Lets Begin With What An Instagram Highlight Is
Instagram highlights live under your Instagram profile About section. Highlights are considered the table of contents to your stories. Instagram stories live on your profile for 24 hours however, after that period of time, they are automatically archived. If you would like them to be featured indefinitely on your profile, you can add them to your highlights.
Add A Graphic Icon And Customize
A great place to start in PicMonkey is with our Insta Story Highlights graphics set.
Open the Graphics tab on the left panel to choose from our collection of thousands of icons, or click Add image on the top toolbar to add your own icon .
Once you’ve added a graphic to your canvas, the Graphic Tools menu will open. From there, it’s customization time. Use the tools to change up the colors of your graphic or add effects . You can rotate, flip, or resize graphics, add shadows or outlines, or…ready for this? Click Fill with image and place an image inside your graphic!
#draw Attractive Covers For Your Instagram Featured Stories
You can create similar covers, always respecting the same elements, like color, typography, image, icon, logo etc. Or you can also use different covers by adding some element in common.
In the following example, the covers are the same and match the color and logo of the profile.
In this other example, the covers use the same background color, changing only the image.
And what tools should you use to design your covers? The fastest and easiest way is to use online apps like Artstudio, you can access them through your mobile phone. Of course, if you are used to more resourceful tools such as Photoshop or Illustrator, you can definitely use them as well.
One crucial point: the size should be 1080 x 1920 pixels. In Artstudio you can take advantage of the Instagram Stories template, which can be quite useful!
However, these are not all the options! On Instagram itself, when creating a story, it is possible to design a cover image. All you have to do is use Instagram as a drawing tool, and imagine how you want your cover.
As we already know, Instagram has typography options, image filters, stickers etc. But this is not the most recommended option. It is best that you use Artstudio for a simple reason: you have a greater scope for action.
In this video of a Social Media expert, youll see the creation process from scratch.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CREATING THE LAYERS
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How To Create A Highlight On Instagram
If you don’t have any Instagram Highlights yet, you can create one either from your current story or from archived ones. That, of course, means you need to have the archiving feature on. It’s usually enabled by default, but here’s how you can double-check that and switch on the Stories Archive if needs be:
Once archiving is on, you can go ahead and create your first Highlight. Here’s how to create your first Instagram Highlight by adding your current story to it:
Image Gallery
If you want to create an Instagram Highlight using a story you posted a while ago, you can do that, too. Here’s how:
Image Gallery
How To Edit Instagram Highlights And Cover
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With a recent update, Instagram has not only added the ability to archive stories but has also given you a chance to show them on your profile with the Highlight feature. Archive lets you automatically save your stories like Memories on Snapchat. But the Highlight feature is something thats quite unique. It allows you to post your favorite photos and videos from your stories to your profile, hence making them last longer. The users who put a lot of resources into creating their stories will know the importance of this feature. Putting all the efforts into photos and videos that last for only 24 hours is painful, isnt it? Not anymore, with Highlight coming into the picture. Heres how to make use of the latest option to highlight Instagram stories on your profile.
We have also covered how you can edit Highlights and its cover on Instagram in this guide.
The feature is available on Instagram version 25.0 so make sure you have this or the latest one on your Android or iPhone. After updating the app, hop on to the steps below.
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How To Delete An Instagram Story
Since there isnt a draft option in Stories , it can be hard catching mistakes before publishing a Story. If you need to scrap the whole Story and start from scratch, then have no fear because it is easy peasy to do so, and the process is quite straightforward.
Step 1: Open up theStory.
Step 2: Click the three-dot ellipses again on the bottom-right corner.
Step 3: Hit Delete
Step 4: Confirm and press Delete again. And boom. Story deleted.
You can even take it one step further and delete the Story from your Archives as if it never even happened.
Step 1: Go to your profile
Step 2: Hit the three-dot ellipsis
Step 3: Press Archive
Step 4: Under Stories Archive, choose the Story youd like to delete
Step 5: Click Delete and done.
Now that weve established how to edit and delete Stories, lets take a moment to talk about Story Highlights below.
Add Your Cover Designs To Your Story
Before you can use your new designs as covers, you first need to add them to your story and then to the appropriate highlight.
Go back to your profile and tap your profile image to watch your story. When your cover image opens, tap the heart icon labeled Highlight.
