Everyone eventually has to deal with a little belly fat — even those of us who naturally had flat stomachs in our younger years. But too much of this type of tissue can have a negative effect on your health. But how much is too much? That depends on several factors, but experts agree that if you're a woman with a waist circumference of 35 inches or more or a man with a waist measuring 40 inches or more, you're vulnerable to the dangers of belly fat.
It's not just about the way your jeans fit. Excess abdominal fat increases your odds of developing some serious diseases, including diabetes, dementia, heart disease and cancer. Want to tip the scales toward better health and a smaller waistline? Try these healthy techniques to help banish belly fat and get fitter.
Have you heard the saying "Great abs are made in the kitchen?" It's true — what you eat really matters. And that certainly applies to taking a healthy approach to losing belly fat. For starters, it helps to know what to eat — and what to avoid. Skip high-sugar foods and drinks. Take a hard pass on anything with high fructose corn syrup, chuck trans-fats from your pantry and limit your intake of processed white-flour breads and pastas. All of these foods can contribute to gaining belly fat.
Photo Courtesy: M_a_y_a/Getty Images
Instead, load up on fiber-rich foods; these can help you feel full longer by stabilizing hunger hormones so you don't want to eat as often. Whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits are all good sources of soluble fiber, your belly fat-fighting sidekick. High-protein foods, including fish, chicken, eggs and dairy, have also been shown to reduce belly fat gain. They can help keep you feeling full and boost your metabolism, too. Good-for-you fats like olive oil and avocados also contribute to satiety, meaning you'll stay full and, as a result, eat less.
Get Moving to Get Losing
There's no single exercise that can blast away belly fat. Experts agree that spot reduction, such as doing hundreds of daily situps and crunches to slim your waist, isn't the best or healthiest way to get the job done. You'll likely end up with rock-hard abs under a layer of pudge. Instead, look for workouts that combine strength training, cardio and core work to reduce body fat and whittle your middle. As an added bonus, regular exercise can lower your blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation and improve the metabolism issues associated with carrying excess belly fat.
Photo Courtesy: Diego Lezama/Getty Images
Even if you're new to fitness, you can start where you are. Go for a walk, hop on a stationary bike — just get moving. Running, walking, swimming and bicycling are all good ways to get your heart pumping. Start building fitness into your daily routine to make a habit of it. For example, you can start walking on your lunch breaks at work, or hop on the treadmill while your favorite TV show is airing. The less you have to go out of your way to get workouts in initially, the easier it'll be for you to make fitness a lifelong health-boosting habit and reach a healthy weight.
Lose the Lifestyle Limitations for Lasting Losses
Diet and exercise are important, but they're not the only things you need to address to shed stubborn belly fat. Reducing your alcohol intake, for example, is one beneficial adjustment you can make. Excessive alcohol consumption not only makes it easier to pack on pounds (it's all empty calories), but it also can damage your liver, increase your odds of developing health problems and increase inflammation. Alcohol has also been linked to suppressing your body's natural fat-burning abilities.
Photo Courtesy: PeopleImages/Getty Images
Other healthy changes to make include drinking more water every day, which can boost your metabolism and help flush toxins from your body. Reducing your stress levels is another key step. Stress is linked to higher levels of the hormone cortisol, which can cause your body to hold onto fat in your abdomen.
Lastly, make sure you prioritize getting a good night's sleep — every night. In one recent study from the journal SLEEP, researchers found a clear link between the amount of sleep people get every night and the amount of weight they gain, particularly around their midsections. Short sleepers, who sleep fewer than five hours every night on average, are at the highest risk of gaining abdominal fat. So rest up to boost your chances of maintaining a healthy weight.
I thought I'd take the time to explain what exactly a branding package is. A brand is a combination of the name, slogan and logo that is used to help identify a company or its products to a potential customer. Here's what your company's branding should be able to do:
Deliver your business's message or explain its products
Connect your products and services with customers
Create user loyalty
Get users to purchase your products
So what's in a branding package?
