1. Organizing Your Filters
There are forty different filters that you can apply to your photos within the the Instagram app. Forty! With that many to choose from, users can spend hours hemming and hawing over which one to use. If you find yourself ignoring some of the filters completely, you can make your life easier by eliminating them as an option altogether.
To do so, swipe all the way to the end of your filter list until you see a little cog icon labeled “Manage.” Tap that and you’ll find yourself at a screen that allows you to select which filters appear in your filter list. Unchecking the filters you never use will make them disappear from the list of available filters. If you have second thoughts, simply go back and check them to make them reappear.
2. Tone Down the Intensity of a Filter
Are you familiar with the phrase “too much of a good thing?” Some Instagram filters, while certainly cool, simply overdo it. Filters are meant to improve your photos, but in some instances they can make them look worse. If this sounds familiar, don’t fret, Instagram allows you to tone down the filters allowing for a more subtle look. To lessen the intensity of a filter, select one to add to your photo. With the filter in place, tap the filter icon a second time. This will bring up a slider that will allow you to dial back the intensity.
3. Compare to the Original
It’s easy to get carried away when editing your photos. After you’ve made all of your desired tweaks, it can be hard to remember what your original photo even looked like. If you’ve ever wanted to be able to compare your original snap to the edits you’ve made, you’re in luck. After applying your changes, instead of hitting “Next” in the upper-right corner to publish your photo, press and hold on the preview image. It will change back to the original, unedited photo. Comparing your edits to the original image to see if your tweaks are in good taste has never been easier.
4. Delete Unfinished Drafts
Sometimes we change our minds. If you decide to abandon a photo mid-edit, Instagram will prompt you to save it as a draft. That’s good if you’re on the fence about it and want to come back to it later. But what if you decide that photo isn’t worthy of your Instagram feed? To permanently delete a saved draft, tap “Manage” to the right of the Drafts section. This will bring you to a screen that says “Discard” at the top with thumbnails of your drafts underneath. Select all of the drafts that you want to give the boot to and tap “Done” in the top-right. A dialog box will open asking you to confirm your selections. Tap “Discard” and they’ll be gone forever.
5. Delete a Published Instagram Post
Scrolling back through your Instagram feed can be cringeworthy. Some of your Instagram posts may be in bad taste. Or maybe you were suffering from a bad hair day or a fashion faux pas. Whatever the reason, it’s safe to say that most wish they could go back in time and never post the questionable photo. Luckily, you can breathe a sigh of relief because it is possible to delete Instagram posts. And you don’t even need a DeLorean to do it! Simply navigate to the post in question and tap the three dots in the upper-right corner. This brings up a dialog box which has an option to delete that post. Tap on delete, confirm, and poof, it’s gone. Were you aware of these Instagram tips? Do you know of any others that we missed? Let us know in the comments!
