Did you know that you can move filters and effects around so that your most used are at the beginning of the menu? We have A LOT of filter and effects packs to choose from, so this keeps you from having to scroll through a bunch of packs to find your most used. All you need to do to reorder is hold your finger down on the item you want to move and drag it to where you want it to go. It’s that easy! Here are all of the things that you can reorder:

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If you have any other questions about reordering in the app or have a suggestion of a tutorial you would like to see, reach out to us at hello@acolorstory.com!

Did you know that you can favorite your most used filers and effects? This feature in the app is super helpful when you use filters or effects from different packs and want to be able to access them quicker. Here is how to favorite a filter or effect:

That’s it! Whenever you want to view your favorited filters or effects, tap the favorites folder and you will see them all in one spot. If you have any questions about the app or suggestions of other tutorials you would like to see, message us at hello@acolorstory.com!

One of the awesome features in the app is the ability to save your own custom filters! This is a feature that’s easily overlooked, but so helpful for when you’re wanting to create a cohesive Instagram feed. Here is how to create a custom filter:

Once you add the edits to your photo that you want to use as your custom filter, tap the icon between the undo and redo buttons to view a list of your edits.

If you’re happy with your edits, tap the ‘save’ button at the bottom of the screen

Name the filter whatever you want and tap ‘save’

To view and apply your custom filter, tap the saved icon in the main menu, tap ‘my saved’ and apply your custom filter to the photo!

That’s it! From there, create as many unique filters as you want and play around with different looks. If you ever want to go back and edit your custom filters, just tap the saved icon in the menu and tap ‘edit saved’.

Selective edit is one of those the most useful tools in the app that many people may not know how to use! (It’s currently only available on iOS, but planning on adding it to Android soon!) It’s a way to make more precise editing when using our tools. For example, you’re editing a photo and there isa horrible shadow in the corner. You know that if you boost the brightness it will make everything overexposed. This is where selective edit would come in handy! You can target the area with the shadow and boost the brightness just in that area. Selective edit works with all of our tools so basically anything can be tweaked. Here is how to use it:

Open tools in adjust, choose a tool, and tap the plus sign in the bottom left corner.

Move the target to the area you’re wanting to edit.

Adjust the slider to make your edit.

Add multiple targets for more precise editing.

That’s it! From there, play around with it until you create your desired look. It’s pretty simple to get the hang of. Once you know the basics of how to use it, it all depends on your unique style and what you want to tweak!

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Here is the before and after using Selective Edit:

After
Before

A question we get from a lot of users is how to use the curves tool. It may seem intimidating at first, but is extremely helpful when making more precise edits on your photo. You may wonder what the point of curves is if there is already an exposure and contrast tool. With curves, you have more room to affect certain areas of your photos without affecting the whole thing! This tool is a necessity for photographers because most of the time one single filter isn’t going to give you the exact look. You will have to do tweaks using curves if you’re wanting to get the most out of the filter.

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The first thing to know about curves is to understand what each point on the curve line represents. The top point controls the highlights, the middle point controls the midtones, and the lowest point controls the shadows. The highlights are the brightest parts of your photo, the midtone is the overall brightness, and the shadows are the dark points of your photo.Before you make any edits, trying moving the points around to see how they affect the image.

One thing to remember when using curves is that any point you move will affect that part of the photo. So if you’re wanting to deepen the shadows without affecting anything else, move the shadow point (bottom left). If you’re wanting to brighten the highlights, move the highlight point (top right). If you’re wanting to do an overall brightness or darkness, move the midtone point.

Let’s look at some photo examples:

Here is a photo without any edits, then with only curves applied, and then with a filter applied.
I wanted my shadows to be more muted, so I moved the shadow point up a bit. I also wanted to mute the highlights so I moved the highlight point down a bit.

Again, here is a photo with no edits, then a photo with only curves applied, then the same photo with a filter and effects applied on top. For this photo I wanted to play around with the colored curves. I first moved around the midtone curve point while it was set on red, then I moved the midtone curve point again while it was set on green.

If you take anything from this tutorial, it’s to just play around with it and don’t be afraid to go a little crazy! The more you use it the more you will know exactly where to move it to get the look you’re going for.