How to make instagram stories with multiple images


How to Add Multiple Photos to an Instagram Story [3 Ways]

When it comes to sharing a moment on your Instagram Story, sometimes a single photo just won’t cut it. Suddenly you need to know how to add multiple photos to an Instagram Story.

And that’s where photo collages for Instagram Stories come in to save the day.

The 3 main ways to add multiple photos to an Instagram Story (a.k.a make a collage)

How to make a collage on an Instagram Story: easy way

How to make a collage on an Instagram Story: layering method

How to make a collage on an Instagram Story: most customizable way

How to post your collage on your Instagram Story

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

The 3 main ways to add multiple photos to an Instagram Story (a.

k.a make a collage)

Compiling multiple photos allows you to deliver maximum visual information in one powerful Instagram Story moment.

This is as true for fashion brands and it is for the owner/manager of a dog influencer who wants to share the best memories from Mr. Chonk’s bark mitzvah.

No matter what your business or industry, you should be using Instagram Story photo collages. There are actually three different ways to make it happen:

  1. using the layout template in Instagram Story create mode
  2. layering photos using Instagram Story create mode
  3. uploading a custom collage you’ve made with a third-party app or photo-editing software

We’ll walk you through all three because we’re nice like that. (Maybe keep that in mind when you’re making the guest list for Mr. Chonk’s next major event?)

How to make a collage on an Instagram Story: easy way

Since you’re here looking for the answer to “how to make a collage on Instagram Stories,” we’re going to assume that you didn’t know Instagram offers an in-platform way to do just that.

But we don’t blame you for not noticing this feature: it’s weirdly hidden away.

Here’s how to find it and use it to share multiple pics in one sweet full-screen Story design.

1. Open the Instagram app and tap the + icon at the top of the screen. Select Story.

2. This will open your camera roll. But don’t be distracted by all your beautiful photos! We need to activate create mode first. Tap on the camera icon to do this.

3. On the left-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a list of icons. Tap the third from the top: a square with lines in it. This is the Layout icon.

4. Tapping the Layout icon will open up a quadrant of layout on your screen. From here, you can fill each segment either with a fresh photo or something from your camera roll.

Option 1: Take a photo! To capture a photo, just tap the photo-capture button: the white circle in the center of the btoom of the screen.

Once you take a photo, your pic will fill that top left corner shot. Continue shooting three more photos.

To delete something and take a new pic, tap the photo and then tap the delete icon.

Option 2: Select from your camera roll. Tap the square camera-roll-preview icon on the bottom left corner of your screen to access your camera roll.

Tap the photo you wish to be in the top left corner of the quadrant. Repeat until the screen has four photos.

To delete something and take a new pic, tap the photo and then tap the delete icon.

5. Happy with your collage? Hit the checkmark to confirm and move on to add stickers, text, or effects. Or, if you want to try a different layout, check out step 6.

6. To select a different layout, enter Layout mode and tap the rectangular grid icon directly below the Layout mode icon. This will open up a selection menu where you can choose an alternative style of grid. Tap your preferred style, and then fill each segment either with a photo capture or an image from your camera roll, as outlined above.

7. Tap the check mark to approve your design. Next, you can add stickers, text, or effects. Tap the arrow in the bottom right corner when you’re ready to publish.

8. Choose your preferred audience for your masterpiece and tap Share!

How to make a collage on an Instagram Story: layering method

Feeling restricted by Instagram’s layout grids? This alternative method gives you the opportunity to go rogue.

Images can be enlarged, shrunk, tilted, or placed in an overlapping formation. Time to freestyle!

1. Open the Instagram app and tap the + icon at the top of the screen. Select Story.

2. This will open your camera roll. But don’t be distracted by all your beautiful photos! We need to activate create mode first. Tap on the camera icon to do this.

3. Tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen (the square with the smiling face). Scroll through the stickers to find the Camera Roll sticker: it’ll be a circle previewing your latest photo, with a logo of a mountain and sun overlaid on top.(We know that sounds confusing but we honestly don’t know how to describe this in a clearer way? Hopefully, this photo below will help clarify.)

4. Pick a photo and it will be added to your story. Drag it anywhere on the screen, or use your fingers to manipulate the size and tilt of the image. Then, tap the sticker icon again to add another photo.

Repeat until all your photos are on the screen. Move them around and tweak them as you’d like.

