It’s not news that Instagram is where it’s at. Everyone and their dog (literally) has an Instagram account and there’s constantly new apps popping up promising to make your photos look like they belong in a gallery. And I’ve tried pretty much all of them. When it comes to apps, some are lightyears beyond the rest. These are the ones that I’d recommend to anyone wanting to level up their Insta-game and spruce up their feed.
1. Lightroom
If I could only use one app to edit my photos (and I often do use just one), it would be Lightroom. The amount of control you have over all the different photographic elements surpasses any of the other editing apps I’ve tried. Not only that, but it’s also very easy to use and create a professional looking finished photo. I particularly love the HSL slider, which allows you to alter specific colours in the shot without affecting any of the others.
2. Colour Story
Colour Story is one of my favourite places to go for presets. It has loads to choose from and they’re super high quality. I also love the effects they have including bokeh, light leaks, and dark room textures. It gives your photo that vintage film effect, which I absolutely love!
3. A Design Kit
A Design Kit comes from the same team who created Colour Story. This app allows you to add cute stickers and text to your photos, and also has a brush function for creating your own designs. This is a really fun way to personalise your photos and create more of a scrapbook effect.
4. Stories Edit
Stories Edit is great for creating cool, polished looking stories. I actually really love it when Instagram stories are a little more raw but there’s certainly a time and place for something more put together. It has gorgeous templates that you can input your own photos into, which are a great way to sustain a coherent and consistent look.
5. Foodie
Foodie is an app specifically designed for editing photographs of food – perfect if you’ve got a food-themed Instagram account! For that reason, I don’t gravitate towards it a lot but it does have some great filters and I’d recommend it if you’re into your food photography.
6. VSCO Cam
VSCO Cam has been a firm favourite amongst users for a number of years. It has a huge variety of presets that are easy to use and look great. VSCO Cam is one of the simplest ways to create a cohesive theme for your grid.
7. Huji
A favourite amongst celebs, the Huji app gives you that classic vintage film effect. Perfect for those who want to create an Instagram theme without the hours of editing. This app doesn’t have a lot of functions but what it does, it does well.
8. Snapseed
Snapseed was my go-to editing app for the longest time (that was until I discovered Lightroom) and I still think it’s great. I particularly love the brush function, which allows you to alter specific parts of the photo. This is great for upping the brightness in backgrounds! I loved using this when I had a bright, white theme.
9. Filmm
Filmm is from the same team that created Colour Story, and acts in a similar way but for videos, rather than photos. You can overlay a preset to make your video to give it a certain looking, making it amazing for capturing a certain mood.
10. Creator HUB
Creator HUB, the brainchild of a group of online creators, is very similar to Filmm. Each creator has created their own pack of video presets, which are available for purchase. I’ve found the quality of these presets really high, so would highly recommend if you’d like to quickly & easily upgrade your video editing game.
