Did you just see your photo-loving friends using Instagram?
Now you also have decided to use it but don’t know how to use it with full perfection. Then don’t worry I’ll tell you how to use Instagram in my step by step guide.
Everyone talks about it, everyone uses it, but what Instagram actually is?
Instagram is a photo social network owned by Facebook that allows you to use the camera of your phone to take photos or short videos and apply the latter to the fascinating vintage effects.
The photos and videos made are then shared on the same Instagram and on other social networks chosen by the user, such as Twitter and Facebook, in order to be seen and commented on by other people.
It sounds funny, right? Yes? Very well, so what are you waiting for to start using this famous app too? How do you say? Would you like it a lot but do not have the faintest idea of how to use Instagram?
Well, but you do not have to worry … I can explain to you, how to proceed, by the thread and by the sign.
With today’s guide, I will go to provide you with all the explanations of the case to ensure that you, as well as many other users, understand how to use Instagram.
You will take very little to learn: five minutes time and you will get some shots of sure effect, I guarantee you.
So, if you really want to understand what you need to do to be able to use Instagram, I suggest you take a few minutes of free time, get yourself comfortable and concentrate on reading the directions we’re about to give you.
I am sure that you will eventually be able to tell you more than satisfied and that you will also be ready to say that using Instagram was actually a real breeze.
Let it bet?
Download the app and create an account
Of course, if you want to learn how to use Instagram, the first thing you need to do is take your smartphone, open the store of the operating system you use and search for Instagram.
Then select the app name in the search results and start the installation on the phone by pressing the appropriate button.
To make things easier, if you use an iPhone you can press directly from your device in order to connect immediately to the appropriate section of the App Store.
If you use an Android smartphone you can instead press here to connect immediately the appropriate section of Google Play Store while if you use one Windows Phone smartphone press here to directly access the Instagram section of the Windows Phone Store.
When installation gets complete (it should take only a few seconds), start Instagram by tapping on its icon that has been added to the screen of your phone where all the apps are grouped and then select the entry.
Do not have an account?
that it is located at the bottom of the screen that has been opened and follow the procedure to subscribe to the service.
Then proceed to create your free account by typing your email address in the form that is proposed to you or by authenticating through Facebook or by mobile number.
Then you have to type in the username and password you want to use on Instagram, set a photo for your profile and complete the registration process by first pressing the checkmark located at the top right and then the Yes button.
Remember that to confirm your identity you must click on the verification link that the team of the note app will send you instantly via email.
If you need more details about it you can consult my Instagram registration guide:how to register on Instagram in which you will find fully explained all the steps to be done to create an account to start using the famous app.
Upon registration, Instagram will ask you to find your Facebook friends and find contacts to follow by importing them from the address book of Android, iOS or Windows Phone.
Clearly, there is no obligation, it is up to you to choose whether to accept or to press on the Skip option and bypass these steps.
You will also be offered to follow some of the recommended profiles on the social network so you can immediately start getting in touch with other users of the famous app.
Share photos
Performed all these operations, so to speak, preliminaries are finally ready to get into the heart of the thing and to find out how to use Instagram.
As I told you, it’s very easy. If you want to immediately take a picture and apply special effects, all you have to do is press the camera icon located at the bottom center and then choose whether to go to act on any photos already in your phone’s library by pressing on Library and selecting an image or taking new ones simply by tapping Photos and taking a picture as usual.
After taking the shot or after choosing the photo on which to act indicates the filter you want to apply to the image by selecting one of the many available.
Then touch twice consecutively on the name of the chosen filter to apply a themed frame to your shot.
The final effect of the filter on your photo and its frame will be shown in real time. If you are not interested in using filters, you only need to leave the Normal option selected.
In addition to applying a filter and a frame before publishing photos on Instagram, you can automatically adjust all the main parameters of the image.
To do this, tap the sun button in the middle of the displayed screen and then press the End item located at the bottom right.
If the result of the automatic adjustment does not satisfy you then you can manually act on orientation, brightness, contrast, structure, heat, saturation, color, gradient, highlights, shadows and sharpness and you can add the vignetting or tilt-shift effect using the appropriate commands accessible by pressing first on the Edit item.
Once you have obtained a satisfactory result, tap the Next item located in the upper right part of the displayed screen.
Then make sure that the item Followers is selected from the menu located above and then type the caption with which you want to accompany the photo in the appropriate field text Write a caption … , select the social networking services on which to post the photo in addition to Instagram (currently you can choose between Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr and Swarm).
Now indicate the location of the shot by pressing on the item Add a location or doing directly tap on one of the suggestions available.
If in your shot there are friends or acquaintances who have an account on Instagram you can tag them proceeding similarly to what you can do on Facebook and other social networks.
To tag an Instagram user in a photo of you just press on the option Tag people, then touch at the point of shooting where you want to make the tag (if there are faces of people you intend to tag I suggest you select these), type the name of the person you want to tag in the field Search for the perfect person.
Now press on the suggestion that is shown to you. Repeat this procedure for each individual user who wants to tag in photos.
