Buzz
Designing your own Instagram filters allows you to capture unique, eye-catching photos that showcase your personal style. Below is a detailed and simple guide to creating Instagram filters.
1. Preparation
- Phone with PicsArt app installed
- Computer running Windows / MacOS
- Scanned facial image file below (saved on your phone)
2. Creating Instagram Filter Templates with PicsArt
The simplest way to design Filters is by using PicsArt, which offers a fantastic collection of pre-designed stickers. PicsArt continuously updates with more stickers to diversify designs.
Step 1: Open the PicsArt app, select Create New (+) => All Photos => Background.
Step 2: In the Background section, choose the Caro background (transparent background) to create a perfect background-separating Filter.
Step 3: Next, select the option Add photo (1) => Upload the scanned face photo (2).
If you don't have the scanned face photo yet, you can download it in Part I of the article.
Step 4: When opening the scanned face photo, click on the Size icon to stretch the photo to cover the entire checkered background.
Step 5: To add Instagram-like effects, choose the Stickers section and search for your favorite stickers.
In this article, Mytour will utilize New Year stickers.
Step 6: The placement of stickers on the scanned face should be such that when applied to the user's actual face, they will appear similarly. Therefore, you just need to adjust the position correctly on the scanned face.
Step 7: After successfully designing the sticker placement, click on the scanned face background and select Opacity. Now, drag the Opacity to 0 to remove the entire background from the image.
Step 8: Finally, select Save to save the image to your phone.
Step 9: Open the image in the folder Photos => Share => Gmail and send it to your email to download on your computer.
Additionally, you can use another method to send the image to your computer, but make sure to keep the *.PNG format. Incorrect format will prevent Instagram filter creation.
3. Apply animation to the Filter template and upload it to Instagram.
After creating the Filter template on your phone, send the template image to your computer via Gmail to maintain the .PNG format. Sending images to the computer in the wrong format (.PNG) will prevent filter creation on Instagram.
Step 1: Visit the homepage of Spark AR and select Download.
Step 2: After successfully installing the application, you will need to log in with a Facebook account linked to your Instagram account. Without this, Filters cannot be uploaded.
Step 3: To initialize a new project, select Create New and then Blank Project.
Step 4: Before you begin, you need to select Camera and choose a face to serve as the template for the Instagram Filter application.
Step 5: Next, select Add => 3D Objects => Face Mesh to create a mask that moves with the face.
Step 6: After successfully creating the Face Mesh, choose faceMesh0 (1) on the control panel and click the + (2) sign of the Materials section.
Step 7: The Assets panel will show the Materials section once you've successfully created it. Now, you'll need to rename Material0 by double-clicking on the name.
You need to rename Material0 to Retouching.
Step 8: Select Retouching (1) => Shader Type (2) => Retouching (3).
Step 9: The Retouching mode means smoothing the face skin, which is essential when creating Filters on Instagram.
To adjust the skin smoothing level, simply control the Skin Smoothing slider. Typically, people leave it at 70 because setting it too high can blur the image.
Step 10: Next, you'll need to create a new Face Mesh to add image effects to the filter.
Right-click on FaceMesh0 => Add Object => Face Mesh to add a new mask.
Step 11: Similar to the previous FaceMesh, you also need to create Materials for the mask layer.
Select FaceMesh0 (1) => Materials + (2) => Create New Materials (3).
Step 12: For the newly created Material, you'll need to rename them to a new name of your choice. Rename them by double-clicking on the existing Material name when created.
In this step, we will name the Material as Demofilter for easier execution in the following steps.
Step 13: To apply the created effects to the face, select Demofilter (1) => Shader Type (2) => Face Paint (3).
Step 14: Now, choose Choose File… to upload the filter effect image created on your phone to the system.
Note: Filter effect files must be saved in *.PNG format with the background removed.
Step 15: Immediately, the filter effects will appear on the system's sample face.
Step 16: Double-check to ensure the effects are standardized and accurate. If not, you can edit them on your phone and resend the image to add new effects.
Step 17: Once the inspection is complete, open the Compression tab and set it all to None to maintain the highest quality for effects across platforms.
Step 18: To upload the effects to Instagram, select Upload (1) => Publish new effect (2) => Upload (3).
Step 19: The process of uploading effects will take about 5 minutes. Once completed, select Open Spark AR Hub to set up information.
Step 20: Setting up information for the effect is extremely important. You will need to fill in details such as name, platform, owner... All information is in Vietnamese so you can fill it in yourself.
Finally, press Send to upload the effect to Instagram. Instagram's admin team will review your effect before adding it to the system's common effect repository. The review process takes from 1 hour to 5 days (usually 2 hours).
Step 21: While waiting for Instagram's review, we will try out the Demo version of the Filter by publishing it for testing.
Select Test on Devices => Instagram => Send.
At this point, the system will send a message to Instagram on your phone with the test version. Simply tap on it to try it out (see details in Section 4).
4. Instagram Filter Testing
After completing Step 21 of Section 3, you will receive a message on Instagram with the test version of the filter being created on Instagram.
Open the Instagram notification, select Continue to start testing the Filter being created on the system. This way, you can see how the Instagram filter will look and perform when used on the camera.
5. Complete uploading the Filter created on Instagram
After a waiting period, Facebook/Instagram will send an email to your email address with the notification 'Your effect has been approved.' This means the Filter is now available in Instagram's store, and anyone can download and use it.
In this article, Mytour has guided you on how to create Filters on Instagram quickly and easily. Have a great day!
