Instagram has gone through so many phases. From the age of casual Instagrams to finsta accounts, the app has seen it all. At the root of all these phases is one key thing: users wanting to share their authentic selves. Social media, though sometimes a highlight reel, is a chance to explore our content creation skills and share our personalities online. Instagram scrapbook posts are the latest trend to share our lives and bring Instagram back to its roots with their creativity and display of authenticity.
Instagram scrapbooks are an elevated photo dump, if you will. They are a roundup of your favorite photos with a chance to explore graphic design through scrapbook elements or unique cutouts. They give a personal touch to what might be a stale feed with handwritten-esque text and adorable stickers. Digital scrapbooks also take your Insta to the next level by making the transitions between slides in a carousel post seamless. The era of lookalike-filtered posts is out, and one-of-a-kind posts are in. Here is everything you need to know to make the Instagram scrapbook post of your dreams.
Find your favorite photos.
From nights out to memories with families, digital scrapbooks are your way to photo-dump the best moments of the year or semester. Your favorite photos are the key part of the digital scrapbook. Find them and put them into an album to keep everything organized. If you’re an iPhone user, you can hold down the subject of the photos and save the cutout to your camera rolls. These cutouts will really bring the whole scrapbook look together.
Open Canva (or your favorite graphic design app).
Here comes the fun part — it’s your time to get creative and put the scrapbook together. To assemble the digital scrapbook, you’ll need a graphic design app. My graphic design girlies know that Canva is the holy grail, but other apps, such as the new app Landing, have been trending as well. Pick your poison and get started.
Once you’ve opened the app, you’ll need to select a custom design. Instagram posts are 1080 x 1080. When making the size for your scrapbook, decide how many slides in a carousel post you want and multiply that by the first 1080 to get the size of your design. For example, six slides would call for a 6480 x 1080 design. The bigger the number, the more photos you can share.
Add square photos as backgrounds.
Before adding the scrapbook elements, you’ll need to insert background photos. Square photos of scenic backgrounds or plain photos work best to act as a foundation for your photos and elements. Whether it be sunset pics from the semester or some random aesthetic photo you found off Pinterest, you can get creative to find a background that fits the vibes of your photo dump or even the colors of your photos.
Insert your photos and cutouts.
This part is crucial. First, upload all the photos to Canva. Putting all your favorite photos in an album would make this step a lot easier. Next, it’s time to start having some fun. Arranging your photos is what makes this carousel post a digital scrapbook. Whether you’re using cutouts or rectangle photos, arrange them how you see fit and have some fun with it too. You can layer photos, edit them to have certain colors pop out, put a border on cutouts, and more. A digital scrapbook is your chance to show your personality to your followers. P.S. If you put cutouts or photos on the edges between two background photos, it will make the carousel look seamless on Instagram.
Add scrapbook elements.
It’s time to add the finishing touches, aka the elements that make the post feel like a scrapbook. From ripped paper to stickers, there are so many elements of typical scrapbooks that you can bring to life digitally. Canva and other graphic design apps have those elements right in the platform.
If you’re using Canva, click the “elements” tab and search up keywords to pull up scrapbook accents. The keyword “kidcore” will bring you to adorable stickers that will add a nostalgic feel to your scrapbook. The keyword “moderntrad” will pull up scribbles and designs that have that handwritten feel of typical scrapbooks. The keyword “washi tape” will give you a variety of tapes to put on the corners of photos or to blend two photos together, as if you were putting together a real scrapbook.
You can simply search for any elements you’re thinking of, such as “paper” to put behind photos or “frames” to put around photos. You can even type “scrapbook” and Canva will bring you to scrapbook-esque elements to bring your elevated photo dump together. There is no such thing as too many elements, so go wild and let your creative juices flow as your piece together your Instagram scrapbook of memories.
Cut into even pieces for Instagram.
OK, this part is the most important part for making your scrapbook appear seamless on Instagram. After you’ve downloaded the PNG from your app of choice, you need to cut it into equal parts. The website IMGonline.com will do this for you. Once you’re on the website, click the “different tools” section and then press “cut image into pieces.” Upload the file then under “parts in width,” type how many slides you made your design for. Press “OK” then wait for your individual photos to be processed. Download each image and go to Instagram to debut your digital scrapbook.
Your social platform should be a way to document your life and experiment with your creativity. Instagram scrapbooks are a great way to blend the old ways of doing this with the trends of today. Whether you want to reminisce on your favorite memories or elevate your photo dumps, digital scrapbooks are making Instagram fun again.