5. To change the background color, tap the colored circle at the top of the screen. (You’ll also find tools to add text or further stickers if you’d like!)

You can also change the shape of your images by tapping them — for instance, maybe circles tickle your fancy.

6. Ready to post? Tap the arrow icon to move on to your sharing settings. Select your audience and then tap Share.

How to make a collage on an Instagram Story: most customizable way

If building your collage in the Instagram Story create mode isn’t getting you the results you want, there’s good news: dozens of apps exist out there to help you customize the multi-image graphic of your dreams.

1. Download the Instagram collage app of your choosing and design a graphic using your photos, cool templates, and other design details.(Alternatively: download one of our 72 free Instagram Story templates, open it in Photoshop and make it your own.)

For this example, we’ll use Unfold.

2. Export the image to your camera roll if you’re using an app. (Using the Photoshop method? Send the final file to your phone… make use to save it as a .jpg or .png!)

3. Create a new Instagram Story and select the collage image from your camera roll and post. See below for more explicit instructions if you need ‘em!

How to post your collage on your Instagram Story

Okay, you’ve got a collage saved to your phone that you’re ready to share with the world. All you’ve gotta do is post it to your Instagram Story like you would any other single photo.

Need a refresher? No sweat. Here’s how to use the Instagram Story create mode to post an image from your camera roll.

1. Open the Instagram app and tap the + icon at the top of the screen. Select Story. This will open your camera roll. Tap your collage to upload it.

2. Add any more text, stickers, or effects that you’d like. When you’re done, hit the arrow in the bottom right corner.

3. Choose where to share your Instagram story (to your public story, to your Close Friends List, or send it as a private message). Tap Share when you’re ready to publish.

Now that you’re an expert in creating beautiful collages for your Instagram Story, looks like you’ve got some time on your hands. Maybe a good opportunity to brush up on other hot tips for using your Instagram Stories for business?

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How to Add Multiple Photos to Your Instagram Story

  • You can add multiple photos to an Instagram Story or post.
  • Selecting multiple photos from your camera roll will upload each as its own slide in your story.
  • Instagram has a built-in collage feature that allows you to drop several photos into the same slide.

There are several different ways to add multiple photos to an Instagram Story at once.

The first method allows you to select up to 10 photos and videos from your camera roll, which get uploaded to your Story as 10 separate slides.

The second method is layering several photos on the same slide as stickers, and the last method is creating a collage using Instagram's built in feature called Layout.

Here's how to do it all.

How to add multiple photos to an Instagram Story

1. Open the Instagram app. Tap the plus (+) button over Your Story or swipe right on the home screen to open Stories.

If you don't currently have any live posts in your Instagram Story, the plus button will appear at the top of the screen. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

2. Tap the photo icon on the bottom-left of the screen to open your Camera Roll.

A preview of the last photo you took will appear at the bottom-left. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

3. Tap Select, then select up to 10 photos and videos. Then, tap the arrow at the bottom-right of the screen to continue.

Tap "Select" to upload more than one photo at a time. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

Quick tip: Like an Instagram post, the order that you select the photos will be the order that they appear in your Story.

4. On this screen, customize each photo or video with text, stickers, or drawn lines. When you're finished, tap the arrow at the bottom-right of the screen.

5. Tap the circle next to your intended audience (Your Story or Close Friends), then tap Share.

Close Friends will share your Stories with a smaller audience of your choosing. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

Quick tip: Adding multiple photos to the same Story at once isn't available everywhere in the world just yet, so if you don't see this option you'll have to upload photos to your Story one at a time.

How to layer multiple photos on the same screen of an Instagram Story

1. Open the Instagram app. Tap the plus (+) button over Your Story or swipe right on the home screen to open Stories.

2. Tap the photo icon on the bottom-left of the screen to open your Camera Roll. Select a photo.

3. Tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen. Scroll down and tap the photo sticker.

Instagram sticker icon highlighted in a hot pink box with an arrow pointing at it. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

4. Select the photo you want to insert. Repeat this process until you have all the photos you want to include.

5. Tap each photo to change the shape, drag them to change the position, or pinch them to change the size.

6. Once you're finished, tap Your Story or Close Friends to share the post.

Share your post once you're finished editing. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

How to post a photo collage on an Instagram Story

1. Open the Instagram app. Tap the plus (+) button over Your Story or swipe right on the home screen to open Stories.

2. Tap the Layout icon on the left side of the screen. Tap the Change Grid icon to select the option you want.

Layout is a collage creator built into Instagram. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

3. Tap the photo icon on the bottom-left of the screen to open your Camera Roll. Select a photo to add it to your collage.