Now you have the option to either create a new highlight or select an existing highlight. For this example, I selected the Home and Family highlight.
If you prefer to create a new highlight, tap the + sign, add a highlight name, and tap Add.
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What Are The Benefits Of Instagram Highlights
You might be thinking, Sure, sounds great, but what are the benefits of Instagram highlights? In a February 2018 survey by influencer marketing agency Activate, 88.9 percent of worldwide influencers said they were using Instagram for influencer marketing campaigns more than they did one year ago.
Here are all the benefits of using Instagram highlights:
- Organize: Highlights allow you to organize your Instagram stories for easy accessibility on your profile.
- Longer shelf life: Highlights allow your stories to live on your Instagram profile for more than 24 hours.
- Visually compelling: A creative way to inform your followers about your product, service, or brand.
- Showcase why people are raving about you: A great way to showcase your clients testimonials/reviews in an organic way.
- Behind-the-scenes: It makes your company more personable and relatable.
Add Stories To Highlight From Archive
If you have enabled archive for your stories then this method will work for you.
There are 2 ways you can go about adding stories to Highlight from the Archive.
Way 1
- Open the Instagram app and navigate to your profile screen by tapping on the profile icon at the bottom right.
- On your profile, you will see a new section below the bio. It is nothing but Highlights. Tap on New.
- This will take you to the archived stories. Select the one you wish to add to your profile as a Highlight and tap on Next at the top right.
- As it is a new Highlight collection, give it a name and tap on Add at the top right.
Way 2
- On your profile screen, tap on the timer icon at the top right corner to go to the archived stories.
- Now, switch to stories archive by tapping on the drop-down menu labeled Archive at the top and select Stories.
- Here, you got two options either tap on the 3 dots at the top right corner and select Create Highlight or select the desired photo/video and tap on Highlight at the bottom while viewing it. If you wish to add the story to an existing highlight then you should go for the second method.
- If you choose the first option then on the next step select the desired photos/videos to add to a highlight and tap on Next at the top right. After that give a name to the highlight and tap Add.
- In case you went for the second option then select an existing collection or create a new one for adding the selected photo/video like in Method 1.
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Instagram Story Highlight Dimensions
You can really use any size image, since you can crop it when you add it as a cover. However, because the cover displays in a circle itâs best to create a square image if youâre creating something from scratch. Keep in mind that anything in the corners will be cropped out, so try to center the part of the image youâd like to be displayed.
Looking for a specific dimension? Try 1080 x 1080 for clear resolution.
Sharing Other Peoples Instagram Posts To Stories
While you canât directly share someoneâs Story if you arenât tagged in it, you can share another personâs Instagram post to your Story. To do this, just tap the sharing icon on the post and select âAdd post to your story.â The post will be displayed in your Story as an image and viewers can tap through to visit the original post.
And there you have it! Looking for a little more inspiration? Check out our other Instagram Story posts:
Vertical video is useful for Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, TikTok and more. Check out our guide to vertical video for tips, tricks, and techniques. Itâs easy–and free–to get started with Animoto. Check out our selection of templates, add your photos and video clips, update the messaging to fit your story, choose a song from our vast library of commercially-licensed music, and create your next vertical video today.
We also have a free iOS app designed for Instagram Story creation, Animoto: Social Video Editor.
You can also for more Story inspo. Happy Instagramming!
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How To Delete An Instagram Highlight
If you want to remove a Highlight from your Instagram account, all you have to do is follow the instructions below:
Doing this will remove the Highlight from your profile. You could also use this other quick shortcut to remove a Highlight:
Option : Add A Cover To A New Highlight
After youve selected the stories for a new highlight, youll be prompted to choose a title and select your cover photo.
From here, you can upload your new cover designs from your camera roll!
Tap Edit Cover and then tap on the photo icon to upload a design you created earlier.
Pinch and drag your cover to make the icons bigger or smaller. You can also edit the title of your Instagram Stories Highlight by clicking in the Name field and typing a new title.
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Advanced Option: Use Photoshop On Desktop
If youre more of a design whizz, you may want to use Adobe Photoshop to create your Instagram Stories Highlights covers.
Our free pack of contains a PSD file with everything you need to get going, but you can use Photoshops advanced tools to further customize your designs!
