Hello scrappy friends!!!
I’m so excited for The Lilypad’s Halloween Bash this weekend!! There are so many fun games and challenges for you to participate in to get into the Halloween spirit. One of those challenges, that I just happen to be hosting, is the Instagram challenge to post your layouts to Instagram with the hashtag #TLPhalloweenbash2020. I have enjoyed hosting the Instagram challenge for our last several events at The Lilypad. It is a fun way to connect on social media, share creativity and find inspiration.
I have had some questions about how to go about sharing layouts on Instagram, so I thought this is a great time to share three ways to do that so you’ll be prepared for this weekend!
First, you will need to set up an Instagram account if you do not already have one. Some scrapbookers and community members have a separate account just for posting their scrapbook layouts and others just their personal account for sharing layouts along with photos. You may want to think about how you want to do things with you account…there is no right or wrong…YOU DO YOU!
Now, I’m going to share three ways you can upload your layouts to Instagram:
1. Use Dropbox
I wrote a blog post last year on how you can use Dropbox for sharing your layouts to Instagram using your phone. If you’re already a Dropbox user, this is a fairly simple process. You can read that blog post here.
The steps to this are to (1) copy your layout to a Dropbox folder (2) Open the Dropbox app on your phone or mobile device (3) Navigate to and select the layout you want to post (4) export and save the layout to the photos on your phone. From there you can open Instagram and upload as you would any other photo you’re posting.
2. Use a Scheduling Tool
Many scrapbookers and community members here use Later to schedule and post layouts to Instagram. I have not personally used this tool, but I have plans to try it out myself this weekend.
If you decide to go with this, you’ll need to download it to your computer. You can use it to copy and paste credits and schedule layouts to be posted on Instagram from your computer. Later will send you a reminder when it’s time to post and you can push it through from your phone.
3. Use Your Web Browser
This is my current preferred method for posting layouts to Instagram. Most web browsers have a way of changing the “user agent” to make it look like you’re on a different device (i.e. your phone). I’ve used this on both Crome and Edge, but the process is pretty much the same for all browsers as far as I can tell.
Open your browser, visit Instagram.com and sign in to your account.
Right-click anywhere on the page and select INSPECT from the list of options. (You will now be using the developer’s tools to view the page.)
Click on the icon that looks like an iPad with an iPhone next to it (near the top right half of the page).
The Instagram interface should refresh, giving you the mobile website, complete with the + button to create a new post. If you don’t have this + button to post, refresh the page and it should show up.
If you use a different method to post your layouts to Instagram, I would love for you to share that in the comments below!!
I can’t wait to see all of your Halloween layouts filling up the Lilypad’s Instagram feed this weekend! If you’re not already following The Lilypad on Instagram, now is a great time to do that, too!
Marilyn says
There are several Chrome extensions that you can use right on your laptop. You click on the extension (at the very top right of your address bar), and it takes you right into Instagram.
I’ve tried both of these, available at the Google Play store: Desktopify (devanco.com) and Desktop for Instagram
Leslie Webb says
Hello Marilyn,
I am working on a digital book with Forever. I bought some templates from Lilypad, but I don’t know how to get them onto my page. I am not interested in instagram. I just want to place the template onto my page.
Can You, or someone you know, help mr?
Thank you, Leslie Webb
keepscrappin says
Leslie,
From what I can tell Forever is a photobook website like Shutterfly where you can use their templates to make photobooks. I think you would have to make your layout using the templates you purchased from the Lilypad in a program like photoshop or photoshop elements and then upload the layout jpg to the forever website for printing. I don’t know of another way to use TLP templates with site like Forever, Shutterfly etc.
Esther Wisdom says
Good Morning! Love the post! I also use Creator Studio to post to IG from my desktop. It allows you to schedule as well and it is also free to use.
Marif says
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been wanting to Insta my layouts for a while and hadn’t yet taken the time to look up how. A quick google search led me to this very clear, very simple how to and I’ve just shared my first layout ?