4. Once you're finished creating your collage, tap the check button at the bottom of the screen.

5. Add any additional elements as desired (text, stickers, etc.), then tap Your Story or Close Friends to share the post.

Share your collage after you're finished editing. Abigail Abesamis Demarest/Insider

How to add multiple photos to an Instagram post

In addition to posting multiple photos on your Instagram Story, you can also do it on a regular post. Here's how: 

1. Tap the New post icon.

2. Tap on the photos icon, which is located in the middle right of the screen.

3. Tap the multi-photo select icon and select the photos that you want to have appear in the post.

Tap the multi-select button and it will turn blue. Kyle Wilson/Insider

Quick tip: The order that you tap on and select the photos is the order that they will show in your finished story. You can tell the order based on the number in the corner of the photo's icon. You can include up to 10 photos.

4. Tap the Next icon and, if desired, add any filters you wish to apply and tap Next again.

5. Write a post caption and fill in the optional settings if desired.

6. Tap Share.

Write a caption and share your Instagram post. Kyle Wilson/Insider

Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a contributing writer for Insider based in New York. She loves a good glazed donut and nerdy deep dives into the science of food and how it's made. 

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Kyle Wilson

Kyle Wilson is an editor for the Reference team, based in British Columbia, Canada. Outside of Insider, his work has also appeared in publications like The Verge, VICE, Kotaku, and more. He periodically guest co-hosts the Saturday tech show "Tech Talk" on the iHeartRadio station C-FAX 1070. Feel free to reach out to him on Twitter, where he can be found most of the time, @KWilsonMG.

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chips, quick and unusual ways

Do you want your Stories to be really cool and stand out from the competition? Just adding a photo is not so difficult, we will tell you about it. But you can turn a story into a real masterpiece, and our article will help you with this.

Let's figure out what gadgets and chips on Instagram* will help you post several photos at once in the Story and make it attractive to the audience.

And to learn how to plan content for a section, read the article "How to create a content plan for Instagram Stories*".

How to add a few photos to Instagram Story*

We will tell you in detail how to do it and what additional effects can be added to make your story stand out in the main mass :–)

If you are going to add photos to Instagram Story* in the standard way , we have just prepared detailed instructions. We tell you how to proceed step by step.

Open your Instagram profile*. Click on the blue plus sign on your profile icon (1) and select the photos you want to add to your story (2).

Remember that you can upload no more than 10 photos or videos to one story

To select multiple images, you need to click on the photo that will be displayed first and hold it down (3). A blue circle with the number 1 will appear in the upper right corner of the photo. Select the rest of the photos without a long press, set the number and order.

If you decide to change the order - just remove the numbers from the photo and put them again, already in the right order

So, we found and chose the ones we wanted. Now it's time to add effects to them. To do this, call up the effects menu by clicking on the stars (3).

After clicking on the stars, we get to the effects menu

After going to the effects menu, you can select them. Find the effects that best suit your stories by swiping left (6).

We settled on the Iridescent Glitter effect (7). He gave more shine to the garlands on the tree, but this does not mean that he is suitable only for such photos. Experiment and check :–)

You have to choose the effect separately for each photo. After choosing an effect for one photo, you need to click the checkmark in the upper right corner, confirming the choice, and select the next image at the bottom of the menu. For him, also select the effect and move on.

You can also add a drawing or an inscription made by your own hand to the photo. In addition, you can save to the gallery what you have already done. If you like the caption idea, click on the three dots to the right of the stars and select "drawing" (8).

You can never have too many effects - choose your own effect for each photo, but so that they are in the same style :–)

In the top line of the menu you can choose the tools with which you will draw, and in the bottom line you can choose the color. The thickness of the pencil or brush is set by the vertical slider on the left.

If the drawing is ready, in our case it is an abbreviated New Year's greeting, click on the checkmark at the top right (9). You will move on and be able to share your completed Story (10).