Branding packages contain a lot of different items. An average brand identity package includes some or all of the following:
Business cards
Letterhead
Flyers
Folded brochures
Email templates
Convention displays
The most basic branding package will have a personalized logo, business cards and letterhead. There's also a piece of paper (or, nowadays, a PDF) called a branding standards document. So what is a branding standards document, and why do you need one?
Here's the deal: having a branding standards document explains how the elements of your brand package speak for your company in a clear and meaningful way.
Make sure that your employees and others follow the branding standards document you made. This makes your brand well-defined to everyone from vendors to shareholders and the community.
Branding standards documents typically include standards for:
The different elements of your logo and how they should be used
Typography (what fonts your logo uses, how and where they're used)
What color palette your logo uses and what parts of the logo those colors are used for
Any legal requirements for using the logo
So what does the average brand standards guide look like? Take a look at this HubSpot article on brand standards documents for 21 great examples.
Why do I need a brand package?
You might be wondering: why exactly do I need a branding package? Have you ever thought about the impression your business makes? Branding packages help further your business by creating the image and impression that you want.
Here's a couple of different reasons that your business needs a branding package:
1. A brand package creates a unified message across your company's various channels
Whether you're re-designing your company's website, posting to social media, attending a trade show, or handing out promotion gear, having a business branding package makes sure that you have a unified message no matter who it is that you're interacting with or what channel you're using to interact with them. As you begin spreading a unified message, your business becomes synonymous with your message, which makes people in your niche want to do business with you. For example, if you are exhibiting at a trade show, it is important to keep your brand identity unified across all channels so guests do not get confused about who you are or what your business does. If you are handing out promotional items like tote bags or custom can coolers, it is vital to keep the branding uniform across all promotional handouts and marketing collateral so guests remember your business and the services it provides.
2. Branding packages help you stand out from your competitors
Build a brand identity package for your business. It makes it much easier for potential customers to recognize you in the sea of your competition. Applying that same branding package company-wide can help shape and positively transform that company's reputation throughout the community, especially when it comes to vendors, shareholders and potential customers.
Want to learn more about building a brand package for your company? Check out this course on building a branding package from Canva.
If you want to understand how your company, brand or product is perceived in relation to your competitors, a perceptual map (also known as a positioning map) is the perfect tool. It allows you to visualize where you sit in the market from a consumer's perspective. Using a perceptual mapping template can provide invaluable insight into the success of marketing or PR campaigns, identifying gaps and identify strengths.
Let's take a look at how it works.
What is perceptual mapping?
To make improvements, you first need to understand what your baseline is. When it comes to intangible concepts such as perceived value, this is especially hard but equally important. This is where the brand positioning map can help. It can give you a clear understanding of where you sit in the market: i.e. your baseline.
Marketing teams can use these insights into consumer behavior to deliver targeted marketing campaigns, then compare results with the original baseline.
Perceptual maps are most commonly a four-square grid design, divided along and X and Y axes. These two axes can correspond to any two competing values- it's up to you to decide based on your goals. For example, you might plot quality vs range or design vs performance.
How to create a perceptual (or brand positioning) map online
1. Pick two parameters
The first step is to decide on your two parameters. This will depend on what information you have available, and which industry you're in.
If you are creating a perceptual/ brand positioning map online based on the collective knowledge and experience and assumptions of the market, you will want to choose parameters that are linked to your industry.
If you have access to a market research study or focus groups, then you will need to pull that data and pick out two parameters that can be compared.
Here are just a few examples of product categories and their common attributes from Segmentation Style guide. You'll note that price is not mentioned, as you should try to avoid using price as one of the axes as price and quality are highly inter-related and will skew the results.
Instant coffee: flavor, country of origin, quality
Breakfast cereal: health values, sugar, fun/boring, variety, taste
Holidays: temperature, travel distance, value, cultural offerings, safety.
Consultancy: expertise, availability, past results.
This list is by no means exhaustive, so you may also have your own ideas depending on your industry. But in any case, you will need to pick two attributes and plot them on the x and y axes.
