How to Use Effects on TikTok

TikTok effects can transform a simple video into a viral hit, adding everything from subtle beauty enhancements to full-blown interactive games. Mastering them is one of the fastest ways to level up your content creation game. This guide covers a wide variety of topics, including step-by-step instructions for finding, using, and discovering new effects and expert tips on how to add visual interest to all of your TikTok videos.

Where to Find TikTok Effects: Your Creative Toolbox

Before you can use an effect, you first have to discover it. Luckily, TikTok makes it easy to explore a massive, constantly updated library of user-generated and official effects. This is your primary hub for discovering tools that will help you tell your story.

You can find the entire effects library right from the camera screen. Simply open the TikTok app, tap the plus (+) icon to open the camera, and then look for the Effects icon on the bottom left corner of your screen. It looks like a smiling face icon with sparkles.

Tapping this will open the Effects Panel, which is neatly organized into several tabs to help you find precisely what you’re looking for:

• Trending: This tab is your cheat sheet for what's currently popular on the platform. Using a trending effect is a great way to tap into ongoing conversations and potentially give your video an algorithmic boost. This is the best place to start if you’re looking for immediate inspiration.
• New: Check this tab frequently to discover the latest effects as soon as they’re added. Being an early adopter of a new effect can help your video stand out before the trend becomes saturated.
• Favorites: Whenever you find an effect you love, you can tap the bookmark icon to save it here. This is incredibly useful for building a consistent brand aesthetic or quickly accessing your go-to effects for specific content styles.
• Search: If you have something specific in mind, the search function is your best friend. You can search by keywords like "green screen," "vintage," "freeze frame," or the name of a specific challenge you've seen.
• Category Tabs: TikTok also organizes effects into dozens of categories. You might see tabs for categories such as Green Screen, Funny, Beauty, Interactive, Editing, Halloween, Animals, and so much more. Take a moment to scroll through the icons and discover the diverse range of styles that await. A bit of creative exploration is often needed when finding the perfect style for your audience.

From whimsical face filters to powerful visual tools like the Green Screen, this library is the foundation of creative expression on TikTok. Making a habit of browsing it regularly will spark new ideas and keep you aware of a wide range of content styles trending on the app.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Effects Before You Record

The most common way to use an Effect is to apply it before you start recording your video. This lets you see exactly how you and your environment look on camera, allowing you to interact with the effect in real-time. For a majority of effects - especially interactive games, face filters, and AR enhancements - this is the only way to use them.

Here are a few simple steps to guide you:

1. Open the TikTok Camera

Start by tapping the plus (+) icon at the bottom center of your screen to open the creator camera interface.

2. Access the Effects Panel

Tap the Effects icon located to the left of the big red record button. This opens up the full gallery of effects you can browse.

3. Find and Select Your Effect

Browse through the Trending, New, or other category tabs to find an effect you want to try. You can also use the search bar if you're looking for something specific. Once you find one, simply tap on its icon. The effect will instantly be applied to your camera view, giving you a live preview of how it looks.

For example, if you select the popular "Green Screen" effect, your camera will disappear and be replaced by a screen prompting you to select a photo or video from your camera roll to use as a background.

4. Set Up Your Shot

With the effect active, take a moment to frame your shot. If you’re using a face filter, make sure your lighting is good so the effect tracks your features correctly. If you’re using an interactive effect or a game, read the on-screen prompts to understand how to control it (often by blinking, tilting your head, or tapping the screen).

5. Record Your Video

Once you’re ready, select a sound for your video, set a timer if you need one, and press the red record button. You can record a single continuous clip or multiple shorter clips, all while the effect remains active. When you are finished, press the 'check' button in the lower right-hand corner.

That's it! Once you finish recording, you can proceed to the editing screen to add text, stickers, or make other adjustments before posting.

Adding Magic After You Shoot: Post-Production Effects

Sometimes, the perfect effect is one that adds flair in post-production. These effects aren’t interactive in the same way as pre-recording filters, instead, they add motion, visual styles, and transitions to footage you’ve already captured. This method is amazing for crafting a specific mood or creating dynamic cuts between scenes.

You can add these effects to videos you just recorded within the app or to clips you’ve uploaded from your camera roll. Here’s how it works:

1. Record or Upload a Video

First, either record your video clips as you normally would without any effects, or upload a pre-made video from your device’s gallery. Once you're done, tap the checkmark to move to the main editing screen.

2. Find the Post-Production Effects Panel

On the editing screen, look at the vertical toolbar on the right side. Tap the Effects icon here (it looks like a clock or time warp icon). This will open up a different set of effects specifically designed for post-production.

