How to Share Photos on TikTok
Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter have been chasing TikTok’s dominance in short-form video for a while. But while its competitors are focusing on short-form video, TikTok has made the unexpected turn to photography.
The hugely popular short video app has taken Instagram by storm with the announcement of its new Photo Mode feature.
With Instagram barely recognizable from its roots as a photo-sharing app and Gen Z adopting TikTok as their new place to post their pictures anyway, is it time to start sharing photos on TikTok instead?
Here’s your guide to using TikTok’s new Photo Mode feature.
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What is the new photo mode on TikTok?
TikTok introduced its new photo mode in a short blog post on Thursday.
“If you prefer to express yourself in formats other than video, we’ve released Photo Mode, a new carousel format available on mobile for photo content, ideal for sharing high-quality images on TikTok,” the company explains.
The new feature allows users to share a photo or multiple photos in a post on TikTok along with music and a caption that can be up to 2,200 characters long.
Photo mode looks almost identical to Instagram, with TikTok users able to upload standalone photos or as part of a carousel format.
Your TikTok followers can view the carousel you post via photo mode at their own pace, simply by swiping through the images that are displayed, and the images will “automatically scroll through”. Photo posts also appear in the TikTok app’s “For You” feed, alongside the usual vertical short video content.
TikTok’s photo mode has one feature that sets it apart from a standard post on Instagram: users have the option to add music to a photo mode post. And TikTok users have shared on Twitter how to create more creative photo content with this new music feature.
The way TikTok users have embraced photo mode is SO creative – I’ve never seen anything so captivating in an IG carousel ⬇️ https://t.co/khnhfF66vo pic.twitter.com/8uAnd9e6f5
— Jessie Perlo (@perl0r) October 6, 2022
Photo mode differs from TikTok templates, which allow users to upload images that blend into one another as a video post.
How to share photos on TikTok?
If you’re used to sharing photos on Instagram, using TikTok’s photo mode should be pretty easy.
To access photo mode, launch the TikTok app and select the “+” icon to create a new post. Click “Upload” and then select an image or images from your camera roll to upload to TikTok.
TikTok will then give you an option to “Switch to photo mode” which will turn the images into a carousel post.
TikTok automatically adds music to the soundtrack of your pictures. The app seems to automatically select the songs “Unholy” by Sam Smith & Kim Petras or “BOTA (Baddest of Them All)” by Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal as the selected sound for your carousel post).
However, you can change the music and edit the images using the tools available in TikTok Photo Mode. You can add a different tone, apply filters, enable photo enhancement, and add stickers or text to your carousel.
Filters are available in four different categories: Portrait, Landscape, Food, and Atmosphere. For example, in the Grocery category, you can choose between filters such as Fresh, Delicious, Broth, and Sizzle. In the mood category, meanwhile, you can choose from filters like Tonal, Pewter, and Fade.
In Stickers, you can add emojis, stickers, and GIFs to your post.
There is also the option to crop your photos to an aspect ratio of 9:16, 3:4, 1:1 or 4:3.
After editing your photos, you will be taken to the final page before you can publish your carousel. On this page, you can describe your post with a caption of up to 2,200 characters, add hashtags, mention other TikTok creators, and tag people. You can choose who can see your photo post and choose whether to allow duets, comments, and stitches in your carousel.
Finally, you can share the slideshow and it’s available to your followers and other TikTok users if you have a public account.
Is TikTok’s photo mode available to everyone?
TikTok began rolling out Photo Mode to users in the United States and other regions worldwide on Thursday. The feature is currently only available in Android and iOS TikTok apps. Images shared in photo mode are not yet visible in the browser-based version of the service and can only be viewed while using the app.
If photo mode isn’t available on your device yet, make sure you’re using the latest version of the TikTok app. To do this, you need to go to Apple’s App Store or Google Play Store and see if there is an update available for TikTok. If no update is available yet, uninstall the app from your device.
Now turn off your device and after a few seconds turn it on again. Once done, go to the Store and install TikTok. You should can now use the new photo mode in the app.