2. List your competitors
The next step is to list all your major competitors that offer similar products to you. Aim for 10 to give your map some real depth and insight.
3. Rate your competitors
To start building out your map, begin by giving each of your competitors a rating between 1-5, with one being the lowest and five the highest, for both of your parameters. This will make it easy for you to plot them.
And finally, give yourself a rating, so you know where you fit on the map.
4. Complete your perceptual mapping template
You will now be able to see exactly where you stand compared to your competitors, and potential gaps in the market.
How to use a perceptual mapping template
A perceptual mapping template helps teams work faster and collaborate online with ease. Simply click on the image below to access Conceptboard's collaborative, online perceptual map maker – perfect for remote or distributed teams.
Send the link to your team to collaborate together, and once it's finished you can easily save it in your account or download and share it as a PDF.
Example of a perceptual map:
To help you get a better understanding of what a completed perceptual map looks like, we've put together an example using fast-food chains. Here, we've plotted the outlets based on the number of locations and the variety of menu items. Check it out below.
As you can see, a perpetual map is a great tool to understand what your customers think about you and your competitors. With this information at hand, you can make strategic decisions when it comes to advertising, branding, market expansion and even pricing.
Keep up the momentum and explore our template library with almost 100 templates for all your business needs. Read more
10 best strategy planning templates you can use right now
Understanding your customer with 3 essential templates
See how Conceptboard is the future of collaboration with a 30 day free trial.
Perceptual Map template
Use the free template with your team & customize as you go!
Jersey Mockup | 40+ Free Fabulous Jersey PSD Templates for Your Design Portfolio: Jersey is the apparel made of wool or cotton is commonly worn by the players in the field as a part of the team uniform. It is the utmost form of branding and we can easily recognize the team just by looking at Jersey. You may have noticed that though the theme is almost the same but the design of jerseys are different from each other. So it is the sole responsibility of the designer to produce a unique design style whenever they are creating a new team jersey.
If you are a designer and trying to create a new clothing design from scratch that could be really a daunting task because of the so many design elements and aspects a jersey has. Thankfully, there are plenty of outstanding jersey mockups out there and we were able to compile 40+ fabulous Jersey PSD Templates which you can add in Your Design Portfolio and simply drop your customize design and see the live effect how the design is working.
Check Our New August 21, 2020, Inclusion | Mockupden Exclusive –
Free Hockey Jersey Mockup PSD Template
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Free Baseball Jersey Mockup PSD Template
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Free Men's Soccer Jersey Mockup PSD Template
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Free Ice Hockey Jersey Mockup PSD Template
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Free Neon Color Stripes Printed Jersey Mockup
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#1. Editable Jersey PSD Mockup.
This mockup is prepared to showcase your design by simply editing its color, design etc. This file has 2 different views with a resolution of 2200*2000 px which only works with Photoshop version PS C4 or higher. The colors, designs including the materials, buttons are changeable through smart objects. You can also paste your team's logo or any advertisement on the jersey with Photoshop app.
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#2. Different Colors Of Jersey Vector.
A Vector illustration which represents 4 jersey of a basketball team. There are 4 jersey of different numbers printed and colors with their pants are shown in the picture.
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#3. Yellow And Blue Colored Jersey Vector.
In this premium vector, a jersey of Brazil soccer team is placed. Along with the jersey, there are a pant, shoes, and socks are also placed in a straight line in this mockup pack.
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#4. Photorealistic Black Colored Jersey PSD Template.
This photorealistic T-shirt is in shiny black color and also placed on a black background. This t-shirt can also be used as a sports jersey which can be changed into different color according to your need. The graphics of this mockup is very high that will help you to make changes such as editing its color and design by using smart objects.
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#5. Fully Editable Bike Jersey Mockup.
This mockup indicates a fully editable jersey where all the layers are well-organized. The picture showing a pink and white colored jersey which is editable in all aspects.
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#6. Red And White Sports Jersey Vector.
This vector file includes 10 PSD files with a resolution of 3000*2000 px which features Specially Designed Emblem and Numbers which you can utilize according to the project need. The background effect is transparent and has Gradient Mesh effect which complements the design type nicely and will help you to promote your team in a diligent manner.
