Things I love/hate #2 | What I use to improve my IG posts

Hey there my lovelies,

Welcome back to my Blog!

So for this year my #target to improve on my IG posts and stories as I feel that for me as Blogger from Malta the best platform to showcase my product which is my Blog, Instagram is one platform that I am bound to be noticed due to the followers – which I am all loving these days as I reached another mile stone of 1.6K (WHAAAAATTT).

Unfortunately as I had spoken about in my first instalment from this topic which if you missed you can catch it here it is still hard work to make yourself and your work known out there since IG changed it’s #algorithm and it’s not posting chronically however we shall persist and continue as even though it’s hard work it surely great when you start getting comments and new followers meaning that #hardwork paying of.

First thing first thanks to an online Instagram challenge by Jasmine Star I have learned Preview.app which is available both on Google Play and App Store for fresh but I highly suggest you buy the Pro version for a fee of €6.48/month as once you do you will have a lot of themes to work with.

Things we like about Preview

• Plan, schedule and repost photos with ease – post do not upload automatically even if you schedule them on a specific date and time, which is good as somehow you still remember to post on the daily or whenever you want to.
• Save your captions and hashtags and copy into your Instagram caption field when posting.
• Automatically load all previous grid images from Instagram.
• A calendar feature shows posts scheduled for the day/week/month.
• Add text, pattern overlay, and frames to images – you can pay to upgrade this but you can easily the free package.
• The Preview Instagram page has loads of information, tips and tricks about how to get the best out of this app.

Things to consider   

• Although there is an editing feature, I found that some of the tools were not as good as the Instagram editor.  There are a lot of filters but if that is not your thing then I would probably still edit in Instagram.
• Operating multiple Instagram accounts is an option (which is a big thumbs up) but you do have to pay for this feature.

In all honestly it is a great app that does everything you need and you can see all while doing so.  A great app for personal Instagrammers who are serious about their grid appearance.

With regards to the new mini videos on IG stories I started using the apps Legend and Inshot.

Things I like about Legend

The premise is simple: type your words, pick a background (or not, and Legend will pick later), then pick a style/filter and BOOM, in a few seconds, your gif or video is ready to be shared.  In a nutshell Legend is smart.

The pre-loaded text, can be removed and type up to 100 characters of your own. Add a background image from your preference available on your phone.  When you’re done, tap next and you get to select an animated style for your text, after that choose from the several variations available. Your animation is then built and looped before your eyes, while friendly buttons provide the means to send your creation on to Instagram feed, Facebook or Instagram stories.  You can choose from saving it as a GIF or as video resulting in a mini movie file.

I honestly have to say there there is no complaining about this app : it’s simple and fun — and an amazing way to create beautifully animated text messages, all with a couple of taps.

Things I like about InShot 

I do not know if you agree but whether it’s content for Instagram Stories or a Facebook ad, being able to create photos and videos in the correct social media size is more important than ever. That’s when I discovered the free InShot app ( available both on iOS and Android) and I am telling you it comes in super-handy. It will reformat a photo or video to almost any size you desire.

First off import the desired video which you would have done through Legend above, after you upload your photo or video, choose if you wish to trim it.  Then tap Fit, and choose the desired side.  My preferred choice is Fit – then I tap on the Ratio and Canvas option comes up and I choose from the two Instagram potion (1:1 or 4:5) alternatively I sometimes use the ratio 9:16 thick the (very good icon twice) and save.  Choose quality which is suggested at 1080P. Then choose an output size.

Just like that you are done your mini video is ready to be shared with your followers.

So there you guys go, my tips and trick on some of the apps I have been using lately.  I excuse myself if anything is unclear I was not meant to be a teacher.  However, if you are interested in using any of these apps and wish to ask me some questions, please do so and I will help you to the best of my knowledge.

Until next time,