How to Draw on an Instagram Story

Want to make your Instagram Stories pop with unique designs and a personal touch? Using Instagram’s native drawing tools is one of the quickest ways to elevate your content, but many creators only scratch the surface of what’s possible. This guide is your complete walkthrough to mastering every feature, from finding the right brush to creating eye-catching effects that will stop your followers from swiping past.

First Things First: Finding the Instagram Story Drawing Tools

The drawing tools are accessible directly within the Story creation interface.

Here’s how to get there:

1. Open the Instagram app and swipe right or tap the plus icon (+) at the top of your screen and select "Story."
2. You can either take a new photo, record a video, or choose an existing one from your camera roll. If you want a blank canvas, you can also select the "Create" mode (represented by the "Aa" icon) and choose a background color.
3. Once your photo, video, or background is on the screen, look at the icons at the top right. Tap the one that looks like a squiggly line or a marker pen. This will open up the drawing interface.

You're in! At the top, you'll see different pen styles and an eraser. At the bottom, you'll find the color palette. On the left side, a vertical slider lets you adjust your brush size. Now, let’s get familiar with what each of these tools can do.

Mastering the Drawing Toolkit: A Complete Guide

The drawing interface might look simple, but it’s packed with features. Understanding each tool and its unique properties is the first step toward creating standout visuals. Let's break down your entire toolkit.

Choosing Your Marker Style

Instagram gives you five distinct drawing tools at the top of the screen (from right to left, next to the "Done" button). Each one offers a different texture and purpose.

• Standard Pen: This is your go-to brush. It creates a solid, opaque line with rounded edges. It's incredibly versatile and perfect for writing clean handwritten notes, creating definitive borders, or drawing simple icons. Think of it as your trusty digital fine-point marker.
• Arrow Brush: This tool functions exactly like the standard pen but adds an arrowhead to the end of your stroke. It’s a huge time-saver for anyone who needs to point something out without clumsily drawing an arrow by hand. Use it to highlight a specific product, draw attention to a "link in bio" sticker, or guide your viewer's eye.
• Highlighter: The highlighter tool creates a semi-transparent line with a flat edge, mimicking a real-life highlighter. It’s fantastic for emphasizing text that’s already been added to your Story or for creating colorful, transparent overlays on top of an image. If you draw over the same spot again, the color will layer and become darker.
• Neon Pen: As the name suggests, this pen adds a glowing, electric effect to your drawing. It features a bright inner color line with a softer, luminescent haze around it. This is the perfect tool for creating attention-grabbing headlines, adding a futuristic vibe, or outlining objects to make them stand out.
• Eraser: More than just a way to fix mistakes, the eraser is a creative tool in its own right. It removes anything you’ve drawn and can be used to carve out shapes, create negative space, or execute the popular "scratch-off" reveal effect.

Perfecting Your Colors

Great design often comes down to color. A limited palette can feel restrictive, but Instagram hides an entire world of color right below the surface.

• The Pre-Set Palette: At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see 27 default color swatches. This is great for quick adjustments and for staying within a standard color range. Just tap a color to select it.
• The Hidden Color Slider: This is a pro tip that changes everything. To access millions of color options, press and hold any of the default color swatches. After a second, a full-screen color gradient will appear. Without lifting your finger, you can slide it around to select the exact shade, hue, and saturation you want.
• The Eyedropper Tool: For a perfectly cohesive and branded look, the eyedropper is your best friend. Found on the far-left of the color swatches, this tool lets you pull any color directly from the photo or video you're working on. Tap the eyedropper, drag it around your screen, and lift your finger when you've found the color you want to use. This is perfect for matching your drawing color to your logo, your outfit, or any element in the image.

Controlling Your Brush Size

The final piece of the core toolkit is the size slider. It’s a vertical bar located on the far left of your screen. Simply drag the circle up for a thicker line or down for a thinner one. Use a very small brush size for writing legible text or adding fine details. A large brush size is excellent for filling areas with color, creating chunky borders, or making a bold statement with a single stroke.

