Instagram has always been a pretty simplistic photo-sharing application. It also has been very popular regardless of the simplicity. However, the company now has rolled out its latest version. This allows users to have more control over the way their pictures look. It’s an improvement that allows photos to have “professional-like” editing and enhancement.

New Ways to Edit 

In previous versions of Instagram, filters were the answer to editing photos. In this latest update, not only has Instagram rolled out new filters, it also has added 10 completely new editing features. As you can see in the images below, there are three options. From left to right, they are: Filters, Lux, and Tools.

Other than new filters you can choose from (such as “Toaster”), Instagram kept this part of the app fairly similar to the last version. To add a border, you must tap on the filter again. From there you also can change the feel of the photo by using the scroll bar.

Once you are happy with the filter effects chosen, you can move to Lux. Lux enhances the colors of the photo and brings the photo to “life.” It adds great detail that previously seemed unseen. The cool addition is that you can add negative or positive lux. As shown below, that aspect really makes a difference.

The picture on the left is -100 lux. It makes the shadow of the bowl much dimmer, as are the photo’s colors. On the right, where the lux is 100, you see a much more vibrant picture and the colors are much more distinct.

The Tools

The new tools that are available are where Instagram really improved the photo-sharing application. The changes are so distinct that you don’t necessarily have to pick a filter to alter the photo. You can simply play around in the tools section to enhance the photo.

The tools section has 10 features: Adjust, Brightness, Contrast, Warmth, Saturation, Highlights, Shadows, Vignette, Tilt Shift, and Sharpen.

While there are a lot of different tools to chose from,  Instagram has made it simple for users to keep track of what tool has already been added. The tools bar shows an underline below the “adjust” and “brightness” settings, meaning that those effects already have been added.

Lastly, you have the option of tapping on the photo during editing to see what the photo originally looked like. This not only helps illustrate the changes already made, but allows users to see what other changes they might still want to add.

Video Editing

Instagram has not really enhanced the video editing portion of the app, other than adding new filters. I am quite certain an update will be coming soon there, so that video editing is just as detailed as photo enhancing.

Now, go out and explore these new changes! Play around with all the new features and let me know what you think by tweeting me @ceek22!