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Instagram Layout Review: The Best Collage App Yet?

Instagram's new Layout app features the ability to 'Mirror' your photos and take a series of selfie 'Photo Booth' snaps

The new app syncs with Instagram but exists separately from the main application
The new app syncs with Instagram but exists separately from the main application

Instagram has taken steps to stop people going elsewhere to make their photo collages by introducing its own app called Layout. Rather than integrating the new collage features into the existing Instagram app, the maker has made Layout a standalone app, though it is easy to share your photos via Instagram.

Layout enables users to select up to nine images from their camera roll, and choose from several different collage templates. At the moment there are only eight diffent layouts to choose from - ideally we'd like to see a few more options.

You can filter down the photos from your camera roll to just recent pictures or just those that include faces (according to Instagram, 90% of collages on Instagram include faces).

Alternatively, you can use the Photo Booth feature to capture a series of four selfies. We tried this out and it worked well, with a handy timer countdown.

Once you've chosen the snaps you want to include, plus your layout, you have the option to change your mind and swap different pics in, or reposition and pinch zoom the ones you've got.

Photos can be easily selected and pinch zoomed (Yahoo News UK/Libby Plummer)
Photos can be easily selected and pinch zoomed (Yahoo News UK/Libby Plummer)



One of the key parts of the app is the ability to mirror images vertically or flip them horizontally. You can get some great effect this way, and while it's tempting to flips photos of friends so they look like they're standing on their heads, the feature is far more effective on abstract photos with strong geometric shapes and converging lines. Architecture and landscapes look particularly good.

Strong architecture works well with the Flip function (Yahoo News UK/Libby Plummer)
Strong architecture works well with the Flip function (Yahoo News UK/Libby Plummer)



Once you've completed your masterpiece you can save it to your photo roll and share it directly to Instagram or Facebook. There are also additional options for sharing to a range of other platforms, including Snapchat, Facebook Messenger and Pinterest.

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The only obvious thing that's missing is the ability to add frames to the collages. Having framless snaps works well for combining shots into a arty, mirrored collage but if you just want to showcase a few related snaps in the same shot, the absense of any kind of frames means that the pictures don't stand out very well. We're hoping that frames are something Instagram will consider adding to the app in a future update.

Collages are easy to make but there are no frame options (Yahoo News UK/Libby Plummer)
Collages are easy to make but there are no frame options (Yahoo News UK/Libby Plummer)



Overall, the app is great fun to use, with a much easier interface than other collage apps like Diptic, Pic Collage and Square Instapic.

It's easy to get good results from the mirror and flip functions, which can make even the most ham-fisted iPhone snaps look like works of art. However, we think the absense of any frame options is a glaring ommission.

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Layout is currently availble for free on Apple's App Stop, but Android users will have to wait for the app to land in "the coming months".