Blog > Instagram > How to Change the Background Color on Instagram Stories

How to Change the Background Color on Instagram Stories

Reading Time:

Instagram Stories are one of the most popular features on the app in recent years. Over 500 million people now share Stories to feed, adding to a billion active visitors who are constantly checking out stories, interacting with them, buying from them, and even commenting on them!

From ordinary people to small businesses, local brands, celebrities, influencers, and others, post updates on their IG Stories for their followers.

Why Change Your Instagram Story Background?

Before we dive into the how-to, let’s discuss why you might want to change your story background. Here are the possible reasons:

  1. Stand out from the crowd
  2. Match your brand colors
  3. Highlight important content
  4. Increase engagement on your Stories.

One nifty yet easy way to increase your Instagram reels views is by changing the background color. It helps remix the original reel and create absolutely repurposed content for your followers.

Methods to Change Background Color on your IG Stories

The following ways are the ones in which you can change your IG stories background color.

1. Using the Color Picker Tool

This is one of the best possible ways to create custom colored backgrounds for your Instagram Stories. Follow these steps to achieve the same:

  1. Open Instagram and start a new story. Post a picture here or choose one image from your gallery
    Open Instagram and start a new story. Post a picture here or choose one image from your gallery
  2. Press the draw tool, which is a pen located at the right-hand corner of the screen.
    Press the draw tool, which is a pen located at the right-hand corner of the screen.
  3. Select any color from the bottom of the screen.
    Select any color from the bottom of the screen.
  4. Tap and hold anywhere on the screen to fill the background.
    Tap and hold anywhere on the screen to fill the background.

This method works well for solid color backgrounds. You can choose from preset colors or create custom ones.

2. Using the Eraser Tool

All the steps are almost like the above technique. Follow these one by one to create unique, partially colored backgrounds on your IG Stories.

  1. Start a new story and take or upload a photo
    Start a new story and take or upload a photo
  2. Select the draw tool and choose a color.
    Select the draw tool and choose a color.
  3. Cover the entire screen or any part of the screen with that color.
    Cover the entire screen or any part of the screen with that color.
  4. Tap the eraser tool. Erase parts of the color layer to reveal the image underneath.
    Tap the eraser tool. Erase parts of the color layer to reveal the image underneath.

3. Using Gradient Colors

Instagram also offers gradient color options. You can also use these as Instagram Story backgrounds to change the colors.

  1. Tap “+” and select “Story.”
    Tap "+" and select "Story.”
  2. Tap “Aa Create” on the left side of the screen. A color gradient will automatically be added.

    You can tap the small circle on the bottom right corner for more color gradient options.
    You can tap the small circle on the bottom right corner for more color gradient options.

  3. Tap on different “Stickers” like GIF, Mention, etc. to add different features on top of the colored Story background.
    Tap on different “Stickers” like GIF, Mention, etc. to add different features on top of the colored Story background.

4. Using Photos as Backgrounds

For more personalized branding, you can use images as your IG Story backgrounds. Here are the steps to do the same:

  1. Tap “+” and swipe up to access your camera roll.
    Tap "+" and swipe up to access your camera roll.
  2. Upload a background image (1080px x 566px for best results)
    Upload a background image (1080px x 566px for best results)
  3. Use the Stickers feature to add additional content.
    Use the Stickers feature to add additional content.

5. Using Third-Party Apps

Several apps can help you create custom backgrounds for your stories on IG like:

  • Canva
  • Adobe Spark
  • Over
  • Unfold
  • Photoroom

These apps offer templates and design tools to create professional-looking stories.

Tips for Choosing Background Colors

Before you use any color for your Instagram Stories, you should keep these pointers in mind; especially if you’re a personal brand or a small business selling online or an influencer with a digital presence.

  1. Use colors that align with your brand identity
  2. Ensure text is readable against the background
  3. Different colors evoke different emotions
  4. Use a color scheme across multiple stories for cohesion

Remember, the goal is to make your content stand out and increase the views of Instagram reels.

Infusing Brand Colors for a Consistent Background

For consistent branding, you can save a screenshot of your brand colors to your camera roll and import it using the sticker feature.

Next, you can fill the screen with your chosen color using the Eyedropper tool and delete the screenshot sticker.

This will create a branded background for your Story content!

Using External Editors to Create Colored IG Story

Apps like Photoroom offer advanced editing features.

You can use this third-party app to remove the background using automatic background remover and select a colored background from pre-built templates.

You can even use AI to create new backgrounds for your IG Stories.

Monetizing Your Custom Colored IG Stories

If you’re a budding content creator on Instagram and you’re brimming with the question: how much do you pay for 1 million views on your Instagram Stories?

Then the answer is Zero.

Instagram Stories don’t work like YouTube features where you can monetize your content based on views or subscribers.

While Instagram doesn’t directly pay for views, popular accounts can earn money through:

  1. Sponsored content
  2. Affiliate marketing
  3. Promoting personal products or services
  4. You can also site a YouTube Video on your IG Story and take your audience to your monetized YT channel.

Final Words

One of the easiest yet most effective ways to improve your content is to change the background color of your Instagram story.

By doing so, you can produce artistic stories that are equally good to look at as they are to read, and when human beings’ eyes light up, they respond in kind.

Remember to experiment with different colors and techniques. What works for one brand might not work for another. Keep testing and refining your approach based on your audience’s response.

Article by

Creative marketer with expertise in Web3, social media strategy and execution. Skilled at scaling projects from the ground up, building engaged communities, and integrating into cross-functional teams. Experienced in blockchain and crypto marketing, with a passion for storytelling and data-driven strategies to elevate brands. Focused on a mission, rather than a career. Finding myself inspired by the purpose bigger than just a salary - learning as much as possible and making a difference. Linkedin

Read next

Enter Username