Posting to Instagram from Lightroom

Photographers, particularly film photographers whose work is rarely “instant,” may find using Instagram to be cumbersome.  It is generally thought that you have to scan or process your image, send it to your phone, and then use your phone to post it to your Instagram account.  I saw this recently in one of the Facebook groups I follow, so I offered to do a brief post on how I post to Instagram from Lightroom.

Posting to Instagram from Lightroom is easy with a plugin called “LRInstagram,” which can be found here: LRInstagram  I am not in any way affiliated with the producers of this plugin and receive nothing by way of compensation for this post.  I just find it to be a really useful tool.  LRInstagram allows you to publish from your Lightroom gallery directly to Instagram.  You can set up different Instagram accounts to publish to, and can add hashtags and watermarks using the plugin.

Here’s how it is installed.  First, download the plugin from the website, and save it in a place on your hard drive.

Then go into Lightroom, and go to “Plug-in Manager” (under the File menu).

Click to open Plug-in Manager, and then click  “Add” in the lower left corner.

This will open a dialog box where you select the plug-in from the saved place on your hard drive.  The plug-in will be added, and then you add your Instagram account information. I paid the one-time registration fee because I found the plug-in so useful and wanted to support it.

Once you enter your Instagram account information, you can select from any of your watermarks to be applied to the image when it is uploaded or leave the box unchecked if you choose not to watermark.  This can be changed every time you upload an image if you like.

Click “Save.”

With Lightroom in “Library” mode, drag the photo you want to post to the lower left corner where it says “Instagram photos” underneath “LR/Instagram” and the account you are using.  You’ll see the number “447” in the image below.  Drop it there. The number will tick up as you add photos.

Then click that box that says “Instagram photos” and it will take you to the library of photos you are posting and have posted to Instagram. You may get this nasty message suggesting it won’t work.  When I first saw it, I was concerned that my plug-in wouldn’t work anymore.  I just updated to the latest version of the plug-in and everything was good.  Just click “OK” and you’re ready to go again.

Now you will see that the image you dragged into “Instagram photos” appears in the Instagram library ready to publish.  Here is where you add your post information, including hashtags.

In the right panel under Metadata, you will see a box which allows you to choose which Metadata you want to see.  Choose “LR/Instagram.”  Enter your caption and hashtags. There is a separate box for each, but I just dump everything into the Caption box.

Once you have your caption and hashtags set, go to the “Publish” button at the top of your Instagram library, and click it.

Poof!  It’s posted to Instagram, with your caption and hashtags, and the watermark applied.

It is the easiest way I have found to post to Instagram for Lightroom users.  Give it a try!