Creative Ways to Use the Drawing Tools for Your Brand or Business

Now that you know how the tools work, it’s time to put them into practice. The drawing feature isn't just for fun - it's a powerful marketing tool that can boost engagement and strengthen your brand's personality.

Create Custom Backgrounds and Overlays

Tired of the default backgrounds? Make your own. Start by opening the drawing tool, selecting a color, and then pressing and holding your finger down anywhere on the screen for a few seconds. The entire screen will fill with a solid, opaque color. This gives you a fresh canvas for text, stickers, or more drawings.

Pro-Tip: Do the same thing with the highlighter tool. Instead of a solid color, you’ll get a semi-transparent overlay. This is a brilliant way to add a brand color tint to your photos or videos while still letting the visuals show through.

The "Scratch-Off" Reveal Effect

This interactive technique is one of the most engaging ways to use the drawing tools. It's perfect for new product launches, announcements, contest reveals, or Friday quizzes with your audience.

1. Add the photo you want to reveal to your Story.
2. Select a drawing tool and a color, and then press-and-hold the screen to cover the entire image with a solid color fill.
3. Next, switch to the eraser tool. Now you can "scratch off" the overlay to reveal a portion of the image.
4. Add a call-to-action with the text tool like, "Guess what’s hiding underneath!" Your followers will be curious and more likely to stick around to see the full reveal in the next slide.

Enhance Your Photos and Text

The drawing tools are excellent for adding emphasis and context. Small details can make a huge difference in how your content is received.

• Simple Accents: Use the standard pen or the arrow tool to circle, underline, or point to important information. It directs the viewer's gaze and ensures your key message doesn’t get lost.
• Custom Text Shadow: Make your headlines pop by giving them an easy drop shadow. First, add your text using the standard text tool. Then, select the draw tool with a color slightly darker or different from your text. Carefully trace just behind the text to create a shadow effect. It instantly adds depth and makes the text easier to read against a busy background.
• Add Some Personality: You don’t have to be a professional artist to add character. Simple doodles like stars, hearts, exclamation points, or squiggles around an object can inject energy and personality into your story, making it feel less corporate and more human.

Handwritten Notes for a Personal Touch

In a digital world filled with polished fonts, a handwritten message can truly stand out. Use the thin pen tool to write a quick thank-you note to a customer, a personal message to your audience, or to sign off on an announcement. This small gesture feels authentic and builds a much stronger connection with your followers.

Pro-Tips for Clean and Professional Story Drawings

A little practice goes a long way. Use these tips to get better, faster.

• Use a Stylus (If You Have One): While not required, a fine-tipped stylus for a phone or tablet will give you far more precision than your finger, especially when writing or creating detailed drawings.
• Don't Forget the Undo Button: Made a mistake? Don't start over. The "Undo" button at the top left of the screen will be your best friend. Tap it once to remove your last stroke, and keep tapping to go back step-by-step.
• Think in Layers: Remember that what you draw last appears on top. If you want to create a shadow behind a doodle, draw the doodle first, then the shadow. If you want a neon glow to be behind an object, draw it first.
• Keep Your Branding Consistent: Try to stick to a consistent color palette (using the eyedropper on your logo is great for this!) and style. Over time, your followers will start to instantly recognize your Stories in their feed.

Final Thoughts

What appears to be a basic drawing function is actually a versatile creative suite built directly into Instagram. By moving beyond simple scribbles and putting these tools and techniques to work, you can create Stories that are not only more beautiful and professional, but also more engaging and effective for building your brand.

Consistently creating interesting Story content is a huge part of an effective social media strategy, but juggling all of those moving parts can become a challenge. We built Postbase for today's social media reality, where Stories, Reels, and TikToks are just as important as static posts. Our visual calendar helps you plan your entire content schedule in one place, so you can stop jumping between apps and focus on creating, with the confidence that your posts are scheduled and ready to go.