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What are the must-have editing apps to create an awesome Instagram theme? Creating an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed is not an easy thing to do. Over the years photo editing apps have improved significantly. The quality got better, and many new features got added.
Let me break it down.
*Updated: January 2021
Facetune
Facetune is the holy grail for editing photos. Especially makeup photos or selfies. The developers came out with Facetune 2 a few years ago, which has many new features. But I’m a little stuck in my ways, and I keep going back to the original app, which has everything I need.
The thing I like the most about Facetune is the whitening option. The whitening tool is intended to make teeth whiter, I use it to give all my photos a cool white tone.
Price: €38.99 per year
Snapseed
Snapseed is my leading photo editing app for all my basic editing in deserves a top spot as a must-have editing app for an awesome Instagram theme. I can adjust brightness, contrast, temperature, tone, and so much more in this app.
The “penseel” tool is my favourite feature to enhance specific photo’s details like saturation. I believe that Snapseed is one of the best free photo editing app out there.
Price: free
Preview
Preview is an app for visual planning of your Instagram feed. If you want your Instagram to look cohesive, you need this app. You can import your photos into the app and drag them around to find the perfect order to post your content.
The feature that differs Preview to other similar apps is that Preview doesn’t have a limit set on how many photos you can import. You can plan your content as far ahead as you like. I use the free package, which is all you need to visually plan your content.
Price: free
Tezza
I have used many filter apps over the last years, but Tezza has been my latest new love! Not only does the app has great filters, which I currently use on my photos, but the editing options are fantastic too. My favourites are the grain, dust and prism tool.
The contrast tool in the Tezza app makes the black in your photos pitch black without lowering the photo’s brightness overall. This app definitely belongs in the list of must-have editing apps for an excellent Instagram feed.
Price: €20 per year
>> Check out my resources and recommendations post! Here you’ll find all my travel, beauty and blogging resources!<<
Adobe Lightroom
The Adobe Lightroom app the most used photo editing app for those needing a more professional program to edit. Lightroom is available on laptops and as an app, although the app features are much less.
The app is free to use but is not as easy as other editing apps. You need a more knowledge to figure this one out. Lightroom is awesome to adjust every specific colour and tint in your photos.
Ever wondered what it means when your favourite travel blogger is selling “photo presets”? Photo presets are uniquely adjustable created filters, that you can apply to your photos in just one click! To use these presets, you need Lightroom.
Price: free
Retouch
Unwanted guest in your photo? A lamp, your Dad or a cloud? The Retouch app will delete unwanted objects or persons in your photos. The app works best when the background is not too busy, since it copies the effect into the thing your deleting.
Price: free
Picsart
PicsArt is where you can get your creative juices flowing! I still haven’t completely figured out all the editing tools. Some tools turn your photos into Pop Art, a pencil sketch or a watercolour painting. You can even melt photos into one another, or you can create collages.
The options are endless.
Follow Picsart on Instagram. You can learn how creative you can get. It will look complicated at first but PicsArt got you covered! They are loads of tutorials showing you how to create your own magic.
Price: €4 a month
VSCO
The VSCO app will always be an all-time favourite editing and filter app. There was a time where it looked like everybody on Instagram was using VSCO filters. It was one of the first apps that had such an extensive range of filters to chose from.
One of the best features in this app is copying all the edits and pasting them in another photo. This feature saved a lot of time editing!
Price: free
>> After putting these apps to the test, you need a location to shoot awesome content! Read my top 5 Instagrammable spots in Chiang Mai! <<
InShot
When posting IG videos, reels, or IG stories, a fantastic affordable video editing app is InShot. I have been using InShot for all my video editing. From makeup tutorials to Instagram video ads to Instagram stories.
The app is easy to use, and the editing options are excellent. You can combine clips, add music, add transitions, add effects, and much more. These days you really only need a quality camera phone and InShot to create great video content.
Price: €10
Unfold
Using pre-designed templates can easily and instantly help you spice up your IG stories content. Unfold has loads of template packages for photos and videos to create a more inventive looking Instagram story. It will also help create a cohesive vibe in your Instagram story.
The templates are also beneficial if you want to tell a story about your brand or product. The templates are made with space for photo, videos, text and can be adjusted to preference. I love using Unfold, even just adding an image to a polaroid frame😉 just gives it a little extra.
Price: €20 a year
Kuni Cam
Do you ever see these time or date stamp on photos? Get to know Kuni Cam. Kuni Cam is a photo editing app that also has lots of filters. But the best option is the time or date stamp effect that turns your photo into an old retro image.
Price: free
Lightleap
Lightleap is a photo editing app from the same developers behind popular apps like Facetune and Photofox. It’s safe to say that this company knows what they are doing and how to create powerful apps.
Lightleap is used to add a beautiful sky to your photos and to make them pop even more! Cool photo on the beach, but with a dull sky behind you? Enter Lightleap! There are different sky filters to chose from, and they can be adjusted, so it doesn’t look fake.
Price: free
Wordswag
Instagram is full of inspirational quotes. Wordswag can help you make them. There are loads of fonts, templates, pre-designed quotes, effects and free images. Specifically the integrated free stock images are handy when you’re creating photo quotes.
Price: free
This post made me think. What if there was an app that actually does all editing in one? Now THAT would make everything easier. I hope that this list of must-have editing apps for Instagram helps create your best content.
