Instagram is a favorite social media for many Gen Zers, and the app is constantly adding more features to improve the user experience — whether that is through Reels, Stories, Notes, or Threads. Personally, I’m not very tech savvy, so I love when Instagram adds features that make my life easier. Cutouts, Instagram’s newest feature, does just that.
Now, you can create your own custom stickers on Instagram to add to your stories. A lot like Snapchat allows you to cut out a specific part of a photo to make a sticker, Instagram Stories and Reels are now enabled to do the same, allowing you to create custom stickers from your own photos in your camera roll, or from eligible images you see on Instagram. The feature is meant to boost creativity and help make unique posts, which will be especially useful for those who enjoy creating collages (or helpful to those who haven’t been able to figure out how to do it before). So how can you utilize this new feature? Here’s how to use Instagram’s Cutouts feature, according to Instagram’s official help center:
- When creating a Reel or Story, tap stickers at the top right (AKA the square with the smiley face).
- Tap Cutouts.
- Select a photo or video with a clear subject.
- A sticker will be automatically generated from the photo or video. If it’s not exactly what you were wanting to cut out for the sticker, you can choose “select manually” in the bottom left to select the object you want for your sticker.
- You can create your Reel or Story then, or save your sticker and use it later.
- To access your sticker at a later time, tap stickers Stickers and select the sticker to add it to your Reel or Story. Stickers will be saved at the top of the sticker tray for you to use again.
You also have the option to make a sticker from someone else’s post with Cutouts. This will only be possible if the person who you’re wanting to make a sticker from has a public account and permissions are enabled to allow you to make that sticker. If you’re wanting to make a sticker from your friend’s post, here’s what you do, according to Instagram:
- Go to the photo you want to create a sticker from.
- Tap more actions in the top right of the post.
- Tap Create a cutout sticker.
From there, you carry out steps 4-6 from above.
Something to keep in mind is that if the original post you took the image from is deleted, the sticker will disappear as well. The same will happen if it’s archived, as the post has to be actively on an account for the sticker to exist. If you want to delete a sticker yourself, all you have to do is go to your sticker section, then tap and hold the sticker you’re wanting to get rid of. From there, you’ll tap delete. Something to bear in mind is that if you delete a sticker that is on a Reel or Story, it will vanish as well, so only delete it if you’re OK with anything featuring the sticker being deleted as well.
There’s a lot of room for creativity with this new feature, so check it out and have fun!