and each carefully curated person that I follow tells a unique story with their photos.
So here are the top seven apps that I can’t live without.
1. SNAPSEED
Far and away my favorite app is Google’s Snapseed App. It’s free by the way. I don’t ever post an image to my Instagram account without first running it through Snapseed. Here’s a look at what Snapseed can do.
Pretty amazing difference eh? My favorite filters to use are Fine Tune Saturation, Details Structure and HDR Scape People. You can also crop your images and straighten them. Here’s a photo I took of Margaritaville in Grand Turk on one of my recent cruises. I was on the beach and likely trying to balance several things in my arms while avoiding dropping my phone in the sand, hence the wonky capture on the right. I edited the image with the Snapseed App using my favorite filters. Margaritaville liked the image so much that they asked to use it on their own Instagram feed.
2. PIC STITCH
This app is an oldie but a goodie. I use the Pic Stitch App when I want to make a collage. There are several configurations you can use. You also have the option of making your borders thin or thick and you can change their color as well.
Here’s another collage configuration from PicStitch.
3. Word Swag
Word Swag is what I used to design the first image up above in this post. You can use World Swag to turn quotes into typographical works of art as well. There are several layouts in the app that can be controlled by size, color and transparency.
4. Phonto
Phonto is another app for adding text to your images. It doesn’t have the typography layout that Word Swag has but it has a TON of different fonts (400 as of this writing). You can even install your own fonts if you’d like. You can add text to images or a solid color background. Here’s how I combined the use of Pic Stitch and Phonto.
In the image on the left I used Pic Stitch to create a photo collage. The top panorama spot I just selected a plain white background and then saved it to my camera roll. I then closed Pic Stitch and opened up Phonto and added the text to the finished photo which is on the right.
5. Rhonna Designs
Rhonna Designs App is perfect for adding text, frames, masks and filters all within one app. There are sticker packs you can buy as “add ons” to the app to really give your images character around the holidays and special events. Here’s a collage showing you ways I have used Rhonna Designs.
6. Squaready
Some images just don’t have the same effect when cropped into a square. For those images you’re going to want to ty out Squaready to keep your horizontal and vertical images whole without cropping, but yet still fit them into a square Instagram frame. Here’s an example. My horizontal photo is made square with the addition of white bars above and below it.
7. LongExpo
I waited and waited for my trip to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia so that I could make use of the LongExpo app. I live in Florida…no falling water here. The app is fantastic for capturing moving water. It would also be ideal for shooting light trails from moving vehicles.
Those are my seven not-so-secrect ways for you to improve your Instagram images. Now get to snapping! Oh but first…follow me on Instagram here: @amandatinney.
