How to Put Multiple Pictures on an Instagram Story Without Layout

Adding a collage of photos to your Instagram Story used to mean being trapped by the app's rigid Layout feature. But you have far more creative control than you think. This guide will show you several simple methods to place, layer, and resize multiple pictures on a single Instagram Story, giving you the freedom to design unique and engaging visuals without being locked into a predefined grid.

The Easiest Method: The Photo Sticker Feature (For Everyone)

This is Instagram’s intended way to add multiple photos to one Story, and it's the most reliable method for both iPhone and Android users. It treats each additional picture as a “sticker” that you can manipulate freely. It’s quick, intuitive, and works directly within the app.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Start Your Story: Open Instagram and swipe right to open the Story camera. Either take a new photo, upload one from your camera roll to use as the background, or select "Create" for a solid color background. Changing the background color after you've started is as simple as tapping the small color circle in the bottom-right.
2. Open the Sticker Tray: Once your background is set, tap the sticker icon (the smiley face in a folded square) at the top of the screen.
3. Find the Photo Sticker: Scroll through the sticker options until you see one that looks like a photo with a corner peeled up, or a circle icon that previews images from your camera roll. Tap it.
4. Select Your First Photo: Your photo gallery will open. Choose the first picture you want to add to your Story. It will appear as a sticker on top of your background.
5. Resize, Rotate, and Position: Use two fingers to pinch and zoom to resize your photo sticker. Drag it anywhere you’d like on the screen. You can rotate it with the same two-finger gesture.
6. Rinse and Repeat: This is the important part! To add more pictures, simply tap the sticker icon again, select the Photo Sticker, and choose another image from your gallery. You can repeat this process as many times as you like, adding more and more photos to your canvas.

Pro Tip: Change the Shape

Once you’ve placed a photo sticker on your Story, tap it once. Instagram will cycle the image through different shapes - a circle, a star, a heart, a rectangle with rounded corners, and back to its original rectangular shape. This is an awesome way to break free from the boring square grid and add a little visual flair to your multi-photo layout.

The Viral Shortcut: The Copy &, Paste Hack (For iPhone Users)

This method went viral on social media for a reason: it's incredibly fast and feels like a secret trick. Instead of operating purely within the Instagram app, it uses your iPhone’s universal copy-and-paste function to lift photos directly from your camera roll and drop them into your Story. It’s perfect for quickly layering images without navigating through menus.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Set Your Background: Just like with the sticker method, start by creating a new Instagram Story with your desired background - this can be a photo, a video, or a solid color.
2. Switch to Your Photos App: Without closing Instagram, navigate to your iPhone’s Photos app. Find the first picture you want to add.
3. Copy the Photo: Tap the "Share" icon (the box with an upward-pointing arrow) in the bottom-left corner. From the menu, select "Copy Photo."
4. Return to Instagram: Immediately switch back to the Instagram app. You should still have your Story draft open.
5. Paste as a Sticker: Within a second or two, a small pop-up should appear in the bottom-left corner that says “Add sticker” with a preview of the photo you just copied. Tap it, and your photo will be pasted onto your Story. (If the pop-up doesn't appear, you can also access the text tool "Aa", tap and hold where the cursor blinks, and choose "Paste" from the tiny menu that appears.)
6. Adjust and Repeat: You can resize, move, and rotate this pasted picture freely. To add more photos, just repeat the process: switch to Photos, copy another image, return to your Instagram Story, and paste it.

This technique allows you to quickly build dynamic collages, layering photos on top of each other in a freeform style that feels more organic and creative than a structured layout.

The Ultimate Control Method: Using a Third-Party App

Sometimes you need total creative control that Instagram’s built-in tools can't offer. Preparing your multi-photo Story as a single image in a dedicated design app beforehand gives you unlimited flexibility over layouts, backgrounds, text, and other graphic elements. Then, you simply upload the finished masterpiece to your Story. No in-app faffing around.

Why Go This Route?

• Total Design Freedom: Arrange photos with pixel-perfect precision. Add custom backgrounds, branded fonts, and graphic elements that Instagram doesn't offer.
• Consistency: Perfect for brands that want to maintain a specific aesthetic across all their Stories using templates.
• Advanced Editing: Some apps allow for more advanced photo editing, like adding borders, drop shadows, or specific filters to individual photos within the collage.

Popular Apps for Pre-Making Story Collages:

• Canva: Incredibly user-friendly with thousands of free templates, fonts, and graphics specifically designed for Instagram Stories (the dimensions are 1080x1920 pixels).
• Unfold: Known for its clean, minimalist, and film-inspired templates that give your Stories a high-end feel.
• Adobe Express: A powerful tool that offers features similar to Canva, with great integration if you're already in the Adobe ecosystem.

The General Workflow:

1. Choose Your App: Download and open your design app of choice.
2. Start a Story-Sized Canvas: Look for a template specifically for "Instagram Story." If not, create a custom design with the dimensions 1080px wide by 1920px tall.
3. Build Your Collage: Upload photos from your camera roll and arrange them on the canvas. Add text, graphics, and backgrounds until you're happy with the result.
4. Save to Camera Roll: Once your design is complete, export it and save the final image to your phone's photo library.
5. Upload to Instagram: Open Instagram Stories, swipe up to access your camera roll, and select the final image you just created. You can still add interactive elements like polls, quizzes, music or @mentions on top of it before publishing.

Tips for Creating Aesthetically Pleasing Photo Collages

Now that you know how to add multiple photos, the next step is making them look good together. Being able to place images freely opens up a world of creative possibilities. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Tell a Mini-Story: Arrange photos chronologically to show a "before and after," a step-by-step process of a recipe or craft, or highlights from an event in the order they happened. This visual narrative is far more engaging than a single image.
• Create a Mood Board Effect: Overlap several images of different sizes and orientations to build an aesthetic mood board. This is perfect for brands sharing inspiration, fashion bloggers showcasing an outfit and its details, or designers highlighting a color palette.
• Use Photos to Frame Something: Place a video in the center of your Story and then use the sticker or copy-paste method to arrange smaller photos around it, creating a dynamic visual frame.
• Play with Depth: Layering is your best friend. Tuck corners of photos underneath others to create a sense of depth and a scrapbook-like feel. Don’t be afraid to let images overlap in interesting ways.
• Keep Your Background Clean: If you're using a lot of photos, a simple, solid-color background often works best. It prevents the Story from feeling too busy and makes the pictures you've added the main focus. You can use the color dropper tool (in the drawing tools section) to match your background color to one of the photos for a polished and integrated look.

Final Thoughts

Moving beyond Instagram's restrictive "Layout" grid empowers you to create more personalized and visually interesting Stories. Whether you prefer the simple Photo Sticker, the quick copy-and-paste iPhone hack, or the full control of a design app like Canva, you now have the tools to arrange multiple photos in a way that truly represents your brand or personal style.

As you get more comfortable creating detailed Stories, planning becomes essential to keeping your content polished and on schedule. We built Postbase to make that process easier. Our visual content calendar allows you to plan out all your social media content, including complex Reels and Stories, ahead of time. Seeing everything in one place helps you craft a more cohesive narrative and keep your audience engaged day after day, without the last-minute scramble.