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#7. Basketball Kit Vector.
This freebie vector containing a full kit of basketball equipment. As shown in the picture below, there's a sleeveless jersey with a basketball, a pair of shoes with a bag is placed on a green background. These all types of equipment are shown in red colors which is the only thing which is changeable with adobe Photoshop illustration.
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#8. A White Colored Baseball Jersey PSD Mockup.
This mockup scene consists of 5 psd files in 3000×2000 px 72 dpi including 2 displacement maps which have unique 3 angles that mainly feature regular jersey front buttoned up and opened, back. Using smart layers you can add, logo, change color, put a project complementing background, add tag, insert your own customize deisng and much more.
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#9. 15 Different Jersey Of English Premier League Vector.
This vector containing the largest amount of jersey you would ever need. All the jersey shown in the picture is related to the English Premier League.
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#10. Jersey 10 PSD Template.
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#11. Realistic Hockey Jersey PSD Mockup.
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#12. Soccer Jersey In A Transparent Background Vector.
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#13. A Man Holding A Football Wearing A Blue Jersey Mockup.
In this picture a man showing passion for a sports called Soccer. He is wearing an editable blue jersey with white stripes and holding a duo colored ball in his hand. This picture can be used as an advertisement purpose to enhance the brand for any football club. You may paste your team's logo and other things on the jersey by using adobe illustration or Photoshop and place it on the banner or a hoarding as required.
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#14. A Realistic Jersey Of Running Purpose PSD Template.
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#15. Illustration Of Sports And Cycling Jersey Mockup.
To design your cycling jersey, here are some photo realistic high-resolution templates. The maps and background shown in this picture is changeable and the unique feature of this design template is short wrinkles around the neck which gives a realistic touch to this mockup. You can add multiple sponsors, logo and other design wherever you want.
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#16. Premium Vector Of A Blue Colored Jersey Vector.
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#17. A Jersey Mockup In The Stadium Background PSD.
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#18. Editable Tank Jersey PSD Mockup.
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#19. Premium Vector Of A Soccer Jersey PSD.
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#20. Long Sleeve Bike Jersey PSD.
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#21. 6 Different Colors Of Jersey Mockup PSD.
The jersey which is given in this mockup has 6 color-able parts. Along side the background, the body design is also changeable. The resolution of the high realistic soccer jersey is 3000*3000 px.
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#22. A Soccer Player Showing His Jersey Mockup.
In the portrait mode, a man is shown in the ground wearing a blue colored jersey with black socks. He is ready to kick the ball which is under is foot. Use this mockup as you like.
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#23. A Complete Set Of Basketball Jersey PSD Mockup.
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#24. Red And White Colored Baseball Team Jersey PSD Mockup.
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#25. A Premium Vector Of A Team Jersey.
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#26. Long Cycling Jersey PSD Template.
This template containing a long cycling jersey which you can use in the different project as the design has editable elements such as smart objects and color pickers. This file containing 4 PSD files with a user manual. Some other features are:-
Changeable Background.
High resolution of 3500*2500 px.
Well organized layers.
All parts are changeable.
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#27. Editable Sports Jersey PSD Mockup.
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#28. A Girl In Jersey Standing Near A Wall.
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#29. Full Basketball Men's Kit PSD Template.
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#30. Running Jersey For Women PSD Mockup.
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#31. An Editable Jersey With Clipboard Mockup.
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#32. Men's Basketball Jersey PSD Template.
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#33. Soccer Jersey With Key Chain Mockup.
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#34. Football Jersey With Shoes Mockup.
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#35. Designer Jersey Of A Soccer Team Vector.
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#36. 4 Different Kinds Of Football Jersey PSD Template.
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#37. Multicolored Spots Jersey Mockup.
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#38. Ice Hockey Jersey With Helmet Mockup.
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#39. Men's Sports Jersey Vector.
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#40. Premium Vector Of A Tema Uniform.
