Creating stories

Stories for social media are sequences of images or videos that display for a certain amount of time and offer a snapshot into the events of your day. With Unfold, you can upload images and videos, then use Unfold’s built-in templates, fonts, and stickers to customize your stories before sharing them.

Customers have access to a variety of free watermarked template collections. Customers on the Unfold Plus and Pro plans have unlimited access to all template collections, with the option to remove watermarks. Single template collections you’ve purchased will not have a watermark. If you're seeing a watermark on a template you've purchased, try restoring your purchases.

Stories and pages

In Unfold, stories are made up of pages. