I create video content for Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn, so I'm always looking for new tools to make the process smoother — and I may just have found the one.
Instagram Edits is sleek, powerful, and surprisingly easy to use. I suspect that anyone creating content on mobile will really enjoy this (completely free!) app — whether you're a video veteran or just starting out.
After some serious hands-on time with Edits by Instagram, here are some of my favorite tips and tricks:
1. Save ideas and inspiration
If you're anything like me, you get your best ideas while anywhere but your desk — so having a place to store them all on the go is really handy.
With Edits, you can save ideas as cute sticky notes inside the app.
Here, you'll also find all your saved reels from Instagram, as well as your Instagram collections.
2. Experiment with new fonts
There are around 50 new fonts to experiment with in the app, all helpfully organized into categories.
Each font can be customized, too, with scores of fun animations, styles (also animated), and background options to play with. There are enough fonts for you to really experiment, but not so many that it becomes overwhelming.
3. Use the green screen for low-edit wins
Edits has made recording off-the-cuff green screen videos really smooth.
To do so, add your background footage or image to a new project first, then tap the green screen button underneath the timeline. As you record, the background video will play, so you can actually see what you're talking about as you film.
The only drawback to this approach is that there is no way to edit the green screen recording once you're done, but I found I rather liked the simplicity of this. Cutting and moving green screen footage around can often make more of a mess than whatever you're trying to clean up.
4. Get creative with cutouts
'Cutout' lets you add a portion of another clip or image over another. You can manually choose what part of the media you want, or Edits chooses it automatically.
I was able to layer several of the same clip on top of each other with this feature, having my daughter appear three times in the same scene. (Cute, but terrifying.)
5. Don't be shy with sound effects
One of my favorite hacks for elevating a video from good to scroll-stopping is to add sound effects.
Not only does Edits have its own sound effects you can add right in the app — there are around 50 here too — they're also organized into neat categories and feature their own icons. Easy to find exactly what you need at a glance.
6. Scroll through trends to get inspired
Finding fun formats and trending audio on Instagram can be a little tricky — but Edits pulls them right into their native video tab. It's your reels feed, but only with trending videos. When you find an audio you like, you can even tap the 'Use audio' button to open a new project with that audio already on the timeline.
7. Let insights guide your next move
Edits has made it even easier to learn from your Instagram analytics by bringing them right into the app.
Tapping the graph icon on the bottom right of Edits will open real-time Insights for all your reels for the last 7-60 days. Tapping on one will open up in-depth metrics, including some interesting ones exclusive to the Edits experience (skip rate, like rate, and share rate).
🎥 Edits is available now on iOS and Android.