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Want your brand's Instagram Stories to look clean, polished and consistently stylish? Instagram Stories templates are the way to go.
The truth is, most of your favorite brands probably already use them. But really, it's no surprise they want to make their Stories look good: half a billion users interact with Instagram Stories daily, and 58% of people say their interest in a brand or product increased after seeing it in Stories.
If you're not using this Insta feature to put your best foot forward, you're going to miss out.
In this post, we'll show you how to use Instagram Stories templates to wow your audience and showcase your best content. We've also included a designer pack of 72 customizable templates that will boost the look of your Stories right away.
Download your free pack of 72 customizable Instagram Stories templates now. Save time and look professional while promoting your brand in style.
Why use Instagram Stories templates?
Though Stories may disappear after 24 hours, they're still going to reach plenty of eyeballs over that span of time, as we know from those impressive Instagram Stories stats.
Plus, now that you can turn Stories into "Highlights" on your Instagram profile, that temporary content actually has the potential for a much longer shelf life.
Might as well make it look nice, right?
But there are tons of other reasons to use Instagram Stories templates, too.
Look professional
Yes, Instagram Stories are primarily known for their charmingly unpolished execution (anyone else weirdly addicted to watching Go Clean Co. scrub grout?). But, as with all social networks, the level of professionalism that users expect from brands is steadily rising.
Brands often use Instagram Story templates to create a consistent aesthetic on their Stories: one that's connected to their larger visual identity or brand voice. The subtle (aesthetically pleasing) inclusions of branded fonts, colours and logos all help to build familiarity and trust with a brand.
Jewellery design studio Melanie Auld Jewelry uses templates to share editorial content on its Stories, like this profile of wellness and travel blogger Julianne Barbas. With shots laid out artfully and elegant text, it's almost like a digital magazine feature. Profesh!
Save time (and money)
Because most content on Stories disappears after 24 hours (unless you post them to your Highlights), it doesn't make sense to professionally design every single shot or video.
But if you know you're going to be regularly posting certain types of content, designing a template to accompany each one will save you time (and the cost of hiring a pro) in the future.
Pro tip: With Hootsuite's Instagram Story Scheduler, you can create, edit and schedule your Instagram Stories in advance.
Make non-visual content pop
Instagram is a visual platform where brands that invest in good photography excel. But not everyone on Instagram is selling something visually exciting like optical illusion makeup or horrifying '80s living rooms.
The Washington Post (whose TikTok, btw, is weirdly good too) gets people to swipe up on their news stories by using eye-catching animated text and simple illustrative graphics. Even though it's less flashy than glitter eyeshadow, it catches the eye in a Stories feed full of bright visuals.
Or, maybe you just need to post a Story that doesn't necessarily call for a photograph, such as an intro page for a slideshow of delicious treats, à la Minimalist Baker.
Stand out from the competition
This one's easy. Instagram Stories templates are a quick and simple way for your brand to distinguish itself as viewers are flipping through a sea of Stories.
A striking graphic design will (hopefully!) capture their attention and reinforce your brand's style in the process. It's also a way to show that you've put time and thought into your content.
Brit and Co.'s stories are instantly recognizable when they pop up in your feed: images and videos are always on a splashy backdrop that features brand-appropriate colors, shapes and textures. They're distinct from the standard look you get from crafting a Story directly in the Instagram app: definitely attention grabbing.
72 free Instagram Stories templates
As a thank you to our dedicated readers, we've designed a pack of 72 customizable Photoshop Instagram Stories templates that will instantly boost the look of your Stories. The templates are divided into nine different story types, with four to 12 styles per category.
Choose the format that best suits your purposes and customize it in Photoshop (instructions below) to match your brand—or simply use as is. The possibilities are endless!
Want 'em all? No sweat. Download them here!
Download your free pack of 72 customizable Instagram Stories templates now. Save time and look professional while promoting your brand in style.
Happy birthday Instagram Story templates
AMA Instagram Story templates
Quotes Instagram Story templates
Instagram Story ad templates
Instagram Story bingo templates
Instagram Story donation templates
Music Instagram Story templates
This or that Instagram Story templates
About Me Instagram Story templates
Instagram Story template size
If you're going to DIY your own Instagram story template, you're probably going to want to know the dimensions.
