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Instagram Cutouts are a fun way to add some extra fun and customization to Instagram Stories and Reels, but it can be tricky to make custom cutouts that actually look good. Follow these steps to make clean cutouts that you can use over and over again!
Instagram Cutouts Explained
Instagram Cutouts are one of many ways you can personalize your posts on this visual-focused social platform, such as adding multiple images to one post or removing the audio from a clip. Instagram Cutouts are sort of like custom stickers that you can create and save to use in Stories and Reels as many times as you’d like. All you have to do is take an existing image on your phone, use the magic of AI to cut out a piece of that image, and then you can use your cutout to create something entirely new!
The Problem with Instagram Cutouts
The thing is, it can be a little tricky to make cutouts look good. The AI that Instagram uses is not real magic and relies on image contrast to help it predict the shape of the object that you’re trying to select. If you’re trying to create a cutout from a photo, but the subject of the image is not easy to distinguish from its background, the Instagram Cutout tool will struggle to cut out the image correctly.
In this example, I wanted to create a cutout sticker using this picture of a cat. But the cat is practically the same color as the couch, and the lighting in the image is not great. Because of this, the Instagram Cutouts tool wasn’t able to accurately select the cat and extract it from the background. Photos like this example are not good to use for cutouts. In the screenshot, you can see that I tapped on the picture of the cat many times (the small white dots in the selection tool indicate where you’ve tapped) in an attempt to get the AI to pull the cat out of its background, but the tool wasn’t able to get the job done.
How to Make Good Instagram Cutouts
For a good Instagram Cutout, you’ll want to use a photo that has good lighting, and make sure that the thing you want to use for your cutout has contrast with its background. Ideally, you’ll want the background to be a solid color like white, which will make it much easier for the AI to figure out what you’re trying to pull from the photo and turn it into a cutout.
For this example, I used a better photo of a cat. While it doesn’t have a solid white background, this photo has much better lighting, and the cat’s coloring is different from the bed that she’s lying on. This means it’s easier for the AI to extract the cat correctly.
Here are the steps I take to make a perfect Instagram Cutout:
Select an image that you want to use for the background of your Instagram post (something different from the image you’re using for the cutout). Tap on the smiling icon at the top to open up the widget menu. Tap on Cutouts and select an image that’s optimized for a cutout, as explained above. The AI tool will automatically select the most likely object that you’re trying to cut out. Sometimes it will work perfectly, and you’ll be done here! That’s not usually the case. If the automatic selection isn’t what you had in mind, tap “Select manually” in the corner. Tap on the object that you want to select for the cutout. If the AI selector does not perfectly select the image, you can tap more to include more of the photo. You can also use the back button to try tapping on a different part of the object to see if this creates a better outcome. Sometimes, it might take a little trial and error to get the cutout exactly right. Do some experimenting to get your ideal results!Once you have a cutout that you’re happy with, you can use the cutout over and over again! Cutouts are saved automatically in the widget menu, so you can quickly add cutouts to your Stories and Reels with ease. It can be a fun way to include a recurring joke or character when you share posts. Give it a shot and see what your friends think!