A guide to Instagram Stories

1. How To: Instagram Story Edition
Posting an Instagram Story:
If you have never posted an Instagram Story, then your story should be empty. To create a
story:
 Tap on your profile picture in the Stories row on the home page or on your profile page
and the camera will appear. (If you have already posted to your story, this is how you
can see it).
 The camera icon in the upper-left is where you can tap to add a story at any time. That
button is different from the button you would use to post a normal picture or video, which
is located at the bottom of the screen (looks like a plus sign).
 After you've posted your story, you will be able to see who has viewed it. At the top of
your screen, your story will be divided into thumbnail images of each picture or video
that makes up your story. To see the viewer stats, tap on the thumbnail.

2. Choosing an Instagram Story format:
There is more to Instagram Stories than just plain snapshots. There are different formats you
can choose from to spice it up. Once you open up the Stories camera, you can swipe through
the different formats at the bottom of the screen. The formats are Normal, Boomerang,
Superzoom, Focus, Rewind, Hands-free and Stop-Motion.
Normal is for regular photos or videos. You can tap the button to snap a picture or hold the
button to record a 15-second video.
Boomerang is a looping GIF-style video that plays forward and backward repeatedly. It only
allows you a few seconds to capture the moment but it’s a fun way to show action shots.
Focus is a portrait mode that focuses on a person’s face.

3. Superzoomis a video that zooms in to what you’re capturing on video. It allows you to add
music to the zoom like Dramatic, Beats, TV Show and Bounce. You can also choose not to
have music with your zooming.
Rewind records as a normal video but plays in reverse.
Hands-free allows you to take a 15-second video with having to hold down the button the whole
time. You tap the button once and the camera will keep rolling until you choose to stop the video
or until time runs out.
Stop-Motion lets you take a series of photos and Instagram puts them together into a GIF,
making it look like a moving picture.
Going Live on your Instagram Story:
One last thing you can do with your Instagram Story is go Live. This means just what it sounds
like – you’re taking live video for all of your followers to see. When choosing a format, swipe all
the way to the left and you will see the Live option. From there you tap on the "Start Live Video"
button and you'll be broadcasting to your followers. Some followers will be notified of you going
live, that way they don't miss out. If you'd rather not have people notified, you can change that in
the settings.
During the broadcast, viewers can interact with you by sending their reactions and leaving
comments. When you’re done broadcasting, Instagram allows you to save the broadcast as a
video to your camera roll. Be aware, however, that all of the comments and reactions will not be
saved.
Stickers, filters, doodles and text:
Once you snap a quick picture or video, you can swipe left to apply a different filter. Instagram
only offers some of its basic filters for Stories, instead of huge selection you would see for
regular posts.

4. If you’re wanting to add a little more than just a filter, you’re in luck! Instagram offers a text, pen
and sticker tool. If your Story is missing some text, at the top of the screen there is an “A”
button that you can tap to give you different text options. You can add as many layers, colors
and types as you want.
To add some doodles to your Story, try using the pen tool. There are multiple pen types that
you can choose from that have their own effect.
 On the left-hand side of the screen, there is a slider to adjust the size of pen strokes.
 At the top of the screen is the eraser tool that allows you to get rid of any unwanted
marks.
 If you're just needing to go back a step or two there is an undo button.
 Pen strokes appear behind any text you might have. This can be a good way to add a
background color to your text.
 To achieve a solid background, choose which color you want and tap and hold anywhere
on the photo. You'll see a quick flash and the screen will be covered by that color. If
there was only a certain part of the picture that you wanted uncolored, use the eraser
tool to uncover the area.

5. We can’t forget about the sticker tool! Instagram has several stickers to choose from including,
the current temperature, time, day and location. There are also a ton of fun and creative
stickers, too! When you tag a location in your story, it may be added to the public story for that
area. You can see these from the Explore tab, at the bottom of the screen. If your account is not
private, your story will be able to be viewed by others looking at the Explore tab.
If the stickers supplied to you aren’t what you’re looking for, you can make a custom selfie
sticker, using your own face. To do this:
 Open the stickers menu and tap on the camera icon to the right of the @mention sticker.
 A little circle appears for you to put your face in. Once you’ve perfected your duck lips
and peace sign, tap on the little white circle to create your sticker.

6.  You can use the elements on both pictures and videos. Videos get one special element
photos don’t, and that is the ability to lock an object into a certain spot. To do this, tap
and hold on an element to pin it into place.
Don’t have a picture or video you want to share? No problem! You can use Type Mode. This
lets you post a story using text and backgrounds. To find this option, scroll through the formats
at the bottom of the screen.
Face filters:
If you’ve ever used Snapchat filters, these are basically the same thing. There are sleep masks,
glasses, hats and much more. Some are more animated than others meaning some of the filters
will do something when you open your mouth or nod your head. Instagram allows you to
preview the face filters before you take a picture or video.

7. Tagging and hashtags:
To help get people involved with your Instagram Story, you can tag people in your story. To do
this, tap the text button, type the @ symbol and start typing the person’s username. Whoever
you tag will be notified that they’ve been added to your story.
To add a hashtag to your story, tap on the stickers button, find the sticker that says #hashtag or
just type in a hashtag using the text tool. The hashtag acts as a link in your Story which viewers
can tap on.
Deleting stickers and texts:
If you don’t like where you put your sticker, don’t worry – it can be removed. Tap and hold the
sticker or text and drag it to the trash icon at the bottom of the screen. The trash icon won’t
show up until you start dragging the item.
Saving, Sharing and Replying to Instagram Stories:
Stories automatically get archived now, so even though they disappear after 24 hours, you can
still look at it. Tap on your profile picture at the bottom, choose the archive icon (a clock with a
counter-clockwise arrow) at the top and select a story.
You can also permanently display Stories on your profile page, these are called Highlights.
These can be a collection of stories from specific moments like concerts, conventions or
whatever you like.
Tap on your profile picture in the Stories bar at the top to bring up your story and tap the "..."
button at the bottom of the screen and tap save. It will give you two options, to save one picture

8. or video or to save your whole story. If you choose to see the entire story, it will be converted to
a video before putting it in the camera roll.
You can also share the photos and videos from your story as a regular post on Instagram. Just
tap the “...” button and choose the “Share as Post” option. You can only save and share your
own stories, but you can reply to stories from other users. When looking at someone’s story, tap
on the “Write message” at the bottom of the screen to send a message to that user. You can
even send a photo or video as a reply.
Changing who can see and reply to your Instagram Story:
If you’re wanting to keep certain people from seeing your story, there is a way to do that! Once
you are done adding stickers, text and filters and are ready to publish, go to Settings, choose
“Hide Story From” and select the users you want to block from seeing your story. You can also
choose who can reply to your stories as well. These settings can be changed at any time by
tapping the “...” button on the picture or video.