I’m not a great fan of social media - I think it wastes a lot of time for little return. However, I have a FB page and, after reading a lot of favourable comments on here and the Folksy blog, I decided to embrace Instagram. Did a bit of research, set up my account, then discovered there didn’t seem to be any way to upload from a PC (even using Bluestacks workaround). It seems ridiculous to take photos with a good camera, process them using professional software on a decent PC and then have to go through the hassle of transferring them onto an ipad or phone! I can’t believe large companies with huge advertising budgets do it this way. Surely, Folksy HQ @folksycontent doesn’t either…? Has anyone out there found a way?
2 Likes
I’m like you - I rarely remember to take photos using my phone or iPad and tend to work from my computer. I joined instagram a while ago but have not really used it for precisely this reason. If there is a way I’d be glad to hear it. 
1 Like
I’m in the same boat, even if I have taken photos on my phone I like to edit them on the pc.
I did read that you could upload them to a storage site that could be accessed from any device , can’t remember what it was called, but couldn’t get it to work either.
It was on an intagram thread on this forum.
edit …maybe it was called “dropbox”
1 Like
Hadn’t thought of that one Deborah @DeborahJonesJewellery, I store all my photos on OneDrive in the cloud so could do it from there. Still a bit of a phaff downloading them to my phone and then putting them on instagram though.
1 Like
Yes, I had thought of the Dropbox option, Deborah @DeborahJonesJewellery, but as Roz @OrchardFelts says, it’s still a lot of phaff. It all seems such a backwards step! Glad I’m not alone on this… here’s hoping
I adore Instagram, and my phone really doesn’t take the best of photos! My way round it is to take photos on my decent camera, and put the micro SD card into my tablet, I could probably put it in my phone too, I use it as a personal diary, but this does include my work too, as this is a big part of who I am. If you want to take a look at my account I am spjoyt on Instagram. I don’t think I can add a link, let me know what you think! And good luck, be warned though, you will get hooked!
1 Like
i tend to use instagram for a bit of fun / behind the scenes / work in progress type shots, and use my ipad (if i remember to take it into my sewing room) - i don’t really want large high quality unedited / not-watermarked images floating about on social media anyway, so it suits me.
for product shots and for the actual selling of things, i prefer a proper camera - with the best photos my limited abilities can muster - and use the pc.
i’ve occasionally emailed myself photos from pc to the ipad to use on ig, but it’s faff and the compressed images are a bit rubbish.
also, i feel like the only person in the world that doesn’t own a phone? 
2 Likes
Hi all
A way I get around it if I want to put a product shot on is by logging in to my Google account from my phone and clicking on ‘photos’. I can then upload it to instagram from there.
It’s easy to set up a Google account, when you’ve done this you can upload the photos from your PC to it (great for free photo storage too and also private to you only).
Hope this helps
Natalie
2 Likes
Hi there
I use dropbox as my product photographer puts them in there - so it’s handy for professional shots.
You can schedule ahead on your PC using Hootsuite or other schedulers to automatically post.
On British Crafters I use Instagram for promotion and do this via FB to transfer the photo across mediums.
Hope this helps!
1 Like
Hi, I’m not in the least bit technical but I found that all the photos I take on my proper camera and backed up on Google Plus miraculously appear in a file on my Android phone. I can then scroll through them and choose the ones I want to load them on to Instagram. I hope this helps.
Jeanie
2 Likes
Because Instagram is primarily designed for use with mobile devices (smart phones & tablets) it is not really geared up for use with a computer. So as others have pointed out you need to get some additional software to get it to work with your PC.
Instagram’s own help page says:
Note: You can’t take or upload photos from a desktop computer.
https://help.instagram.com/442418472487929
Gramblr and HootSuite are 2 I have heard mentioned but have not used either. However - I have seen stuff that says Gramblr messes up your # tags on Instagram. Not sure if this is still an issue or if they’ve fixed it.
As usual with all this social media stuff it’s a steep learning curve for us all And a minefield of potential issues
1 Like
It’s a lifesaver / great photo saver isn’t it!
Natalie x
Good question! That’s why I’m not on instagram 
Sam x
You’re not! I don’t have one either 
Thanks Sue. I’ve had a quick look at your page - it looks great! A good mix of your work, inspiration and you, and I love how you’ve worked with colour. I’ve clicked follow…
Instagram is primarily designed for use with mobile devices, which is the reason why it’s not set up for use with a computer. However, another way to get photo’s from your PC on to Instagram, is to create a FB post and add the photo from your PC on to it and publish the post, then open FB on your phone, click on the image and save, the image is then saved in your phone, you can then open Instagram and upload the saved image.
1 Like
Hi Sue,
Just read your comments about using Instagram. I am a newbie to Instagram, although I use Twitter & Facebook regularly. I have an Instagram account but don’t have much followers, just family and friends. As a photo album to connect with family I find it is great but how do you get followers on Instagram from the public who may become potential customers?
How do you get followers ? Have you found it worthwhile uploading product images to Instagram, does it generate business for you? Sorry for the bombardment of questions.
Kindly advise. Any guidance will be much appreciated. Thanks you very much
Thanks, Angela. I have looked at some of the stuff on IG’s help page, but some of it appeared to be out of date, so I was hoping… Minefield is a good description! Will bear those two in mind though.
Thank you all for your helpful comments/suggestions. Unfortunately, it does seem that it remains a lot of hassle for those of us who prefer to work from our PCs. I will have to decide whether I want to adopt one of these methods or simply wait for IG to develop a PC facility. I’m still not convinced that large companies don’t have a better solution though…
Hi Rosemary,
Originally I started Instagram to enter a competition for my favourite clothes company, but I have found it a wonderful way of recording my life, I am a visual person. I don’t think I have had any sales of my work by being on Instagram, despite there being a link on my page, although, my daughter recently pointed out it was out of date 
as for getting followers, I have been on a long time, but the best ways are to follow others, comment on others photos, and use hashtags, and then look on the hashtag to see what else has been displayed and love the ones you do. The other facility for finding like minded people is to use the explore tab, you will find lots of photos you like, or photos from the people you have followed have liked. I only follow people I really like, you get a lot of people who follow you to get you to follow them, then they stop being a follower! I also like their private messaging system, so much nicer than Facebook in my eyes!!! So anyway, hope this has helped, just keep at it 
1 Like