Drawing is, of course, more difficult than typing. But with your own hand :–)

By the way, if your story is for a narrow circle of people, you can publish it for the Close Friends list or send it in a message to one of your friends personally.

But since we are talking about public stories, feel free to click "done" (11) and wait for our Story to be published. When it is ready and visible to people, a new story will appear on top of your profile (12).

You can choose to additionally send to individual users by selecting under "where else to share"

The story is ready (13), but it's not over yet.

Stories can be shared as a post or added to the Featured

We can add stories to the Featured. There you can store the most important and interesting Stories, they will be available to your subscribers until you remove them from your profile.

The button for adding to the Topical is located at the bottom of the finished Story (14). We click on it, a tab opens with a plus sign in a circle (15). By clicking on the plus sign, you create a new selection of Actual Stories. Don't forget to give this collection a title so that it will be easier to find later if you have many such collections.

Click on “Add”, give a name and admire the result

Click “Add” (16), and now our History is saved in a new selection of Actual (17) - we look, admire, remember at any time.

You can start from the other side - click on Topical and add pictures from there

To prepare stories for several days at once, we recommend using the SMMplanner scheduling posting service. With it, you can prepare stories or posts, plan dates and times for them to be published, and take care of other important things or projects. When registering via the link to SMMplanner, you will get free access to all functionality for 2 weeks. A great option to try all the amenities of the service and start saving your time and nerves.

How to add multiple photos to Instagram Stories* using the camera and the “Collage” function

How to upload multiple photos to Instagram Stories* if you plan to choose from the gallery, you already know from the block above. Now let's see how to post multiple photos to Instagram Story* using the camera.

How to upload multiple photos to Instagram Story* at the same time? Click on the camera and go ahead, take new shots

Click on the plus sign on the profile icon and select the "Camera" tab. You will see a menu with different functions, but we are interested in the "Collage" function (2).

You will see a frame divided into 4 parts. This means that you can take or select up to 4 photos

By clicking on the "Take photo" button (3), you can also see how many more shots you can take (4).

You can also add different effects and drawings to the collage, following the block above.

If you don't like any of the photos, for example, I don't like the carpet, you can change it to another one by simply clicking on it. When the collage contains the number of photos you need, and they are edited, click on the checkmark in the circle (5).

Next, click on the arrow in the white circle (6) to go to the "Share" menu.

We send to stories for everyone, only for relatives or a personal message

Click "Share" (7), the system will offer you to share in a message with your subscribers personally - it's all up to you. You can just post stories.

When you're done and you're ready to submit your Story for publication, click the Done button. Your Story is published. We wait. Everything will be ready within a minute.

By the way, about the "Share" button and how subscribers share your posts. Our blog has an article "Forward" metric in Instagram* Stories statistics: what it is, why and how to track it. In it, we tell you why to track this indicator, what it affects and how to increase it.

Functions for editing photos in stories

So, we have added some photos to stories. And how to make the story look cooler and more interesting for users? We've put together a few tricks you can use to create a poll, add music or hashtags, and more. Each of these techniques in its own way will help increase the activity and involvement of the audience.

For example, you have already selected the photos you want to publish. It's time to give your story a more interesting look, you can post some question to subscribers - click on the smiley (1) and select the function you are interested in (2).

Just look how many stickers are available for sharing in stories

You can also add a hashtag to get into the search for a potential follower or recommendation. We talk a lot about hashtags and show them on the blog. Many companies ignore them, and in vain. With their help, you can try to increase sales, the number of subscribers or comments. One of the latest articles is “We select hashtags to increase sales on Instagram*”. In it, we tell you which hashtags should be used if you want to increase sales.

What other features are there for Instagram Stories*? We tell below.

Add music to Story

What is a story without suitable music in 2022?

In the menu under the emoticon, select the "Music" section. In the line "Search for music" (3) enter the name of the song or melody that you would like to use. In our case, this is “A Christmas tree was born in the forest” (4).

Melody added to History. It will play simultaneously with stories.
Learn more about this feature in our article "How to Add Music to Instagram* Stories". It tells in detail how to add high-quality tracks or recordings from a voice recorder.

Add a hashtag to History

Hashtags are a separate art form

In the menu under the emoticon, select the "#HASHTAG" section. In the input line, enter a keyword or phrase without a hash mark (5). The hashtag #NEWYEAR is the most suitable for our stories (6), but you choose the ones that fit the theme.