3. Explore the Different Edit Effects

At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a new menu with several categories that you can apply to different parts of your video:

• Visual: These add stylistic overlays to your clip. Think of 'smoke', 'lens flare', 'neon frame', or effects that are related to AR and 3D scenes.
• Sticker: Lets you overlay special moving stickers to create fun callouts and visuals. These often can be pinned into place by pressing down on one of the stickers.
• Transition: Perfect for creating smooth or jarring cuts between clips. You can apply effects like ‘spin,’ ‘zoom out,’ or ‘glitch’ to make your scene changes more interesting. Note: these will only apply where your videos have been cut.
• Split: Divides the screen into multiple versions of your video, such as a six-way split screen or a blurry two-way split.
• Motion: Manipulates the movement of your clip, adding bumps, shakes, or repeating loops.

4. Apply Effects to the Timeline

Unlike pre-recording effects, you can select exactly where you want a post-production effect to appear. Below your video preview, you’ll see your video's timeline. Press and hold an effect's button to apply it to the section of the video currently playing. A colored bar will appear on the timeline to show you where the effect is active.

You can overlay multiple effects on different parts of the video. If you make a mistake, just use the undo arrow to remove the last effect you added. When you're happy with your edits, tap Save.

Pro Tips for Mastering TikTok Effects

Once you’ve nailed the basics of applying effects, you can start using them more strategically to create unique content that resonates with your audience and builds your personal brand.

Leverage What's Already Working: Find Effects from Other Videos

The For You Page is the best source of inspiration. When you see a video with an effect you want to try, look for the effect’s name written in orange text above the creator’s username. Tap that name! A new screen will pop up showing other popular videos using that effect. From there, you can:

• Tap Add to Favorites to save it for later.
• Tap the red video camera button at the bottom to immediately start using the effect yourself.

This is the fastest and most reliable way to make amazing social videos, jump on existing trends, and explore content styles that are outside of your creative niche.

Build Your Go-To Kit: Save Your Favorite Effects

Don't let a great effect slip away! Whenever you discover an effect you love, tap the bookmark icon in the Effects panel to add it to your Favorites. This saves you so much time later. It's incredibly valuable for developing series, as you can go to your "Favorites" tab and pull from your list of curated video effects for a consistent posting schedule.

Think Like a Creator: Use Effects for Storytelling

Effects shouldn’t just be a gimmick - they should serve your story. The most successful creators use effects as a tool to enhance their narrative or make their point more effectively.

• The Green Screen effect is perfect for comedic reactions, news-style reports, or educational content where you need to reference an image or video.
• The Time Warp Scan can be used to create hilarious distorted images that tell a story or participate in well-known creative challenges.
• “Duet” a video and add an “Inverted” or “Beauty” filter to show a 'glow up', make a joke, react, or change something majorly based off of its original content creator for a super relatable and highly engaging creative content format.

Don’t just ask, “what does this effect do?” Instead, ask, “What story can I tell with this effect?”

Why Trending Effects Matter for Getting Views

On TikTok, being part of the conversation is a big contributor to getting high engagement and views. A huge part of this involves ongoing, real-time trends on the social media platform. Using effects that are being added by a lot of users on the platform can be an important signal to TikTok's recommendation algorithm to share this out to the For You page.

When TikTok releases a new feature or a particular effect suddenly gains popularity, the algorithm aims to show users this format. Creators who quickly adapt and create a clever video using that trending face filter or style will have a better chance to be viewed by a larger audience.

How do you stay up-to-date with a trend?

• Pay Attention to Your FYP: The best way to do your research on growing trends and new TikTok features is by scrolling your For You page. If an effect or a sound begins to pop up a few times, the chances are an upward trend of it is brewing.
• Check the “Trending” Effects Tab: This is a must. The ‘Trends’ tab is TikTok’s official ranking of the up and rising features on the app. Stay on top of this by checking in daily to see what's trending upward or downward.
• Don’t be Afraid to be Unique: While it is super important to stay trendy, you should not stray from telling a consistent brand story and adding in your own personal voice and story. Have fun using what is trending in unique ways tailored to your audience.

Final Thoughts

Mastering effects on TikTok provides infinite creative opportunities to tell fun, engaging stories to your social media followers. Understanding effect styles, where to find them, and learning how to utilize them within trends is a powerful path to creating viral online content.

Once you’ve created content full of fun and engaging video effects, it's important to have an automated plan with a consistent release of your created content. I've personally seen a positive return in views and engagement by using smart social media marketing apps. I can easily manage my posts on channels like TikTok and Instagram with automated posting software like Postbase, as it is a scheduling platform built for this type of fast-paced, trend-driven video content.