We all know the key to Instagram is an engaging composition that tells a story but, beyond the basics, how can we make our content stand out amongst a constantly changing sea of posts?
Here are six easy steps within Instagram to instakick any post up a notch:
Adjustment
When taking a photo your hands are no tripod, and a slanted photo can be unpleasant to the eye. With a slight move in the Adjustment edit you can make sure your images are completely straight and centered. Breaking into three grid levels, Adjustment lets you get as drastic as you need from slight shifts to full twists.
Brightness
Instagram is the one place you should ‘go towards the light.’ Brightening up your photo can give it a nice crisp clean look. Brighter photos tend to catch a viewer’s eye, look more professional and translate better across different levels of screen brightness. Just be sure not to overdo it and wash out your photo.
Warmth
Lighting is always a challenge with photos. The Warmth edit is a great tool to adjust your colors. By moving the warmth slightly to the negative you can take the yellow out of your whites and normalize your colors.
Highlights
Once your colors and whites are on point you can use the Highlight edit to make them really pop. Using this edit can give your photo a nice shine and add to that vibrant look and feel.
Saturation
Everything is a game of checks and balances, so now that your image is light and clean, you may feel as though you’ve lost some color. Now that your whites are white, saturation is a great way to bring some of that color back in to make the image really pop.
Sharpness
A nice way to top off your photos is a quick step through the Sharpness edit. Now that the composition and colors are set, adding a bit of sharpness can add a fresh and energizing element to your photos giving them a more professional look and feel.
Final Result
Before and After
For more detail be sure to check out The Orchard’s 2017 Best Practices and Tips to enhance your Instagram content:
