How to Add Pictures to Instagram Story

Want to turn your simple Instagram Stories into eye-catching visual narratives? Adding a picture is the first step, but the real fun starts when you learn to layer multiple photos, create slick collages, and use hidden features to craft unique designs. This guide breaks down everything from the absolute basics to the creative tricks that will make your Stories stand out.

The Basics: Adding a Single Picture to Your Story

If you're just getting started, adding a single photo to your Instagram Story is your foundation. It’s a straightforward process, and mastering it will make all the advanced techniques easier to pick up. Here’s how to do it.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open the Story Camera: Launch the Instagram app. From your home feed, you can either tap the plus sign (+) in the top-right corner and select "Story," or simply swipe right from anywhere on the feed to open the Story creation screen directly.
2. Access Your Camera Roll: Once the Story camera is open, look to the bottom-left corner. You’ll see a square thumbnail previewing your most recent photo. Tap this square, or simply swipe up from anywhere on the screen, to open your phone's photo gallery.
3. Select Your Picture: Scroll through your camera roll and tap on the image you want to share. Instagram will automatically pull it into the Story editor.
4. Resize and Reposition: After selecting your picture, you can use two fingers to pinch to zoom in or out, and drag the image around to frame it exactly how you want. This is perfect for cropping in on a specific detail or making sure the entire photo fits on the screen.
5. Edit and Enhance: Before posting, take advantage of the tools at the top of the screen. You can add text (Aa), stickers (the square smiley face icon), music, or draw on your image. When you're happy with your creation, tap the "Your Story" button in the bottom-left to share it with your followers.

You can also take a photo or record a video directly from the Story camera by tapping the large white circle at the bottom. This is great for capturing in-the-moment content without having to open your phone’s camera app first.

Level Up: How to Add Multiple Pictures to One Instagram Story

Once you’ve mastered the single post, the next step is combining multiple photos. This can be done in a couple of ways depending on your goal. Do you want to create a sequence of separate Story slides, or do you want to layer multiple photos onto a single screen for a collage effect? Here are the methods for both.

Method 1: Creating Separate Story Slides

This approach is ideal for walking your audience through a sequence of events, a step-by-step process, or a photo dump from an event. It posts your chosen images as individual, full-screen stories that users can tap through.

• Open the Story camera and swipe up to access your gallery.
• In the top right corner of your gallery view, tap the "SELECT" button. It looks like a square with overlapping corners.
• Now, you can tap on up to ten photos and videos from your camera roll. A number will appear on each one to show the order you’ve selected them in.
• Once you're done, tap "Next" in the bottom right corner.
• Instagram will load each photo as a separate, editable Story slide at the bottom of the screen. You can tap on each slide to add unique text, stickers, or filters before you publish.

Method 2: Using the Photo Sticker to Layer Pictures on One Slide

This is where the real creative magic happens. The photo sticker lets you add pictures on top of each other on a single Story slide, giving you complete freedom to design beautiful, custom collages. It’s perfect for reaction posts, mood boards, or spotlighting multiple products at once.

1. Start with a Background: Open your Story camera. You need something to place your photo stickers onto. You can take a simple photo of a neutral texture, upload a pre-made brand background from your gallery, or tap "Create" mode (Aa) from the side menu to pick a solid or gradient color background.
2. Access the Sticker Tray: With your background set, tap the sticker icon (the square smiley face) at the top of the screen.
3. Find the Photo Sticker: Scroll down through the sticker options until you see a circle with a small preview of your most recent photo, often featuring a mountain and sun icon. This is the photo sticker. Tap it.
4. Choose Your First Image: Your photo gallery will open. Select the first picture you want to add to your collage. It will appear on your screen as a sticker.
5. Position and Adjust: You can resize the photo sticker by pinching with two fingers, drag it anywhere on the screen, and rotate it. An interesting trick is to tap on the sticker - this will cycle it through different shapes like a circle, square with rounded corners, star, or heart.
6. Repeat to Add More: To add more pictures, simply tap the sticker icon again, select the photo sticker, and choose your next image. You can layer as many images as you like to get the look you want.

