Instagram Stories have become an integral part of the platform, with over 500 million daily active users. The ability to customize Stories with different fonts and typographies makes them more engaging and aligned to specific brands.
As a social media manager with over 5 years of experience, I have helped numerous clients create visually appealing Instagram Stories leveraging different fonts and text effects. In this comprehensive guide, I will share tips to use custom fonts in Stories legally without violating Instagram’s policies.
Table of Contents
Native Font Options in Instagram Stories
Instagram offers a few native font options that you can use in Stories:
- Modern – A clean sans-serif font perfect for minimalist aesthetics.
- Neon – A fun, glowing font to grab attention. Great for sales campaigns.
- Strong – A bold font best suited for prominent calls-to-action.
- Typewriter – An old-school typewriter font ideal for vintage-style posts.
You can access these fonts by:
- Opening the Instagram Stories camera
- Typing your text
- Tapping the font name on top to switch between different options
These default fonts work for basic personalization, but brands need more customization. Let’s look at how to use external fonts legally.
Legally Using Custom Fonts in Instagram Stories
Uploading copyrighted fonts directly into Stories is illegal. However, you can legally customize typography with these methods:
1. Using Font Apps
Specialized font apps like Phonto and Font Candy allow installing and using commercial fonts legally.
Here is a step-by-step guide to use Phonto:
- Install Phonto and give it access permission
- Upload the image/video for your story
- Type the text using any font from Phonto’s library
- Adjust size, color etc. and overlay on your image
- Save the image and upload it directly to Instagram Stories
This app offers over 200 fonts, ensuring you find the perfect match for your brand.
2. Font Templates
An easy way to use new fonts is templates. Apps like Canva have Instagram story templates with different fonts and text effects.
Simply pick a template, replace sample text with your own, and export the image to upload on Stories. The font stays intact.
Using templates saves effort while letting you achieve typographic consistency across stories.
3. Text Overlays on Images
Design your own text overlays using design software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or open-source GIMP.
- Add a text layer on an image using your preferred font
- Adjust colors, effects, transparency to blend with the image background
- Export the final design and upload it to Instagram Stories
This method needs design skills but offers endless customization options for brands to stand out.
4. Screenshot Edited Text
A workaround is to screenshot custom formatted text from other apps:
- Draft text in Notes or Samsung Notes with the desired font
- Take a screenshot
- Trim just the text and upload the image to Instagram Stories
This quick hack lets you use iPhone and Samsung system fonts easily without design expertise.
Typography Tips for Brand Consistency
When using custom fonts in Stories, ensure visual consistency with profile aesthetics for brand reinforcement.
❖ Match font styles between Stories and profile. E.g. Serif fonts across assets establish heritage brands better.
❖ Reuse font effects like gradients, shadows, outlines etc. Creating owned elements improves recognition.
❖ Employ font pairing rules to pick complementary combinations that look appealing. Don’t use more than 2-3 font families.
❖ Maintain color schemes in fonts and backgrounds. Vibrant colors suit youthful brands more than muted palettes.
❖ Check font visibility on backgrounds before posting. Overlay lighter fonts onto dark images for readability.
Additionally, use fonts to communicate brand personality more effectively to attract the right audience. Research shows customers prefer and recall brands better when visual assets align with values.
Conclusion
Instagram Stories offer a readily available channel to reinforce branding through creative use of typography. By legally accessing custom fonts via specialized apps and templates, brands can achieve more unique and recognizable aesthetics. With the tips above and strategic font pairing, you can create on-brand, engaging stories.
Hope this guide gives you clarity on how to customize fonts in Stories legally while maintaining visual consistency. Let me know if you have any other questions!