In the layer panel, hide every icon from view by unchecking the eye symbol.
Then, position your chosen icon in the center of the canvas. To edit the icon, right click the layer and select Rasterize.
Once the layer is rasterized, you can edit the icons color palette to better suit your brand aesthetic.
With Photoshop, you can play with customized brushes, color variations, compositions and layouts giving you extra flexibility to communicate your brand in a different way.
Dont Be Afraid To Experiment
Your Instagram highlights dont have to do it all. They can do one thing very well.
For instance, Red Bulls highlights used to be fairly conventional But now they give each of their athletes their own highlight. All we get is a face, a name, and an emoji. Intriguing.
Meanwhile, the New York Times takes Stories literally. They populate their highlights with exhaustive yet readable primers on complicated political subjects. They also create fun, snackable Stories about appealing subjects.
Either way, their cover style is perfectly consistent, which helps make the wide reach of their topics more manageable.
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Highlight From Your Story Section
You can use this method if you have an active story.
- Open the Instagram app and tap on your Story avatar at the top of the feed.
- With this, you will see the photos and videos uploaded to your story. Forward or Rewind to get the desired photo/video.
- Once you are on the favorite story that you wish to show on your profile screen, tap on Highlight at the bottom to the left of More.
- Next, select New. Here, you can give a name to your highlight. Think of it as a collection/album where all your related stories will be stored. You can create multiple Highlight collections. After giving a relevant name and cover, tap on Add. In case you have already created a relevant highlight collection earlier, select it.
Thats all it takes to highlight stories on your profile. Similarly, you can highlight other photos/videos if desired. The highlighted stories will remain on your profile until removed manually.
How To Add Stories To Your Highlights
Your favorite Stories or important ones to your account can also be highlighted and featured on your profile just above your posts. In a nutshell, theyre like curated collections of your favorite or most important Instagram Stories.
Stories generally disappear into your Archives after 24 hours, but highlighting them allows your Stories to live on in the glory they deserve.
Highlighting Stories is pretty simple, and it provides a chance for potential followers to get a feel for your personality and the type of content you deliver outside of your feed. Theyre also conveniently front-and-center on your Instagram account, occupying prime real estate space for potential followers to see your most valuable and best content.
Heres how to create an:
Step 1: Go to your profile
Step 2: Hit the circle + button with the word New written under it
Step 3: Click on the Stories youd like to add
Step 4: Press Next
Step 5: Edit/upload a cover photo and name the Highlight
Step 6: Click Add, and your Highlight will be complete!
See, what did I say? Its easy as pie. So you might as well save some of that hard work and keep a few Stories in your Highlights. Plus, its just as easy to delete a specific post from a Highlight or delete an entire Highlight altogether.
Lets discuss that next.
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But What If You’re Not Totally In Love Fear Not Friends It’s The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For: How To Edit Stories Highlights
Tap and hold on an existing highlight and select “Edit Highlight.” Now, you’ll be able to adjust your cover photo, the shots you have include, and your cover photo. If you’re really not feeling the group of pictures you’ve assembled, you also have the option to delete them. However, just because they’re gone from Stories History doesn’t mean they’ll be removed from your Stories Archives. Let’s breathe a collective sigh of relief. Thanks for that save, Instagram.
Thanks to this new way of promoting what matters most to you, the memories you thought were once fleeting are making a return â and under your terms. Your Stories Highlights can stay on your profile for as long as you’d like. Given this news, I might forgo featuring my Christmas decorations and opt for all my spooky Halloween pics instead, as I’m always in an autumn and spooky state of mind, no matter the time of year.
Get ready for a trip down memory lane and happy highlighting. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Check out the entire Gen Why series and other videos on Facebook and the Bustle app across Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.
How To Create Instagram Stories Highlights Covers
Thanks to the rise of design apps, like Over, creating custom and on-brand Instagram Stories Highlights covers has never been easier.
To give you a head start on the design process, weve created a free pack of !
If you havent downloaded the icons yet, just enter your email here:
Once youve downloaded the pack on desktop, you can transfer the PNG icons to your mobile and use a design app to edit, or open the PSD file directly in Photoshop.
HACK: If design isnt your thing, weve got you covered! Look out for the Covers folder in the download, which includes several ready-made designs that are good to go!
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