How to Make a Collage on Instagram Story

Instagram Stories have transformed the way we share moments by allowing more creativity than a regular post. One trend that’s become especially popular is the Instagram Story photo collage – where you artfully combine multiple pictures into one Story slide. Making a collage on Instagram Story lets you share several photos at once in a single, eye-catching frame, rather than posting a rapid series of individual stories. It’s an enjoyable and straightforward process that anyone can master, even if you’re not a designer.

Collages are popular for good reason. They let you add a personal touch to your Story, and they’re a form of user-generated content (UGC) that feels creative and authentic. In fact, Instagram even introduced a special end-of-year collage feature in 2024, allowing users to combine their top photos of the year into one Story recap. Whether you’re a casual user or a content creator showcasing a day in your life, collages can help your Story stand out. If you’re an e-commerce brand or Amazon seller working with micro influencers, collages are a great way to display multiple products or customer experiences in one go – a handy trick in influencer marketing to keep viewers engaged.

How to Create a Collage on Instagram Story (Step-by-Step)

There are a couple of ways to make a collage right inside the Instagram app. One popular method is to use the Instagram Stories sticker tool to manually arrange multiple photos. (Instagram also offers a built-in Layout feature for grids, which we’ll mention later.) Below, we’ll walk through the manual in-app method step by step:

1. Capture a Background

Open Instagram and tap the Stories camera. Start by taking a photo or uploading any image from your gallery as the background for your collage. This could be a random snapshot or a plain background. If you prefer a solid color background, select the brush tool, pick a color, and long-press on the screen – the entire background will fill with that color. (Many people choose black or white for a clean look, but feel free to get creative with any color or backdrop.)

2. Select Your Photos

Next, decide which pictures you want to include in your collage. Most collages use 2–5 photos that share a theme or story. For example, if you’re making a collage of a birthday party, you might choose a mix of group photos, the cake, and candid moments. Having a clear theme (like “birthday highlights” or “outfit details” or “behind-the-scenes”) makes the collage more coherent and visually appealing. Pick the best shots from your camera roll that fit your theme.

3. Copy an Image from the Gallery

Now, add the first photo on top of your background. One trick is to use the copy-paste method. Go to your phone’s gallery (Photos app), open the first image you want in the collage, and copy it (use the “Share” option and then “Copy” on iOS, or a similar approach on Android). This puts the photo on your clipboard, ready to paste.

4. Paste the Photo as a Sticker

Return to the Instagram app (your Story-in-progress should still be open in the background). When you come back, Instagram will often show a small pop-up saying “Add sticker” for your copied image – tap that, and the photo you copied will appear on your Story as a movable, resizable sticker. If you don’t see a pop-up, you can also tap the sticker icon (the smiley face sticker in the top menu) and look for the option labeled “🔥 Copied” (on some devices) or an image icon that lets you insert from your gallery. This will add the copied image onto your Story.

5. Adjust and Arrange

Drag the inserted photo around the screen and use two fingers to rotate or resize it. You can position it anywhere on the background. This is where you design your collage layout. There’s no right or wrong – play with the arrangement! You might angle one photo slightly, overlap images, or give them each a distinct corner of the frame. If you want, add some personal touches: you can still use Instagram’s drawing tools, text, or other stickers (like GIFs, emojis, etc.) to decorate your collage.

6. Repeat for Additional Photos

To add more pictures, simply repeat the copy-and-paste process for each new photo. Copy the next image from your gallery, paste it into the Story, and then move/resize it to fit with the others. You can layer as many photos as you like, but keep in mind that too many might make the collage look crowded – often a handful is enough. Take your time to arrange each new photo in a balanced way. Some people like to have one central image and smaller ones around it; others go for a scattered look as if you tossed a bunch of polaroids on a table. Find what looks good to you.

7. Finalize Your Collage Story

Once all your images are in place, give the collage a final look. Add any last details: maybe a caption or labels using the text tool, or tag friends if they’re in the photos. When you’re happy with how it looks, simply post the Story as usual. Voila – you’ve made an Instagram Story collage!

Tip: Instagram’s Layout mode (accessible from the Story camera’s toolbar) is an alternative way to create a quick collage. Layout lets you split the screen into a grid and add multiple photos into preset frames. It’s great for simple side-by-side comparisons or a symmetrical collage. However, it’s limited to a grid format – for example, 2×2 or 3×3 arrangements where all images are equal-sized. The manual sticker method we described above gives you more freestyle control, letting you rotate or layer pictures however you want. You can even mix methods: use Layout for a structured grid, or do a freeform paste-up – whichever suits your creative vision. Instagram officially supports both approaches, noting that you can add multiple photos as stickers for a “collage-like” story, or use the Layout feature for a tidy grid. Try both and see which style you prefer!

