How To Create Icons For Highlights On Instagram
Highlights are an easy way to share inspiration and keep your Instagram followers engaged. Make the most of this handy feature with custom Instagram Highlights covers.
Instagram Stories Highlights are a collection of Stories that live on a user's profile. Instead of expiring at the 24-hour mark, this feature allows users to save select Stories so that followers can access them at any time. 
Image via Shutterstock's Instagram page.The beauty of this Instagram update is its versatility; Highlights can be used by any user or brand, from restaurants to start ups to influencers. With Highlights you can compile content that showcases products, services, Q&As, travel guides – the options are endless.
Read on to discover more about Instagram highlight covers, along with tips on how to create your own.
Highlight Covers File Types & Dimensions
You'll notice that Highlights covers are small, so it's crucial to have the correct file types and dimensions. Starting off with the proper height and width ensures you do not need to crop any of your design.
The Instagram highlight dimensions are the same as Instagram stories: 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels or within a 9:16 aspect ratio. While only a small portion of the highlight cover will be shown on the profile page, you need to keep all your cover designs the same dimensions.
When you're ready to export your design, it's also important to know which file types to use. Highlight cover designs are ideally exported as a JPG or as a PNG. While JPG files are smaller in size and are ideal for online uploads, PNG files can also work because they retain image quality.
Tips for Successful Highlights Covers
Learning how to take advantage of this feature will help you expand your social reach and keep your users engaged. You might educate users about your brand, notify visitors of specials and sales, and showcase unique products and services. Highlights aren't just used for a single type of account; they can work for any social account, regardless of industry.
To help elevate your Instagram profile, we've listed some tips to keep in mind when creating your own highlight covers.
1. Stick to a Look
Whether you're using photography, typography, illustrations, or icons, be sure to stick to the same style across all highlight covers. A compilation of different styles can make your highlight covers look disorganized and will be difficult to follow.
2. Be Clear and Precise
Each highlight cover has only a small viewing window, so it's essential to make the designs clear and easy to read. Icons and other simple designs are ideal for highlight covers because they're easy to see at even the smallest of sizes.
3. Organize Your Highlights
The amount of highlight covers you can use in your profile is totally up to you; some accounts use only a handful of highlight covers, while others have upwards of ten. The more content you have, the more highlight covers you may need. Too many covers can quickly become overwhelming, while having only a select few means users can quickly scroll through Highlights instead of swiping through endless amounts of content.
4. Incorporate Your Brand Voice and Style
Instagram's highlight covers are an extension of your brand; the imagery used in each highlight cover should go hand in hand with your brand style and voice. If your brand is vibrant and cheerful, it only makes sense that the highlight covers reflect that same energy. A way to continue your brand's aesthetic is to incorporate the same colors, typography, or illustration style that you use across other channels.
How to Make Your Own Highlights Cover
Now that we've gone over the basics of highlight covers, it's now time to create your own. Shutterstock features endless icons, typography, backgrounds, and more that can be used for highlight covers. By using our Shutterstock Editor design app, you can create effortless highlight covers in no time.
Check out our free pack of 145 Instagram highlight cover elements. You can use these elements in any editing or design program.
Start by opening up the Shutterstock Editor program, then head to Preset Sizes (P) and scroll down to Instagram Story. This will automatically change your canvas size to 1080 by 1920 pixels.
Navigate to the Search Images (S) tab to find icons for your highlight cover. I searched for "creative icons" to find designs that pertained to graphic design. Shutterstock features endless collections of icons that can be used for a variety of applications, especially in Instagram highlight covers. Click on the image and select Add to Canvas.
From here, you'll need to crop the icon set to isolate a single icon. Head over to the Image Tools section on the right side of the program and select the Crop icon. Drag the crop marquee until you've cropped the image to a single icon, like seen below. Hit Apply Crop once you've finished cropping the icons.
Resize the cropped image by dragging the blue circles outwards. Hold down the Option key to keep the image fixed on the canvas. Utilize the Alignment menu to arrange the object to the middle of the canvas.
To create a seamless design between the icon and background, we must match the icon color. Head to the Background Color section on the bottom right and click on the circle. Select Custom and activate the Eyedropper tool. Click on the icon background color to match its hue. To download your design, head to the red Download button and set the File Format to JPG and the Resolution to 72 DPI.
How to Upload Your Cover
When you're ready to upload your cover to Instagram, simply save your image to your phone and use it in an Instagram Story. Then select Highlight from the bottom of the Story panel and give it in a name. If you're stuck, head over to this article for more detailed steps.
Interested in learning more about the world of social media? Check out these articles:
- Free Instagram Pack: 145 Highlight Cover Backgrounds, Type, and Icons
- 6 Quick Social Media Tips and Tricks That Actually Work
- Social Media Image Sizes & Dimensions Cheat Sheet
- How to Create Your Own Instagram Stories Templates
- The Business Owner's Quick-Start Guide to Instagram Stories
Cover image via Neirfy. Social media mockup via Premiumvectors. Instagram images via Roman Samborskyi, Olga Pink, Faizal Ramli, olgakim93, olgakim93, canadastock, and kazmulka.
How To Create Icons For Highlights On Instagram
Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/how-to-make-instagram-highlights-covers
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