Stickers are really cool addition to the Instagram stories. But sometimes it just isn’t enough with what Instagram provides. What can you do to get or create more stickers? Read further to find out!
Unlike GIFs, which you can search for, and get almost as many as you like, there isn’t an option to search for more stickers on Instagram. But there are ways to get them from external sources!
Option 1: sticker packs in your keyboard
Many keyboards, including Gboard (Android, iOS) and SwiftKey Keyboard (Android, iOS), allow you to add more stickers from their packs, therefore already making your work with getting more stickers easier.
Here’s an example of how to add stickers from your Gboard app:
Step 1: Open your Gboard while in Instagram story (as if you were to type something) and tap on the emoji icon.
Step 2: tap on the sticker icon (the middle one on the bottom).
Step 3: tap on any sticker to place it on your story. You can add more sticker packs by tapping on the “+” icon at the top right corner of your keyboard.
Option 2: Create your own stickers
In this step I will show you how I create my own custom Instagram stickers with texts from many different fonts and colors.
Step 1: Create photos with transparent background
You can create or download any .PNG format file with transparent background and use it as a sticker. Or you can create your own custom stickers by using Add Text (Android) app, which I am using for my textual stickers.
To create a sticker with Add Text app, first you have to choose a new file with a transparent background. Then tap on the “+” icon and choose to add some text.
Afterwards type in your text and choose your preferred font. If you wish to use other fonts, you can import your own fonts by tapping on “Custom” and then the “+” icon. I mostly download them from Google Fonts or dafont.com. The app then scans all font files on your phone and lets you choose to add them to the app. You can also change the text color by tapping on “Color” option and choosing both color and transparency for your text.
Note that if you choose to save a completely white text, you won’t be able to see it on the white background in the keyboard’s sticker menu. That’s why I add the white texts a little bit darker (light gray) so that they can be seen in the menu and I can see what’s written there.
To reduce the blank top and bottom part of your photo, before saving – crop the photo.
After cropping the photo – simply tap on the arrow (->) icon on the top right corner and choose the “Save Image” option (don’t forget to choose “PNG” as your file extension so that the background stays transparent). If you wish to save the project to be able to return to it and change it, then choose the “Save project” option before saving the image.
For iPhone users: you now can simply open the sticker photo in your gallery, choose “Share” option and choose “Copy”. Afterwards – head to your story, hold down your finger and paste the sticker on top of your story. All done!
For Android users it’s a little bit different. There is no copy option for photos, so follow the next steps.
Step 2: copy all the sticker photos to a new folder on your device
Skip this if you’re using SwiftKey Keyboard.
This is needed so that the application used in step 3 has its own folder, otherwise all the other photos in the folder will be imported too. You can do this by using your file manager or gallery app.
Step 3: Add the stickers to your keyboard
SwiftKey Keyboard allows you to import the stickers right away, but if you’re using Google Keyboard like me, then you need another app to get your stickers in.
March 2021 update: Unfortunately Google has removed the custom sticker support from Gboard keyboard. To be able to still add custom stickers to Google keyboard, the workaround is uninstalling your current application and installing an older version from here.
I do this by using uSticker app (Android).
First you need to choose your created sticker folder by tapping the “Change sticker directory” option. Afterwards just tap on the “Import stickers to Gboard” option and you’re all set! You might need to close and reopen your Instagram app once.
Step 4: Use your new stickers
When you create your new stories, you will have a new tab in your Gboard stickers without an icon – that’s where all your imported stickers are.
If you create any new sticker, then again – copy them to your sticker folder and tap on “Import” in the uSticker app. Note that the app will delete all the previous stickers and add all the stickers from the folder as new, so don’t delete the previously imported stickers from your phone if you are going to use them. Finally – use your new stickers!
Option 3: Create stickers from presets
There is an app called AnySticker (Android), which can be used to create stickers that look a lot like other Instagram stickers (Location, weekday and others). You can type in any text, choose an icon and choose text color, therefore making them look like they’re from Instagram.
After creating your sticker, you need to choose the photo to use as background in your stories, and tap on the “Add to Instagram Story” button. Make sure that you don’t have any drafted story, otherwise the action won’t complete.
When in the story, you can move, resize and place the sticker, just like with any other Instagram sticker. But note that you can only add one sticker from this application.
Conclusion
If you would love to expand your Instagram sticker game even more, be sure to check out another tutorial about How to create a see-through “New Post” Instagram sticker that users can tap through. I use a sticker created with this technique every day when sharing my new post in my Instagram stories. It leaves people wondering what the full photo looks like (and wanting to open it), because you reveal only a small part of the photo with the sticker. 🙂
Feel free to check out other Instagram story tutorials I have written:
