Getting ready to spend some time abroad and want to really showcase all of the amazing pictures you’re about to take? Or maybe you just want to step up your Instagram game and create a feed that you love looking at and want to share with others? If this sounds like you, then keep reading to learn about the three different types of apps that will help you to get started!
Creating a visually appealing Instagram account takes practice, and since you can’t go back and re-edit any of your past posts, there’s no better time than the present to start designing and publishing really beautiful content. Even though it may not be one of your dreams or priorities to become an influencer or attract a following, it’s still nice to know what tools are available to help you preserve favorite memories while connecting with other travelers and creatives. Here are the three types of apps we’ve found most helpful in doing just that:
- A Photo Editor
- An Insta Feed Planner
- A Story Creator
A Photo Editor
You know when you’re standing in a beautiful place, just soaking in all of the bright colors and little details, and then you take a picture, but it doesn’t look anything like the real-life version you’re trying to capture? This struggle is definitely familiar to world travelers. While filters and photo editors sometimes get criticism for making viewers’ expectations unrealistic, they are still the best way to bring your pictures to life. Use these free apps to recreate some of that real-life vibrancy!
Lightroom – We love this app! It’s a great and easy way to edit all of the settings that make an incredible photo. There are also a lot of social media influencers and photographers who design and sell presets, which are specific combos of settings that can instantly give your photos a desired result with just one click. Most often they are presets that can be purchased and then uploaded to Lightroom. Such a time saver when you want all of your photos to have a similar look! Plus, you can still alter the individual settings even after a preset has been applied. You can find presets like this for sale all over Instagram, but some of our favorites are the ones created by @hbgoodie, @tellthebirds, and @alexajeanbrown.
Snapseed – This app has 25+ tools that let you edit so many little things in very specific areas of your photos. For example, if you want to turn up the exposure in just one corner of the picture, you can select the brush tool and paint across that corner with the exposure setting. It may take a little practice to figure this app out, but it will be so helpful once you do!
VSCO – If you don’t have any presets you’ve purchased, then this app is great since they provide 13 free ones for you to use. Once you’ve applied a preset to your picture (or if you decide not to use one) you can then finetune details like the exposure, contrast, clarity, and saturation of your photo. This is an awesome app if you want to get practice with the basics and lingo of editing. If you decide to pay for the membership option ($19.99 per year), then you can use 200+ presets and can edit videos on VSCO as well.
An Insta Feed Planner
If you want to create a feed that is all-around visually appealing, it’s really helpful to have an app that will allow you to see what your pictures will look like next to each other, without actually having to post them onto your Instagram account. That’s what these apps are for!
All three of these apps have really similar features, so you’ll just have to try them out and see which one works best for you. The free versions of each only let you connect them with one Instagram account (so if you operate multiple accounts, just use a different free planner app for each one). But even if you don’t want to pay for the subscription versions, you can still upload as many photos as you want, and move the little tiles around so you can see what the pictures look like in all different arrangements.
A Story Creator
Curating a story that is well-designed can be so time consuming and frustrating if you only have the Instagram app to work with. If you want to make unique and eye-catching stories, these are the apps we recommend.
A Design Kit – This is such a fun app that allows you to paint on your photos, plus include stickers, text, designs, and so much more to create really colorful stories.
Cut Story – You’ve probably noticed that videos on Insta stories get cut off after 15 seconds. This makes it difficult to record anything on Instagram since often the order that the videos are spliced and then shared in can get jumbled up. This app will trim the videos for you, so all you have to do is record them using your phone camera, fix them up in Cut Story, and then upload them onto your Insta for seamless stories! (Here’s the link for Androids.)
Unfold – Downloading this app gives you access to clean and professional-looking templates, making it easy to post 1-5 pictures on one slide. You can also include text and borders!
We hope you like these apps as much as we have! And if you’re getting ready to spend a few months abroad as an au pair through Rome Abroad, make sure you tag us @romeabroad in your photos. We can’t wait to see what memories and pictures you create!
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