Since we’re all spending more time at home, I thought it would be helpful to share some amazing apps to elevate your Instagram. There’s a healthy mix of free and paid apps on this list for Instagram photos and stories. All of these apps offer some really incredible and powerful editing features: no Photoshop experience required!
Photos
Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom is my go-to app for editing Instagram photos. This app is incredible for refining your feed’s aesthetic. Lightroom gives you the power to easily alter tones, colors, shadows and highlights, contrast and curves all on your phone! Lightroom mobile presets (downloadable filters) make your photos pop and give you advanced edits with just one click.
My advanced Lightroom presets for travel photography (iPhone and DSLR photo-friendly) are available here. I spent months perfecting the tones and lighting for iPhone pics and DSLR shots to help my followers take their Instagram photos to the next level! You can use the code “STAYHOME” for 20% off my presets. The Lightroom app is available for free in the App Store here. (I also recommend subscribing to the paid desktop version of Lightroom on your computer for more complex edits and editing RAW photos.)
Enlight QuickShot
Let’s say you take your new favorite Instagram photo. Everything is perfect: your lighting, pose, outfit. But the sky behind you falls flat. QuickShot is a powerful app for transforming dull skies into beautiful backgrounds. There are over 50 skies to choose from, including sunsets, puffy clouds and blue skies. I love that this app allows you to seamlessly edit in beautiful skies without your photo quality suffering. This shot from Monument Valley was edited in Enlight—I love that I was able to turn a morning shot into a beautiful sunset shot. QuickShot is a subscription app: $5.99/month in the App Store here.
Before
After
PicsArt
PicsArt is a fun app for adding doodles and other creative elements to your photos. You can add paint streaks, glitter, butterflies: the possibilities are endless. This photo took me under a minute to edit in the app. PicsArt is free to download in the App Store here.
PhotoshopMix
This app is convenient for selective edits, adding layers, deleting people from your photos and cleaning up your Instagram shots. Think of it as Photoshop “Lite”: the power of Photoshop but user-friendly for quick edits. PhotoshopMix is free to download from the App Store here.
VSCO
VSCO is a great app for adding filters to your photos and making simple edits to brightness, contrast and temperature. I used to edit all of my photos in VSCO before I switched to Lightroom: there are so many beautiful free filters that make your photos pop. Download VSCO for free from the App Store here.
Insta Stories
Unfold
Unfold is ideal for sharing multiple photos or videos in one frame on Instagram stories. I love that this app lets you tell a story and offers so many different templates and fonts to choose from. Unfold is free to download from the App Store here.
Tezza App
If I had to pick one favorite app for Insta Stories, the Tezza app would win every time. I love the range of vintage filters, beautiful templates and retro-inspired subtitles. The interface of this app is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly I’ve ever used. This one is 110% worth the *$4.99* monthly subscription for photo and video. Download Tezza from the App Store here.
Prequel
The Prequel app puts the power of filmmaking into your hands. There are so many gorgeous cinematic filters and effects that I have never seen on any other app. All of the effects help you turn simple video clips into mini-movies. This is one of the most powerful free apps I have ever used. Download Prequel from the App Store here.
KiraKira+
If you want to add a little sparkle to your stories, KiraKira is just the app for you. You can film in the app and add a beautiful glitter effect to your photos and videos. Download KiraKira for 99 cents from the App Store here.
8mm
8mm is another powerful free app for creating vintage and cinematic Insta stories. I swear by the “Two-Color” effect: it gives your videos dreamy turquoise and orange tones with a retro film effect. 8mm is available to download from the App Store for $2.99 here.
Splice
Splice is my favorite video editing app for piecing together photos and videos set to music. It’s user-friendly and gives you so much creative control which I love! I’d recommend using this app for in-depth Instagram stories and any video you want to professionally edit. Splice is available on the App Store for $4.99/month.
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