How to Add Two Pictures on an Instagram Story

Want to combine multiple photos into a single, eye-catching Instagram Story? You’ve come to the right place. Creating a collage directly in your Story is one of the best ways to level up your content, and it’s surprisingly easy to do once you know the tricks. This guide will walk you through three simple methods to add two or more pictures to your Instagram Story, plus share some creative ideas to make your designs pop.

The Easiest Method: Using the Photo Sticker

The most straightforward way to add multiple photos to a single Story is by using Instagram’s built-in “add photo” sticker. It’s flexible, fast, and lets you layer as many photos as you want. You can position, resize, and rotate each image independently, giving you complete creative control.

This method is perfect for creating scrapbook-style collages, showing off product details, or just having fun with your layouts.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Start Your Story: Open the Instagram app and swipe right to open the Story camera. Start your Story by either taking a new photo, recording a video, uploading an existing image or video from your camera roll, or selecting “Create” (the "Aa" icon) for a solid color background.
2. Open the Sticker Tray: Once your background is set, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen (it looks like a square smiley face). This will open up your entire library of stickers, from GIFs to Polls.
3. Find the Photo Sticker: Scroll down a bit in the sticker menu. You're looking for an icon that lets you add an image from your camera roll. It often looks like a circle with a preview of your most recent photo, sometimes with a little mountain-and-sun icon or a card stack symbol. Tap on it.
4. Select Your Second Picture: Your phone’s camera roll will open. Browse through your photos and tap the one you want to add to your Story. It will now appear on top of your original background image.
5. Arrange and Customize: Now for the fun part. You can move the photo sticker anywhere on the screen by dragging it with your finger. Use two fingers to pinch in or out to make it smaller or larger, and twist your fingers to rotate it. A cool, hidden trick: tap the photo sticker. Tapping it will cycle through different shapes like a circle, star, heart, or rectangle with rounded corners.
6. Add More Photos (if you want): This isn’t a one-and-done feature. To add a third, fourth, or even fifth photo, just repeat the process. Tap the sticker icon again, select the photo sticker, and choose your next image. Layer them up, make them different sizes, and create a dynamic visual.

The Quick Hack: The Copy and Paste Method (iPhone Only)

If you're an iPhone user, there’s a super-fast workaround that can feel even quicker than finding the sticker. By using your phone's native copy-and-paste function, you can drop photos directly into your Story draft.

This trick is great for when you already have a photo in mind and want to quickly bring it over without digging through the sticker menu.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Get Your Story Ready: Open the Instagram app and start your Story. Just like with the sticker method, get your background image or color set up first.
2. Go to Your Camera Roll: Without closing Instagram (just toggle away from it), open your phone's Photos app.
3. Copy the Photo: Find the photo you want to add. Tap the “Share” icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen. In the share menu, scroll down and tap “Copy Photo.” The image is now copied to your clipboard.
4. Head Back to Instagram: Go back to the Instagram app. Your Story draft should still be open.
5. Paste Your Photo: As soon as you reopen Instagram, you should see a small pop-up in the bottom-left corner that says “Add sticker” with a little preview of your copied image. Tap it, and your photo will be added to the Story.
6. What if the Pop-Up Doesn't Appear? No worries. If the automatic pop-up doesn’t show up, tap the "Aa" icon to open the text tool. Then, tap on the screen where you'd normally type, and a “Paste” option will appear. Tap it, and your photo will pop onto the screen as a sticker. From here, you can resize and reposition it just like any other sticker.

You can use this copy-and-paste method repeatedly to add as many photos as you need.

The Clean Look: Using Instagram's "Layout" Mode

If you prefer clean, uniform grid lines over the free-form, scrapbook style of the sticker method, then Instagram's Layout mode is your best friend. This feature lets you create perfect photo collages directly from the Story camera, splitting your screen into different segments.

This is the best option for side-by-side comparisons, before-and-after reveals, or beautifully organized product showcases.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open the Story Camera: Swipe right from your Instagram feed to open the Story camera.
2. Select "Layout" Mode: On the left side of the screen, there's a vertical toolbar with various creative options. Tap the icon that looks like a window with grid lines. This is the Layout icon.
3. Choose Your Grid Style: Once you tap the Layout icon, you’ll stay in that mode but gain a new option to change the grid. Tap the “Change Grid” icon (a rectangle with different lines through it) to cycle through different layout styles. You can have a simple two-photo split, a four-square grid, and several other configurations. Find the one that fits your idea.
4. Add Your Photos: Now it's time to fill the grid. You have two options for each segment:
   • From Your Camera Roll: Tap the photo gallery icon in the bottom-left corner to open your camera roll. Select a photo to add it to the first segment of your grid.
   • Take a New Photo: Tap the white shutter button in the center to take a new picture for the highlighted grid segment.
   You can mix and match, using both existing and new photos to fill your collage.
5. Confirm Your Layout: Once you've filled every section of the grid with a photo, tap the checkmark button at the bottom center of the screen to confirm your collage.
6. Add the Finishing Touches: Your collage now acts as a single background image. You can add text, draw, place GIFs, use Poll stickers, or add music on top of it, just like you would with any other Story.

Creative Ideas for Using Multiple Photos in Your Stories

Now that you know how to put two pictures on an Instagram story, what should you do with this power? Here are a few engaging ideas to get you started.

Tell a Mini-Story

Use a sequence of photos to show a process. One picture can be the raw ingredients, and the second can be the finished meal. One can be the "before" of a project, and the other can be the stunning "after." This builds a simple narrative that is much more engaging than a single image.

Product Deep Dives

If you're a brand or freelancer, use multiple photos to show off a product from different angles. Use the Layout grid to showcase two different colorways side-by-side, or use the sticker method to overlay lifestyle shots of a product in use next to a clean studio shot of the product itself.

Create a "This or That"

Place two different photos side-by-side using the Layout tool. Add a poll sticker on top asking your audience which one they prefer. For example: "Which outfit for the weekend?" or "Which book cover grabs your attention?" This is an easy way to boost interaction and learn more about your audience's preferences.

Make Your Own Branded Templates

Start a story with a solid background color that matches your brand's palette. Then, use the photo sticker to add a picture, leaving plenty of empty space. Add your text in a consistent font. You've just created a reusable template! Save the finished image to your phone, and you can use it again for a cohesive look across your Stories.

Final Thoughts

Putting multiple photos on your Instagram Story is a simple technique that opens up a world of creativity. Whether you're using the flexible sticker method for a layered look, the grid-based Layout mode for clean collages, or the speedy copy-paste trick, you can now build more engaging, dynamic, and visually interesting content with just a few taps.

Once you’ve mastered creating multi-photo Stories, the next step is building them into a consistent content strategy. This is where planning your content ahead of time with a tool like Postbase becomes invaluable. We designed our visual calendar to help you see your entire social media schedule at a glance, allowing you to plot out your Stories, Reels, and feed posts seamlessly. Because our platform was built for modern social media, it handles video formats and Stories natively, so you can plan, schedule, and publish without the glitches you find in older tools.