CM - Animated Instagram Photo. Mockup #21 2101007

What is a cinemagraph?

Are these magical cinemagraphs photos or videos? A cinemagraph is essentially a still image with a moving part. Essentially, this is a very short video file with an almost immobilized picture where the first and the last frame are exactly the same, thereby creating an endless motion.

Not too long ago, we had to choose between photos and videos to engage our Instagram followers. Now you can combine these two formats taking all the best from videos and photos and turning it into a completely new file type called cinemagraph. Cinemagraphs are elegant and unobtrusively draw viewers into their magic. The wow effect occurs when you stare at the photo and it suddenly starts to come to life! Without a doubt, cinemagraphs attract attention with their uniqueness.

Why publish cinemagraphs on your Instagram feed?

It's no secret that Instagram is a powerful tool for promoting your brand or personal blog. The easiest way to understand what is relevant, fashionable, and interesting is to analyze the Instagram profiles of influential brands in your space. If you do this, you'll quickly notice a growing trend: quick animated photos with subtle movements. Unlike ordinary photography or video, these shots look very unusual, and stand out against the background of static images. With so many beautiful photos, interesting grids, and attractive videos, it’s become harder and harder to stand out on Instagram. As you read this, cinemagraphs are still fresh, rare, and unique on the platform. This is your chance to stand out!

How cinemagraphs work on your Instagram feed

Viewers will scroll their news feed and see your photo. Since all Instagram videos in the feed play automatically and loop endlessly, this gives cinematography a huge window of opportunity to grab attention.

How to personalize your cinemagraph

Sometimes you need to add a little extra oomph to your announcements, photos, or product shots. Perhaps you’ve used .psd templates in which there is already an artboard with a smart object where you can simply insert your design, thereby making the photo more personal. But what about cinemagraphs? How do we personalize them if they’re both video and photo at the same time? You must be thinking it’s very difficult, but I’m here to show you that it isn’t! A cinemagraph has exactly the same capabilities as a photo, but it is technically an MP4 (video) file. You will, however, find many of the features that you use to customize image templates: smart objects, filters, text layers, and more.

You can personalize a cinemagraph just like a static image. You don’t need complex video editors and obscure programs, the only thing you need is Photoshop. The best part? You don’t need to be a Photoshop pro. Any beginner can follow simple instructions to turn a cinemagraph into a more personal picture in a matter of minutes.

How to upload cinemagraphs to Instagram

Cinemagraph files are so light that sometimes they are even easier to upload than photos. Like I mentioned before, cinemagraphs are not GIF files, but super short MP4 video files. There are lots of ways to upload cinematography in Instagram, including any that you currently use for photos.