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If you’ve been on Instagram for some time, you may have noticed that some photos have text on them. Adding text to your Instagram posts can be very convenient for content creators and small business owners. Fortunately, you don’t need any special app to do this. You can add text, and many more features, to Instagram photos with the Instagram Story tools.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add text to an Instagram photo on iPhone and Android devices. We’ll also show you how to create text-only images using Instagram Story’s Create Mode.
How to Add Text to an Instagram Photo on an iPhone
From various color-enhancing filters to different layout options, Instagram allows you to get creative with your posts. While there are many photo editing apps you can use to add text to your Instagram photos, you can already do this within the app. Although some Instagram users like to write their text under the photo in the caption, some take advantage of Instagram Story’s tools and write the text on the photo itself. Not only is it simple, but you have lots of options when it comes to fonts and text colors.
To add text on an Instagram photo on an iPhone, follow the steps below:
- Launch Instagram on your iPhone.
- Open Instagram Story either by swiping to the right or by tapping on the “Your Story” bubble in the upper-right corner of your screen.
- Take a photo or upload a photo from your phone’s Gallery by swiping up and tapping on the photo.
- Tap on the “Aa” icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Type in whatever you want.
- Edit the text with the tools.
- Select “Done” in the upper-right corner.
- Tap on the downward arrow icon to download the picture to your Gallery.
When it’s time to post the image, this is what you need to do next:
- Tap on the “+” button at the bottom of your screen.
- Find the photo you just edited. It should be the first one.
- Select “Next” in the upper-right corner.
- Edit the photo if you want.
- Tap on “Next” again.
- Make any necessary adjustments (for example, write a caption, add a location, tag someone, etc.).
- Go to the “Share” button in the upper-right corner of your screen.
That’s all there is to it. When it comes to the text that you’ve added to the photo, there are many options to play with. For instance, you can choose:
- The color of the text
- The size of the text
- The font of the text
- Whether or not the text will have a background
- The transition of the text
- The alignment of the text
You can even match the color of the text to one that’s already present in the photo with the Bucket tool. When you’re done writing the text, you can move it around and place it anywhere you want. However, once the photo is saved to your device, you can’t make any more changes to it.
How to Add Text to an Instagram Photo on an Android
Adding text to a photo on Instagram on an Android is very similar. Follow the steps below to find out how it’s done:
- Launch Instagram on your Android device.
- Tap on the “Your Story” bubble in the upper-left corner of your screen or swipe to the right.
- Take a photo or upload one from your phone.
- Go to the text icon in the upper-right corner.
- Type in the text.
- Make any edits to the text. Change the color, size, font, background, position, transition, and similar.
- Tap “Done” in the upper-right corner of your screen.
- Save your Instagram Story by tapping on the downward arrow at the top.
Now that the photo is saved to your phone’s Gallery, you can post it any time you want. The text will be saved along with the photo. In other words, you won’t be able to add or delete the text after you’ve saved the photo.
Even though you can open and use Instagram on your web browser, you can only use this feature on your mobile device. If you want to add text to an Instagram photo on your computer, then you’ll need to use a third-party app to do this. Most photo editing apps have a text feature, so you shouldn’t have any problems finding one. One of the best apps you can use to add text to Instagram photos is Canva. For more professional effects, you can use Photoshop.
Once you’ve added the text via the third-party app, you need to transfer the photo to your mobile device to post it on your Instagram. You can’t post a photo on Instagram with the web browser.
How to Create Text-Only Instagram Photos
In some cases, Instagram users want to upload text-only photos to advertise something or make an announcement. This can be done with Instagram’s Create Mode that you can find in the Story section. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open the app on your mobile device.
- Tap on the “Your Story” bubble in the upper-left corner of the app.
- Select the “Aa” icon or the “Create” option. This will transform the screen into a canvas.
- Tap on the screen.
- Write the text.
- Make any necessary adjustments to the text, such as color, font, size, and similar. You can even change the color of the background.
- Choose the “Next’” option in the upper-right corner of the screen.
- You can add even more text at this point.
- Tap on the downward arrow icon at the top of the screen.
- Go to the “+” icon at the bottom of your screen.
- Select the text-only photo you’ve just made and go to “blue right arrow.”
- Make any necessary changes and select “blue right arrow” again.
- Post the photo by tapping on blue checkmark to Share.
You can add more than just text to a photo on Instagram. You can add stickers, GIFs, special effects, and you can even write or draw something using the free tool. The fonts, colors, and features you should use depend on the type of content. Other useful features include hashtags, locations, mentions, music, polls, quizzes, questions, and many more.
Once you save the photo you’ve created, you can upload it to your Instagram account as a regular post or upload it as an Instagram Story that will disappear from your friends’ feed in 24 hours. You can even use the photo you’ve made on Instagram and post it to other social media platforms.
Use Instagram’s Text Feature to Your Advantage
There are many hidden creative tools and features you can find on Instagram. Adding text to posts is one of them. Whether you decide to post the photo as a Story or to your Instagram feed, you’ll have a wide selection of tools that can help you find the ideal color, size, font, and background of the text. You can even use Instagram’s Create mode to make text-only posts.
Have you ever added text to an Instagram photo before? Did you use Instagram Story’s text feature as well, or did you use a third-party app? Let us know in the comments section below.
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