After that the tag will appear on your shot and you can possibly place it in a different position from the current one by simply pressing on it and dragging it or, in case of change, you can remove it by pressing on it.
Then tap on the x that will appear on the side.
After adding the tag or tags and after making all the changes you want, press the item Finish which is placed at the top right of the screen that is shown to you.
Finally, tap the blue Share button at the bottom of the screen and wait a few moments for the upload of your shot to run and for the photo you want to upload on Instagram.
If instead of sharing your shots with all the other users you want to do it only with specific people you can take advantage of the Direct function, accessible from the screen through which to share photos.
This feature allows you to share one or more photos with a single Instagram user privately, in some ways similar to when using WhatsApp or other instant messaging apps.
To share photos on Instagram using the Direct function you have to do is press the Direct option that is placed in the upper part of the screen used to share the shot, fill in the field Write a caption … with the message to be delivered to the other user who you want to add to your photo and fill in the To: field by entering the name of the person with whom you want to share the shot on Instagram in private.
Finally, tap the Send button at the bottom of the screen.
Share videos
Probably someone has already told you but know that in addition to the photos on Instagram you can also share the videos. Are you asking how?
The procedure is almost similar to that procedure as we just saw for the pictures but still do not worry, I will explain everything immediately.
For starters press the color button depicting a camera that you find at the bottom center of the screen and choose whether to take action on any footage already stored in the memory of your phone by pressing on Gallery and selecting a video or if you register new by simply tapping on Video and then using the appropriate commands visible on the screen.
Once you have selected the video on which to act or after having proceeded to record one, tap the Next item located at the top right and then choose the filter you want to apply by selecting one of the many available.
The effect of the filter on your video will be shown to you in real time. Then, press twice on the name of the filter you prefer and use the appropriate cursor on the screen to adjust the level of intensity of the same.
Before sharing your video on Instagram you can also cut the movie by tapping on the Cut option and defining the beginning and the end, you can select a different cover frame from the default by tapping on the Cover page and you can choose whether to enable or no audio in the video by pressing the speaker button.
When you are satisfied with the result, you can proceed by posting your video on Instagram by pressing the Next item in the upper right-hand corner.
In the screen that opens type in the caption with which you want to accompany the movie in the appropriate text field, select the social networking services on which you want to post the photo in addition to Instagram (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Swarm) and possibly indicate the place of click on the item Add a location.
Finally, tap the blue Share button at the bottom of the screen and wait a few moments for the upload of your video to be performed and for sharing it.
Similarly to what you can do with photos, even in the case of videos you can take advantage of the Direct function accessible from the screen through which to share the contents.
To share videos on Instagram using the Direct feature you have to do is press the Direct option that is placed in the upper part of the screen used to share the video, fill in the field Write a caption … with the message to be delivered to the other user who you want to add to your photo and fill in the To: field by entering the name of the person with whom you want to share the movie on Instagram privately.
Now you are done. Finally, tap the Send item located below and your first video will have published.
View photos, comment, add likes, etc.
Now that you’ve got enough confidence with the service and that you’ve largely figured out how to use Instagram you can even start living the experience of using the app more directly.
With this I mean that you should start to browse the photos made by other users, comment or mark with a Like the ones you like best and become a follower of your favorite photographers.
How you can do it? Now we’ll explain it to you.
First, take a look at the photos that are most successful on Instagram by pressing the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left.
Then enlarge the shots that you like the most by touching their previews and put Like or comment on the images using the appropriate buttons at the bottom.
To browse all the photos of a user and add it to the list of people you want to follow, all you have to do is select his name on the top left and press the Follow button.
In this way, you will become his follower and you will receive all his photos in your Instagram.
To browse the photos posted by all the users you follow on Instagram you have two options: tap the icon in the shape of a little house that is located in the lower left part of the main Instagram screen or press the heart icon placed at the bottom right always on the main Instagram screen.
What is the difference between one and the other?
Well, in the first case you will see only and exclusively the photos and videos that the users you are following have shared while in the second case you will be able to keep track of all the other activities carried out by them.
Know then that in the screen that is shown to you after you tap the icon in the shape of a little heart you will also find a card called Tu with the history of all the notifications you received when a user has commented or put Like a photo of you, when your Facebook friend joined Instagram and so on.
If instead you want to view all the photos and videos that you have shared up to this, if you want to keep track of the number of users and those who follow you and if you want to make changes to the information about your person who provided to provide icon in the shape of a little man placed in the lower right part of the main Instagram screen.
After doing this this you will be shown the screen related to your profile through which you can perform all the operations I have just indicated.
Specifically, to view photos and videos scroll down the screen that has been opened and press on the preview of the content you want to view in more detail or to view the total number of posts.
Keep in mind that once you’ve tapped the gear wheel icon you can access features that allow you to follow more new people.
In particular, you can view your Facebook friends subscribed to Instagram and users in your address book using the app by pressing on the related items attached to the Follow People section.
You can also invite other registered users to the Instagram simply by tapping on the Invite Facebook Friends button. Wasn’t it simple, right?