Creating Dynamic Collages with Instagram's Built-in Tools

Beyond the do-it-yourself photo sticker method, Instagram offers a few more structured ways to create beautiful collages without needing a separate app.

Using Layout Mode for Clean Grids

If you want a quick and perfectly symmetrical collage, Layout mode is your best friend. It’s built right into the Story camera and gives you pre-made grids to drop your pictures into.

How to Use Layout Mode:

• Open the Story creator. On the left side of the screen, there's a vertical toolbar with different creative options. Tap the icon that looks like grid lines - this is Layout mode.
• Just above the shutter button, you’ll see an option to "Change Grid." Tap this to cycle through different grid formats, such as a four-square grid, a two-photo vertical split, and more.
• Select the grid you like. Now, you can fill each segment. To add a photo from your gallery, tap the gallery icon in the bottom-left corner of the Layout view. To take a new photo for a specific segment, just aim and tap the shutter button.
• Once all segments of the grid are filled, you can add text and other elements on top before publishing.

The Secret Copy-and-Paste Trick (for iOS)

This is a lesser-known but incredibly efficient way to add photos to your Stories, especially if you’re pulling them from a specific album. It’s a bit of a workaround but feels amazingly fast once you get the hang of it.

1. Navigate to the Photos app on your iPhone.
2. Find the picture you want to use and tap the Share icon (the square with an arrow pointing up) in the bottom-left.
3. From the menu, select "Copy Photo."
4. Quickly switch back to the Instagram app, where you should already have a Story draft open with a background.
5. An "Add sticker" pop-up will appear in the bottom-left corner with a thumbnail of your copied photo. Tap it, and the picture will be added as a sticker to your Story.
6. If the pop-up doesn't appear, you can use the text tool (Aa), long-press on the screen where the text cursor appears, and then tap "Paste." The image will appear as a sticker.

This trick is a huge time-saver for creators who put together complex collages, as it allows you to bypass the sticker menu entirely.

Pro Tips for Making Your Story Photos Stand Out

Knowing how to add photos is only half the battle. Using them effectively is what captures attention and drives engagement. Here are a few strategies to keep in mind.

• Stay On-Brand: Use photos that align with your overall brand aesthetic. When you add text or drawings, stick to your brand's color palette and fonts (you can use the eyedropper tool to pull colors directly from your photo for a perfect match). Consistency helps your followers recognize your content instantly.
• Mix Photo Styles: In collages, create visual interest by mixing different types of shots. Pair a detailed, close-up photo with a wide, atmospheric shot. Combine a product photo with a user-generated image of someone enjoying that product. The contrast will make your Story more dynamic.
• Leverage Interactive Stickers: Don't just post pictures - make them conversational. Use the layering technique to showcase two options, then add a Poll sticker asking your audience to vote. Post a picture from an event and use the Question sticker to ask your followers what they want to know. Interactive elements turn passive viewing into active participation.
• Mind the "Safe Zones": Be careful not to place important parts of your photo at the very top or bottom of the screen. Instagram overlays your profile information at the top and the message reply bar at the bottom, which can obscure text or key visual elements. Keep the good stuff in the middle 80% of the screen.

Final Thoughts

From simply uploading a single photo to building intricate, multi-layered collages with the photo sticker and Layout modes, you now have all the tools needed to elevate your Instagram Stories. What once seemed complex is just a matter of knowing which buttons to tap to unlock a whole new level of creative expression for connecting with your audience.

Mastering the creative side of Stories is a huge win, but we know the grind of regularly planning and scheduling content can be just as demanding. We built Postbase because we were tired of legacy social media tools that feel clunky and treat modern formats like Stories and Reels as an afterthought. Our visual calendar lets you plan all your content in one organized place, helping you stay consistent and focused on making great things without constantly worrying about what to post next.