Instagram Woes

[drawnbyshawn]

@NessIllustration I’ll have to take a look at Later. That looks like it could be handy.

[DOTTYP]

Instagram is difficult I admit I dont know how to use it I can not even figure out how to upload a video to My stories .I noticed that if I upload a photo from my PC (windows) the hashtags don't work. I also found out you are only meant to use 5 hashtags and keep using different ones,or they will shadowban you. You should get rid of ghostfollowers that is people who follow you but never like or comment,this lowers your engagement apparently. Also Instagram does not like you using apps and will ban for this. I have tried all these tips it never seems to make much difference so I will have just to realize my page is just not any good. I hope these tips work for you!

[burvantill]

@Coreyartus i was going to ask the same as @jakecrowe . If you save as a jpg in procreate can you upload directly to IG? Yes, sometimes, or no?

I don’t use any transfer software. Just email, text or iMessage. I have also just done a quick screenshot on my iPad and after cropping it in either the photos app or Snapseed (LOVE Snapseed) I will upload it to IG. I have also done this on my Mac. Screenshot, crop it then iMessage it to my phone so I can load it on IG.
I tried Hootsuite for a couple weeks for uploading on a schedule but it never worked. I wonder if it’s the other apps that are messing you up?
Have you tried deleting your IG app on your devices and reloading?
Or logging out of all devices then logging back in one by one? Deleting cookies and erasing history in your browser? I use Chrome too btw.
Software troubleshooting is SO much fun.

[NessIllustration]

@Coreyartus I have to say though, I do sometimes post from my phone as well as from my desktop with Later. I also use a ton more 3rd party services for various different things. A repost app to share projects from my community, widgets for my website that displays my latest posts, for a while I even tested this app that sends automated welcome DMs to new followers. Never had one problem, never experienced any kind of ban or limitation put on my activities. I don't know WHAT kind of bad luck you're having with Instagram, it definitely hasn't been my experience. Maybe delete the app and re-install the newest version? Also for hashtags, the limit is 30 per post and from what I've seen if you go over that it will simply get you an error message when you try to post and they'll ask you to remove some before you can post. Never heard of someone being able to post with too many hashtags then later get punished for it. It's a head scratcher!

[Coreyartus]

@burvantill @jakecrowe I had indeed been saving a jpg directly from Procreate and posting to Instagram all on my iPad. It was wonderful!! And simple!

And then I realized that the 300dpi files I was posting were being reformatted automatically by Instagram to fit their 72dpi sharing format. And it took a couple posts before I realized some of the line work I had drawn was simply evaporating. The crispness in the detail seemed to disappear.

I couldn't find an iPad app that would reduce the dpi of the images with the control that Photoshop has. I started saving the images to my Desktop through Appleshare, then adjusting the images for websharing in Photoshop. It enabled me to reduce the dpi to 72 and use Photoshop's algorithms to keep a sharper quality image. I was also able to use a smidge of Smart Sharpening on some of them as well. So when I sent them back to my iPad to share on Instagram, they seemed to have more clarity and definition than if I had just trusted Instagram to re-interpolate them.

Am I mucking up things and missing something inadvertently? I have a tendency to over complicate things.... hehe...

@NessIllustration I am 99% sure I'm simply not using Instagram correctly. The tech is smarter than I am. You're right about the 30 limit. I think I was using the same hashtags over and over again. I've read that if you do that and they're the hashtags with bigger usages, it dings their Spam algorithm. So I'm trying to reduce the number of hashtags I use and make sure I don't use too many of the ones that have over a couple million usages. Ironically, I've read "less is more", especially if you're trying to focus those hashtags toward specific viewers.

I took your advice and deleted the app on my iPad and re-installed it. We'll see how that works now.

[NessIllustration]

@Coreyartus You're right, smaller hashtags work better! Not only you have a better chance of showing your illustration the the right person who is interested, but the bigger hashtags (a few million posts) are used so often that you get buried in seconds. It's like screaming into a crowd of millions: exhausting and rarely efficient! Speaking to a smaller room is easier and you actually have more chance to be heard

[burvantill]

Hmmm. Weird. Hopefully deleting the apps and reloading will fix the issue. Good luck.

[Amanda Jean]

@MichaelaH that is the most goshdarn useful Instagram tip I have seen in ages. Thank you!

[burvantill]

@MichaelaH I tried on my mac and was almost disappointed. For those on a Mac, Command+Option+J will take you to the source page where you can click on a mobile view. SO AWESOME!!!! Thank you Michaela!!!
EDIT: LOL I spoke too soon. I can see what is supposed to be a mobile view but there are no buttons to post images. Bummer.

[StudioLooong]

@burvantill I was not originally getting the post button, looks like you may need to command +R to refresh the page and the post option will load

[burvantill]

@StudioLooong SWEET!! Thank you. That worked.

[JerrySketchyArt]

@burvantill Just beware that the hashtags might not work in the browser. I usually add the tags from my phone in a comment. For some reason they don't seem to work right when not on mobile.

[MichaelaH]

@StudioLooong Yeah on windows You need F5 ro refresh the site and than you see this plus for making a new post
@burvantill I am glad it works for You, as Jerry said, the hashtags arn't alaways working, but You can add them later. Yeah refresh is F5 on Windows...

[Julia Hegetusch]

@burvantill After you switch to the mobile view you need to refresh the page and then the button with which you can post images appears

[burvantill]

@Moana-Maureen Thanx! I figured it all out in 2019 when this thread was started. But I appreciate the effort of trying to help.

[Julia Hegetusch]

@burvantill oh oops, a bit late then I guess, ha,ha