Best Apps for Creating Instagram Story Collages

While Instagram itself provides tools to make collages, there are also third-party apps that specialize in collage making. Many content creators use these apps for more advanced templates, unique effects, or simply more variety than Instagram’s built-in options. From simple grid makers to stylish template apps, you have plenty of choices. In fact, some of these collage maker apps are extremely popular, with millions of users, showing how much people love creating collages off-platform.

Below is a list of some of the best collage-making apps for Instagram Stories, along with what makes each one stand out:

• • Collage Maker (iOS & Android)

A popular free collage app (by InShot) that offers a huge variety of layouts and editing options. Collage Maker boasts over 10,000 layout combinations and backgrounds to choose from, plus an extensive library of stickers to spice up your designbillo.app. It’s very user-friendly – you start by selecting a few photos, then pick a layout configuration you like (or arrange freely), and you can adjust borders, add text, etc. This app is great if you want tons of template choices beyond the basic grids.

• • Unfold (iOS & Android)

Unfold is known for its stylish, minimalist templates that give your collages a chic, magazine-like look. It’s perfect if you prefer a clean aesthetic rather than loud colors or stickers. The app provides a collection of elegant frames and formats – many with white borders, modern fonts, and subtle effects. Unfold is free with basic features, and they offer a premium subscription (Unfold+) to unlock over 400+ design templates and advanced editing tools. If you’ve ever seen those neat scrapbook-style Stories or polaroid collage layouts on Instagram, there’s a good chance they were made with Unfold.

• • Layout from Instagram (iOS & Android)

This is Instagram’s official collage app, which you can download separately (it’s simply called “Layout”). It’s completely free. Layout is very straightforward: it lets you select up to 9 photos from your gallery and automatically places them into a grid collage. You can choose different arrangements (e.g., two side-by-side, four in a quadrant, etc.), mirror or flip images, and adjust the sizing slightly. While it doesn’t have fancy backgrounds or stickers, it’s perfect for quickly making a clean collage to post on your Story (or Feed) without any fuss. If you want simplicity and trust Instagram’s own tools, give Layout a try.

• • Photoblend (iOS)

Photoblend offers a unique twist on collages – it allows you to blend two pictures together for a double-exposure effect. If you’ve seen artistic edits where one photo is faintly superimposed on another (like a silhouette filled with a landscape image), that’s the kind of collage Photoblend excels at. The app is free and fun to experiment with. You can adjust the transparency of the blend, apply color filters, resize, add text, and more. It’s a more specialized tool, but for creatives who want an artsy vibe (perhaps for a dreamy travel story or a before-and-after comparison shot), Photoblend is awesome.

These are just a few of the top apps out there. Others worth mentioning include Canva (with its own collage templates and Story designs) and Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark, which offers easy collage features too). But the ones listed above are particularly popular for Instagram Story collages and have specific strengths depending on the style you’re going for.

No matter which method or app you choose, making collages should be a playful and creative experience. Collages allow you to tell a story or convey a mood using multiple images, all in one single Story frame. This is fantastic for personal use, and it’s also a clever tactic in social media and influencer marketing. For example, a fashion influencer might use a collage to showcase an outfit from different angles, or a travel micro-influencer might combine several landmarks visited in one day. Brands love this because it delivers more information at a glance – and viewers love it because it’s engaging and saves them from tapping through a dozen separate stories.

For e-commerce brands and Amazon sellers, collages can even be used to highlight product features or customer reviews in a fun way. Working with creators on collages is easier than ever. (For instance, Stack Influence is a micro-influencer marketing platform that connects brands with content creators, making it easy to get authentic UGC like Instagram Story collages from a network of vetted influencers.) By leveraging creative collages made by influencers, brands can showcase a range of products or use-cases in one Story, increasing the chances that viewers catch something that interests them.

Conclusion to How to Make a Collage on Instagram Story

In summary, learning how to make a collage on Instagram Story is a handy skill for anyone looking to spice up their social media content. Once you know how to do it, creating an Instagram Story collage is quick and fun – you can effortlessly combine multiple pictures into one engaging post. Whether you stick with Instagram’s built-in tools or use one of the many apps available, it’s never been easier to make a collage on Instagram Story that captivates your audience and keeps them tapping forward for more. Happy collaging!