Instagram is a powerful tool, and one that I use on a daily basis. While posting and seeing everyone’s photos as you scroll down your feed might be great (and fun), there are actually some other tools within the app that can help enhance your profile.

Take one that I just updated — Instagram Story Highlights. These are those little circles you see on people’s profiles. You can use this to save past Instagram stories, whether they be video or stills. This is a great way to show off your work, in a sort of mini-portfolio of sorts.

For me personally, I use these Highlights to showcase work in four categories: Advertising, Events, Landscapes and Portraits. I also have a behind-the-scenes Highlight showcasing photos and videos from my time making pictures.

Getting started

As much as I wish it was easy to simply add individual photos to your Instagram Highlight, it isn’t. To make your photos eligible to be added, you first have to add them as a part of your Instagram story.

To do this, swipe to the left to bring up the Story view in Instagram. Then swipe down, and click the Multiple Images icon and start selecting images. You can add up to 10 photos at a time as a part of a story, so you might have to do this a few different times.

Then hit Next, and Next again. From there, share to Your Story. I suggest you not click the option to Add to Highlights, as oftentimes only one of your photos will get added.

Create and edit your Highlight

From there, go to your profile screen. You’ll either see Highlights you’ve previously created, or you can add new ones. If you click New, you’ll be prompted to select photos or videos to add to the Highlight.

If you wish to edit an existing Highlight, or add to it, click on the Highlight and then click the More action menu in the lower right corner. Click Edit Highlight.

The Selected tab will show you images presently in your Highlight, where the Archive tab will show you all the images and videos that have been featured in your Instagram story over time. Click this and start selecting images to add.

You can also edit the cover image of your Highlight, either with one of the photos you included or a separate one from your phone’s camera roll.

Common questions

Can I re-organize the photos, or the Highlights?
Simply put, no. The photos in your Highlight display in the way you originally add them, so in order to re-organize them you would have to start from scratch. You also can’t organize your Highlights — these display in the order they were last updated.

Can I mix photos and videos in my Highlights?
Yes!

Can I crop or change the angle/position of the photos?
Yes! You can zoom in or out on photos, or angle them just like you normally would in an Instagram Story.

How can I share a link to my Highlights?
From the More action menu, click Send To… from the pop-up menu that appears. You can also click Copy Highlight Link and paste that into e-mails or text messages.

Can I add photos without adding them to my Story first?
No. Photos and videos must first appear in your Story. You can also not delete the photos from your Story, even after you’ve created the Highlight, otherwise they’ll be removed from that too!

For more on Photography Marketing, see my weekly column.