Are you wondering which apps to use for Instagram images? Well, look no further. We have gathered a list of the best apps for Instagram photos and short videos so that you can learn more about what each does and how it works.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Instagram Pictures
- VSCO
VSCO is a minimalist social media platform of its own—there are no follower counts, comments or ads. But it’s also an easy-to-use photo editing app that has about 20 free photo presets and standard editing tools (think brightness, contrast, saturation, grain, all that good stuff). You can edit photos within the app and then save them to your Camera Roll to post on Instagram.
VSCO presets
The paid version of VSCO, called VSCO Membership, costs $20 a year and comes with over 200 photo presets, advanced photo editing tools and tips for members.
- Darkroom
Darkroom earned a 2020 Apple Design award for its innovation.
You can “favorite” and delete images from your Camera Roll directly in the app. There are 12 photo filters available in the free version, plus the ability to save your own custom presets.
Darkroom
Darkroom Plus has premium filters, a curves tool, flag and reject, and 4K video editing. It’s $6 a month or $62 a year, but they also have a “forever” membership for $69.
- Photoshop Express
This photo editor app is better suited for more advanced users (a background in Photoshop is, of course, an asset), but it’s navigable for beginners, too.
Photoshop Express was specifically designed for use on a mobile device. The app’s features include retouching, enhancing, and all that good Photoshop stuff, plus themes, stickers and overlays.
There’s also a smart healing tool—it took two seconds to do a very rudimentary erase of the tree on the right side of this photo (you’ll notice the fence looks a bit funky).
Photoshop Express
If you’re new to this app, there’s a great how-to page for getting started.
Photoshop Express is free to download and use. The premium version features multiple layers, auto selection, selective editing and advanced healing (you know, for fixing fences). It’s $47 a year.
- Snapseed
Snapseed is an awesome free photo and video editing app for beginners. Think standard filters, basic photo editing tools and a very simple user experience, but a little more advanced than Instagram’s in-app editing.
The app features a handy tutorial that walks new users through exactly how to use it.
Snapseed
It’s totally free, so you won’t be inundated with flirtatious “Premium” or “Pro” ads.
- Hootsuite’s Photo Editor
We can’t miss the opportunity to shout out (hoot out?) our own free in-app photo editor.
When you use Hootsuite to schedule and plan your social media posts, you can edit photos directly from the app with our user-friendly tools.
Hootsuite
This system is fully integrated into our social media management dashboard (making Hootsuite the only app you need for building, editing and scheduling posts).
Here’s a full rundown of how to use the tool:
- Focos
Focos is a free app that assists in the taking of photos, but you can use it to edit pictures after they’re taken, too.
The app can re-focus portrait photos that have already been taken, create different lens effects and simulate a quality of photo most commonly associated with DSLR cameras.
It also has an AI engine that can automatically calculate the depth of field.
Focos
The ideal user of this app has some background knowledge in photography—the editing tools are geared towards folks who understand things like aperture and bokeh.
- Lensa
Along with the standard filters and tools that most photo editing apps have, Lensa features trendy effects and an adjustment tool that allows you to edit the foreground and background of the photo separately.
Lensa
Lensa is free for 7 days. After the free trial, it’s $47 a year.
- Adobe Creative Cloud Express
This app comes stocked with templates for different types of graphics, from Instagram posts to posters to business cards.
Instagram-wise, Creative Cloud express is great for adding text and effects to photos.
Adobe Creative Cloud Express
This app also has a huge library of stock images, effects and design elements for free and an animation feature for creating more dynamic content.
Without paying, you can store up to 2GB of photos and videos in the cloud — and for $100 a year, you get the ability to resize photos, access to more stock images, one-tap branding and 100 GB of storage.
- Photoleap by Lightricks
Photoleap is a very intuitive app. It features a Quickart function that enables the user to select from a variety of templates—for example, this color pop template:
Photoleap by Lightricks color pop option
The app also offers readymade graphics you can work with, plus the standard photo editing tools that most photo editing apps have (cropping, adjusting brightness, filters, all that jazz) for free.
Photoleap Pro is $11.49 a month, or a one-time purchase of $105. Premium features include access to their complete art and graphics library.
- AirBrush
This app was made for selfie editing—there’s a “beauty magic” feature that can automatically change things like nose, chin and lip size, and recognize and remove dark circles and acne.
The app also has a one-tap makeup application tool for lips, blush, contour, mascara, etc. It’s best used on images of faces and hair, but the “smooth” function also works on hand skin (take a look at the left side of the hand in the image below).
Best apps to edit photos for instagram free
- VSCO
Our designers love this program for quick pic editing. Here’s a few reasons why:
The built-in camera with advanced controls lets you work your magic without leaving the app.
Download the same filters in Adobe Lightroom, so you can edit pictures on desktop and get the same results on mobile.
Connect to a creative community of photographers by searching the hashtag #VSCO on Instagram.
VSCO is available for iOS and Android.
- Snapseed
Everyone seems to love Snapseed. Now owned by Google, the photo editing app gives you things like:
Filters and special effects, for when you need to make the CEO look less tired at the event where he’s speaking.
Social sharing, so you can send pics directly from the app to Instagram and other social networks.
Editing tools, including the basics like crop and rotate. Plus advanced features for white balance, double exposure, lens blur, and tonal contrast.
Snapseed is free for iOS and Android.
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Snapseed
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC has a desktop version that’s popular among designers and photographers. And there’s a mobile app for when you’re on the go. Take and edit photos, then beam them straight to Instagram or other social networks.
Some extras include:
Advanced editing tools, like tone curve that changes color, exposure, and contrast.
Ability to bulk edit photos. Copy edits across different pics for a consistent style.
Edit a section of the photo with your finger or a stylus. Or any other appendage you want to try.
Share photos straight to Instagram using the hashtag #lightroom.
There’s also a Premium feature called Adobe Sensei. It uses artificial intelligence to auto-tag your photos based on what’s in them and where they were taken. Slightly creepy, but still pretty cool.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC is free for basic features on iOS and Android. Premium features include sync across all devices.
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Lightroom
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- Layout
Layout is Instagram’s own photo app. It’s both a photo taking and a photo editing app, with the ultimate aim of creating collages.
You can start with your existing images, or by taking a new photo with the app.
Here’s a summary of Layout’s features:
Create collages from up to nine photos—so people can see your whole week of lunches in one place.
Personalize layouts and collages.
Instantly share to Instagram.
Edit using Instagram’s filter tools.
Layout is free for iOS and Android.
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Layout
- Square Sized
Your photos need to be square if you’re going to share them on Instagram. It may be annoying, but there’s no way around it. That’s why this app specifically resizes for Instagram sharing.
Square Sized imports rectangular photos or videos from Facebook or your phone and makes them an Instagram-ready square size. So it’s not just a clever name.
Aside from its resizing feature and the ability to take photos from within the app, Square Sized also lets you:
Add borders to photos.
Layer filters, typography, shapes, and overlays.
Add backgrounds.
Share on social with a single tap.
Square Sized is free for basic features on iOS.
So which Instagram photo editing app should I choose?
You might be thinking “Well thanks for providing that list, but when are you going to tell me which app my business needs?”
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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