How to Create an Instagram Reel Slideshow

Reels are Instagram’s “It Girl”. Today we’re going to learn how to make them work for your business (and we’re going to make it as stress-free as possible).

So set those reel fears aside today, because we’re starting easy with photo slideshows!

While the idea of a photo slideshow might seem simple, we’re going to walkthrough the process together to make sure they’re optimized, and working for your biz socials instead of against them.

Below I’ve gathered a handful of tips and tricks to ensure that your slideshows look neat, clean, and professional with a sprinkle of pizazz. 😉

Where should I edit my videos? 🎥

While the in-app video editors for Instagram are becoming more user-friendly, I prefer to use CapCut (a free video editing software that helps you edit content specifically for socials).

Where should I edit my videos? 🎥

While the in-app video editors for Instagram are becoming more user-friendly, I prefer to use CapCut (a free video editing software that helps you edit content specifically for socials).

Instagram’s in-app editor:

Pros:

• Easy posting to Instagram and Facebook.

• Text added through Instagram’s editing app can be crawled for SEO (meaning that Instagram will use the text to categorize your video for the Instagram search engine).

• Stay’s in one app.

• User-friendly on mobile devices.

• Completely free.

Cons:

• Using the editor that everyone else uses doesn’t make your content standout.

• Not as much variety in editing (specifically fonts).

• Not as easy to save video without watermark to cross-post to other platforms.

• Not as user-friendly on desktop.

CapCut’s video editor:

Pros:

• Variety of font, color, and editing options with free version and paid.

• Your content will stand out with CapCut’s larger variety of editing options.

• Cross-posting to any platform is a lot simpler (no need to worry about watermarks).

• Fantastics for iPad users (or desktop).

Cons:

• You have limited access with the free version (but I use the free version and have been just fine with my options).

• Have to manually add in and hide SEO text (if you want it).

• Not as user-friendly on mobile devices.

For “20 days of Social”, we will be using the in-app editing software, but once you learn the basics of the in-app editor, feel free to play around in CapCut and pick whatever works best for you!

How to build a slideshow reel through Instagram’s editor 📲 🎥

1. Press the box with the plus sign in it at the bottom center of your screen. This will bring you to a page that shows your camera roll and gives you a variety of options.

2. On the bottom right hand side there will be a bar with the options “Post”, “Story”, “Reel”, and “Live”. Press “Reel”.

3. From here, select the images from your camera roll that you want to create into a reel, then select “Next”.
   

4. This will bring you to the “Suggested Audio” page. If you’d like to use one of those sounds, you can, but today we are going to focus on adding one of the trending sounds you saved yesterday so press “Skip”.

5. To add the sound you saved, press the music note at the top of the page. Then press the “Saved” button.

6. From here you will be able to select any trending audios that you save.

7. If you don’t like the timing of when the photos are changing with the music, press “Edit Video” in the bottom left corner.
   

8. Tap a box to highlight it. Drag the left or right side to shorten the length of how long the photo is being shown.

9. When you’re done editing, press the blue arrow in the top right corner of the screen.

10. From here, add a caption, tag friends, add a location, and most importantly add a reel cover (we will go over this more later).

Your Challenge: Create a slideshow reel! 📽

To complete today’s challenge, grab 5-10 photos and create your own reel slideshow! If you’re feeling confident enough to post it, tag me! I want to see your beautiful creations!

If you’re not feeling like posting a reel yet, no worries. Just spend 10 minutes editing and playing around in the Instagram Reel editor space.

• How do you make a reel with pictures and videos?

  To make a reel with pictures and videos:

  1. Press the create a post button (square with a plus sign in it at the bottom center of your screen).

  2. Toggle on the bottom bar to “Reel”.

  3. Select both photos and videos.

  4. Edit your reel how you’d like it and ta-da! A reel with photos and videos!

• How do I make a reel with photos for free?

  The Instagram editing platform is free. To learn how to use the Instagram editing platform to create a reel with photos, read the above blog.

• How do I make a slideshow reel with music on Instagram?

  To add music to your slideshow reel, click the music icon at the top of the reel editing screen. From here you will be able to select the music you want or search for it.