How to Put a Video on Top of a Picture in an Instagram Story

Putting a video over a static picture is one of the easiest ways to level up your Instagram Stories and make them instantly more engaging. This simple technique can break up the monotony of flat images and catch your followers' attention as they tap through their feed. This guide will walk you through three different methods for doing exactly that, from the quick in-app sticker feature to a more advanced approach using external editing tools.

Why Try a Picture-in-Picture Story? The Creative Edge

Before we get into the "how," let's talk about the "why." What makes this technique so effective for brands and creative individuals? Layering content adds depth to your visual storytelling. It's an attention-grabbing pattern interrupt that stops people from mindlessly tapping past your Story. Instead of just seeing a photo, they see motion within a static frame, which forces their brain to pause and process what's happening.

This technique can be used in so many ways:

• Product Demos: A background image can showcase a product in a beautiful, stylized setting, while a small, layered video demonstrates a specific feature or shows the product in action. Imagine a flat-lay of hiking gear with a small video overlay showing the boots tackling a tough trail.
• Client Testimonials: A background graphic featuring a powerful quote from a client testimonial can have a video of that same client speaking overlaid on top, adding a layer of authenticity and personality.
• Reaction Videos: Place a video of yourself reacting in the corner of an image that's funny, shocking, or on-topic for your brand. This adds a human element and feels very native to the platform.
• Q&A Segments: You can create a branded graphic that features a follower's question and then overlay a video of you answering it directly. It’s far more visually interesting than pointing to a static question sticker.

Once you’ve mastered the technique, you'll start spotting opportunities everywhere to create more dynamic and engaging content with very little extra effort.

Method 1: The Quickest Way Using Instagram's Photo Sticker

If you're looking for the fastest, most straightforward way to put a video on top of a picture, Instagram has a built-in feature for that. You don't need any other apps, and it only takes a few taps. This method is perfect for when you're on the go and need to create something dynamic in seconds.

Here’s the breakdown step-by-step:

1. Start Your Story with the Background Image: First, open the Instagram app and swipe right or tap the plus icon and select "Story." Here you'll set your static background. Either take a new photo or swipe up to select a picture you already have in your camera roll.
2. Open the Sticker Tray: Once your picture is on the screen, look at the top-right icons. Tap on the Sticker icon (the little square smiley face). This will open up your full tray of options, including location, mentions, GIFs, and polls.
3. Find the "Photo" Sticker: Scroll through the sticker tray until you find one that looks like a camera roll icon with a circle shape (on some versions it looks like stacked photos). It's usually near the top along with the polls and quizzes. Tap on this sticker.
4. Select Your Video: Your phone’s media gallery will open up. You can now select the video file you want to use as your overlay. Don't worry about trying to find a perfect circle or square video, Instagram will let you crop it into a shape.
5. Customize the Video Shape: After you select your video, it will appear as a square sticker on top of your background picture. Now, here's the best part: just tap on the video sticker. Keep tapping it to cycle through different available shapes - you’ll be able to choose from a circle, a square with rounded edges, a heart, a star, and the original rectangle. Pick the one that works best for your visual concept.
6. Position and Resize: Use two fingers to pinch and zoom, making the video layer as big or small as you want. Drag it around the screen until it's positioned perfectly over your background image. You can also rotate it.
7. Finish Your Story: From here, you can add any other elements you want - text, music, captions, or more GIFs - and then publish your Story.

This method is simple, fast, and native to Instagram, making it the one you'll probably use most often.

Method 2: The "Copy and Paste" Trick (For iPhone Users)