Instagram Stories are 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall.
For best results, your Instagram Story should have an aspect ratio of 9:16, and a minimum width of 500px.
And in case you were curious about any other social specs, here's our handy social media image size cheat sheet!
How to use the Instagram Stories templates
Here's how to customize these templates for your brand and then upload them to your Instagram Stories. You will need Adobe Photoshop to get started.
Download your free pack of 72 customizable Instagram Stories templates now. Save time and look professional while promoting your brand in style.
Download the templates now!
1. Once you've downloaded and unzipped the Photoshop files, double click the image you'd like to customize to open it in Photoshop.
2. To edit text: double click the text you would like to edit. You can change fonts and colors in the menu on the left-hand side.
3. To edit a color block: double click the color block you would like to edit. Change the size or use the menu on the left-hand side to change the color.
4. To edit a photo: double click the photo you would like to edit and click insert new image. Resize image as necessary.
5. To save one single Story template: Select the Story you would like to save and go to Save>Export As>Artboard to Files. Make sure to save as a .jpg or .png.
6. To save all four Story templates: Save>Export As. Make sure to save as a .jpg or .png.
7. Email the finished image file(s) to yourself and download them onto your phone.
8. Upload to Instagram Stories one at a time.
Instagram Story template apps
If this monster pack of templates still isn't quite fitting your needs, that's totally cool. You can make a custom Instagram Story template of your very own using Photoshop or one of the apps below.
Check out these other resources for Instagram Stories templates if you don't have Photoshop, or if you don't require a lot of customization capabilities.
Adobe Spark
Not only are there thousands of beautiful templates in Adobe Spark's free library, but it's got built-in photo editing functionality too — so you can make sure your images pop as much as the graphic design.
Photoshop
As mentioned above, you can use Photoshop to tweak our Hootsuite templates—but Adobe's also got some bare-bones starter templates too for you. Put your own spin on things and get experimental!
Unfold
Download the Unfold app for iPhone or Android to access a huge library of ready-made Stories templates right on your phone. A monthly or annual subscription will open up even more options.
A Design Kit
A perennial favorite of the influencer crowd, A Design Kit's designs allow you to add elements, tweak colors, texturize and more. Over 30 fonts offer an opportunity to really stand out from everyone else typing away with Instagram's minimal selection.
Easil
Easil's free version includes 2,500-plus templates to play with, but if you feel like splashing out, the platform's brand kit feature is pretty cool: it allows you to store your color palette, logos, brand images and fonts in one place to pop into their sleek templates. There's also a handy collaboration feature, so you can tag-team a Story with a teammate if you need an extra hand.
GoDaddy Studio
The unfortunately named GoDaddy Studio tool (formerly Over) actually has some pretty sweet design options. It's ultimately lure to try to get you to sign up for their web hosting services, but you can score some sleek looking templates for free.
Mojo
Mojo's specialty is animated Stories: toss your photos or videos into one of their dynamic templates and customize the timing, music and text effects for an attention-grabbing message. New templates and styles are added each month.
Crello
With Crello's free plan, you can download five designs each month; a subscription plan offers more options for tapping into their design library.
Creative Market
Okay, the Instagram Stories templates you'll find on Creative Market are all paid options… but if you've got some bucks in your social media budget, you can get something unique in the $30-$70 range. Buy a cohesive pack that speaks to your brand and you'll have plenty of options to play with. Most kits have hundreds of variations on a theme to keep your Stories on point but not repetitive.
Now that you're all set with some beautiful visuals, it's time to buckle down and focus on crafting great content to go with it. Check out our list of 20 creative Instagram Story ideas or guide to must-know Instagram Stories hacks to get the inspiration flowing for your next post.
Save time managing your Instagram Stories using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, respond to comments and DMs, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.
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Easily create, analyze, and schedule Instagram posts and Stories with Hootsuite. Save time and get results.