You can read more about hashtags and their benefits in stories and posts in our articles:

  • How to use hashtags to promote on Instagram*: examples, opportunities, mistakes
  • Hashtags for recruiting followers: how to choose and use
  • How many hashtags can be put on Instagram* - answer

Ask your audience a question in stories

Ask your audience something and raise activity

In the menu under the emoticon, select the “Poll” section. In the input line, ask your audience a question (7). Our question is about the New Year (8), your question may be the same or different.

We talked more about polls in the idea for the "Polls" story. There, we provided examples of questions to ask the audience and cautions, along with a story about what kind of business such surveys are suitable for.

What the finished Story looks like with functions applied

Now we can admire the finished Story with interesting features. We just have to publish it.

So, we added everything that came up to the story

Music, question and hashtag added. You can see what it looks like in the picture. Click "Next" (9) and share the Story with subscribers (10).

The story is ready and looks quite good :–)

Let's move on to the feature

Instagram* never ceases to amaze with its updates and new features. Impressive is the “Image Sticker” feature for creating stories from multiple photos. Previously, this option was only available for iOS, but in 2021, Instagram* allowed Android users to use this feature.

We go to the already familiar gallery, but then it's interesting

Choose one photo from the gallery (1) or take a picture. Click on the smiley (2). A menu with functions and tools will open (3).

On some devices you may have to scroll down a bit to find the sticker you want

Use the Image Sticker feature (4) to create a Story from multiple photos.

Choosing a photo, acting according to the plan

Overlay a photo of a Christmas tree (6) on the selected photo. Snow was used as a background, as we associate it with the New Year.

A photo of a Christmas tree can be turned into a star or another sticker

We make an asterisk from a photo of a Christmas tree (7). Each time you click, the shape of the photo changes. Spread the photo apart with your fingers if you want to resize. We chose 4 photos with different shapes (8).

You can also add text if it's appropriate or necessary for your post.

Add text to your Story by clicking "Aa" to the left of the smiley face. You can change the color, font and size of the text by choosing the settings at the bottom and at the top (9). You can also animate text.

And we share in the standard way with those subscribers with whom we want

Story ready for publication (11 and 12). Click "Share" and enjoy our cool Story.

Even more about the new stickers on Instagram*, we talked in the article "Overview of new stickers on Instagram* 2021 + fresh ideas for use." There we took a detailed look at all the ideas and stickers that can be used in Instagram Stories in 2022*.

We looked at different ways to upload multiple photos to your Instagram Story*. We talked about unusual effects, shapes and features available for Stories. We’ve broken down the entire publishing process step by step – everything for you and your new creative stories. More information about promotion, development of accounts and business in general - in our blog. Fly in to read :–)

How to add multiple photos to Instagram story or picture

Share!

Instagram has a new IMAGE sticker, with which you can add several photos or pictures to your story.

At the moment, the sticker is available only to iPhone users, but will soon be available on Android devices. We understand how the new sticker works and how to use it when creating stories.

Program for promotion on Instagram - SocialKit:

  • Collecting and filtering the target audience
  • Masslooking, massfollowing, massliking
  • Delayed posting of photos, videos and stories
  • Mailing in Direct, autoresponder

Registration >>>

How to add multiple photos to Instagram stories

The appearance of the new sticker is a round icon with an image icon inside. If you already have it, then here is the instruction on how to use it.

Step 1 . Go to the story editor, take a photo / video or add ready-made media from the gallery - this will be the background for the photos that we will add using the new sticker. You can also use a solid color fill as a background (How to make a solid background in a story).

Step 2 . Click on the sticker icon at the top of the screen.

Step 3 . In the sticker panel that opens, scroll down and find a sticker with a photo or picture inside, and click on it.

Step 4 . A gallery will open - select the photo or picture that we want to add. After adding the first picture, we add the required number of photos using the same algorithm.

Step 5 . We publish stories. Before publishing, we choose with whom we want to share the story: send it to someone in Direct, with a list of close friends, or with all subscribers.

Story ideas with multiple pictures

Consider the options for using the new sticker.

Mini-comic

Add several pictures or photos that will be dedicated to one topic. Number them and add text. In the same way, you can arrange small instructions.

Make an extraordinary collage

Create a collage that is impossible to create with conventional tools.


Learn more