This next approach offers a bit more flexibility and some say it produces a higher-quality result than the sticker method. It’s essentially a clever workaround that takes advantage of the copy-and-paste functionality on iOS devices. If you're an Android user, you'll want to skip ahead to method three.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Pick Your Background Image in Instagram Stories: Just like the first method, open a new Story and choose the still image you want to serve as the background layer.
2. Navigate Out of Instagram: With your Story canvas open, simply swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen to go back to your home screen. Don't close the Instagram app, just leave it running in the background.
3. Find and Copy Your Video Clip: Open the Photos app on your iPhone and locate the video you'd like to use as your overlay. Open the video, and tap the "Share" icon (the square with an arrow pointing up) in the bottom-left corner of the screen. In the share menu, you'll see an option that says "Copy." Tap it. Your video clip is now copied to your clipboard.
4. Return to Instagram: Go back to the open Instagram app where you left your Story draft. Almost immediately, a small pop-up sticker showing a preview of your video should appear in the lower-left corner with the text "Add sticker."
5. Paste the Sticker: Tap the "Add sticker" pop-up. Just like that, your video will be pasted onto your Story, layered over the background image you selected earlier.
6. Resize and Position: Now you have complete freedom to move the video around, pinch to resize it, and get it placed exactly where you want it. This method lets you keep the original rectangular format of the video without having to crop it into a pre-set shape.

This method feels a little more like a "hack," but it's incredibly effective and gives you a bit more control over the asset. It’s also great for overlaying videos with transparent backgrounds (if you’ve saved them as such), giving it a real production value boost.

Method 3: The Ultimate Control with a Third-Party Editing App

If you're a content creator, marketer, or brand founder who prizes precision and the highest possible quality, then creating your picture-in-picture Story outside of Instagram is the best way to go. Using a video editing app like CapCut, InShot, or Canva gives you pixel-perfect control over every single element, from positioning and sizing to more advanced effects like opacity and animation.

We’ll use CapCut for this tutorial, as it's free, wildly popular, and incredibly powerful. The general steps will be similar across any video editing platform.

1. Set Up Your Project: Open CapCut and tap "New project." Instead of choosing a video, select your static background image first. Once it's added to your project timeline, your first task is to set the project format. In the bottom toolbar, find and tap the "Ratio" tool and select "9:16," which is the vertical aspect ratio for Instagram Stories.
2. Adjust the Image Duration: By default, an image added to CapCut is only three seconds long. You need to extend it to cover the length of your video clip. Tap on the image clip in the timeline, and you’ll see white handles on either end. Drag the right handle to extend the duration. A 15-second duration is a good length for a standard Story.
3. Add the Video Overlay: Now it’s time to layer in the video. In the main toolbar at the bottom, don't tap "Add video" - instead, look for and tap the "Overlay" option. Tap it, then select "Add Overlay." Now, you can pick the video you want from your camera roll.
4. Precision Placement: Your video will appear on top of your background picture in the timeline. Unlike on Instagram, here you have full freedom. You can pinch and zoom to resize it, drag it anywhere on the screen for exact positioning, and rotate it with millimeter accuracy.
5. Use Advanced Effects (Optional): Here's where this method blows the others away. You can select your video overlay track and find more tools. For example, you can tap on "Opacity" to make the video slightly transparent, go to "Mask" to crop it into a non-standard shape like a feathered circle, or add an animation to make it fade in and out. This level of customization is what sets professional-looking Stories apart.
6. Export the Final Product: Once you're happy with your creation, tap the export icon in the top-right corner of CapCut (it looks like a box with an arrow pointing up). Set the resolution (1080p is perfect) and frame rate, then export the video. CapCut will combine both layers - your static image and your video overlay - into one single video file and save it to your phone's camera roll.
7. Upload to Instagram: Now all that's left to do is open Instagram, swipe over to start a new Story, swipe up to access your camera roll, and select the final polished video you just created. From here you can add music, interactive stickers, and whatever else to finish it off before posting.

Final Thoughts

Layering a video over a picture is a simple yet powerful technique to make your Instagram Stories more dynamic and stop the scroll. Whether you choose the quick native sticker method for on-the-go creation, the clever copy-and-paste trick for more flexibility on iOS, or an external editing app for maximum professional control, any of these approaches will help your content stand apart.

Nailing creative techniques like these is only half the battle of building an effective social media presence, consistency is just as vital. At Postbase, we developed a tool designed specifically for today’s visual-first, video-heavy social landscape. Our visual calendar lets creators and brand managers see their entire content plan at a glance, allowing you to drag and drop pre-planned Stories, Reels, and TikToks to find the perfect flow. By planning ahead with Postbase, you can ensure that your brilliantly designed, picture-in-picture content gets seen at the exact right moment, without the late-night stress of manual posting.