NOTE: The borders are not available in Preview anymore. We are working on brand new borders. You can still use Preview to plan your feed in advance, use our beautiful filters, and find the best hashtags. If you are looking for borders some alternative apps we recommend are Instasize, Pic Stitch and Photo Collage.
A lot of you have asked me to write an article about the Instagram Photo Editor that is inside Preview App.
There isn’t a day I go without using the Photo Editor in Preview. Whether it’s for the watermark or whitening tool.
I want you to take full advantage of the Photo Editor too because some features will make your Instagram photos look polished and professional in seconds .
The Photo Editor of Preview App is the complete package for any Instagram addict.
There are a lot of features (18 features to be exact) so let’s get right into it.
If you are new around here, Preview App is an Instagram feed planner. It has everything you need to design and manage your Instagram. The Photo Editor is free. Download the App here .
Go in the Photo Editor section
To start, let’s go in the Photo Editor section.
- Brightness
- Exposure
- Contrast
- Warmth
- Saturation
- Vibrance
- Highlights
- Shadows
- Tint
- Fade
- Left
- Right
- Vertical
- Horizontal
- Selfie
- Landscape
- Flatlay
- Still photography
- I blur the background
- I apply a white filter on top (DD3 in the White II Filter Pack)
- The girl immediately pops out
- I use the Radial focus to focus on my tea cup.
- Pinch the screen to resize your focus (make it large or small).
- I made the Radial focus very small to fit the tea cup only.
- It blurs out the rest of the photo.
- I applied filter DD1 to make it bright and white.
- My story: bright early morning at the desk, sipping on my warm tea.
- Apply the vignette.
- Hold one finger on the screen to activate the adjustment setting.
- With two fingers adjust the size of the vignette.
- Use the sliding bar on the bottom to adjust the intensity of the vignette.
- Enter text
- Drag corner to adjust size
- Drag center to move the text around
- Change font
- Change color
- Draw on photos, add arrows
- Zoom in for more precision
- Use the eraser to delete drawings
- Draw the background white.
- Add black lines around the petals.
- Draw other things around the flower.
- Apply an Overlay.
- Your photo will automatically become square for the overlay to fit perfectly.
- Hold 2 fingers on the screen to re-adjust your photo (drag up, down, left and right).
- Just tap on the part you want to remove / smooth out .
- Brush with your finger on the white area to make it whiter.
- It can be a white background (white wall, table, blanket, pillow).
- A white object (your clothes, your teeth, your eyeballs).
- Zoom in on the photo for more precision.
- Use the Eraser to correct any mistakes.
The other icon on the right (the bubbles) is for filters. It will lead you to all the Filter Packs section of Preview App.
In this article, I’m now going to show you each feature inside of the Photo Editor.
I will also share tricks on how you can use them to transform your Instagram photos.
1. Adjust
There are 10 settings in the Adjust feature. There are core, editing tools for Instagram.
In here, you can adjust:
If you want me to go in details on how to use each of these settings, let me know in the comments and I will write a separate blog post.
2. Orientation
In Orientation, you can rotate and flip photos:
You can also change the horizon by sliding the arrow icon left and right .
This is a very useful trick if you need the horizontal lines in your photo to be straight. It makes your photo visually appealing and professional. It’s the details that count.
3. Crop
There are 8 cropping options in Preview app.
Crop Square whenever you need to apply a white border . This will ensure you get the same white space around every single photo. You will make your whole Instagram theme look well put together.
Also crop Square when you plan your Instagram Photo Albums .
4. Enhance
I strongly recommend you use this tool.
High quality photos get more likes on Instagram.
A very easy way to make your photos look like they are high quality is by using the Enhance feature.
There are 4 options available:
5. Sharpness
This is a great way to make the subject in your photos pop.
Increase sharpness just a little bit .
Do not increase sharpness too much otherwise it is obvious you’ve used it and your photo won’t look natural anymore.
Great ways to use sharpness:
6. Blur
Obviously this tool is to blur out things on your photo.
But you can be as creative as you want with it.
You can make an iPhone photo look like it was taken with a DSLR by blurring the background.
I blur out the whole background of a photo when I want to focus on one subject in particular. It gives a photo an instant depth effect.
For example, this photo:
Photo by @ocean_dreamerr
Here is another example:
I wanted to focus on the plant and blurred out the rest .
This is how it turned out.
7. Focus
The Focus feature will automatically blur out parts of the photo for you.
It is a great way to make your iPhone or Android photos looks professional in 5 seconds .
To me, a photo usually tells a story. What do you want people to focus their attention on? The Focus feature helps you focus on what matters the most in your photo so you can build your story around it.
Look at my example:
8. Vignette
The Vignette darkens the outer corner of your photo.
It would work really well for a Moody and Dark Instagram theme . So if you are using one of these Filter Packs, try to add a vignette to your photo before applying a filter.
Tips to apply the vignette:
9. Text
Add text on your photo.
It could be a watermark (your Instagram username).
Tips to add text on your Instagram photo:
10. Draw
One of my favorite tools.
Let your imagination go wild. Draw on your photo. You don’t have to be a professional artist.
Here is another idea if you want your photos to be artistic (almost Picsart-like).
11. Stickers
Add stickers on your Instagram photos.
From food to love stickers – they’re all fun to play with.
12. Frames
Another favorite: Frames (borders).
Preview app comes with a ton of free borders: white, black, floral and more.
13. Overlays
Overlays are a mix of borders and stickers.
14. Blemish
Remove blemishes and pimples on your photos.
You can also use the Blemish tool to smooth part of your photo (or body).
15. Whiten
Free whitening tool for Instagram photos.
16. Red eyes
Tap your finger on the red eyes to make them disappear.
17. Splash
The Splash tool is awesome to make unique Instagram themes.
When you use the color splash tool, your photo becomes all black and white . And then you select which part of your photo you want in colors. Brush over an area with your finger to make the color reappear.
There are 2 ways to use the Splash tool:
Tips:
18. Memes
And lastly here is a meme maker.
You know how memes always have two text areas?
This meme maker automatically create those text areas for you.
All you have to do is type your text.
Done.
Best Instagram Photo Editor, or what?
That’s it! These are all the features you will find inside of the Instagram Photo Editor of Preview App. All for free.
Let your imagination run wild. Make amazing themes and customize your photos as you wish.
I’m expecting to see drawings, stickers, text, and maybe vignette on your photos now. Make sure you tag us ( @preview.app + #ipreview ) on Instagram so we can see how you use the Photo Editor.
Until next time, see you all on Instagram for more tips and tricks!
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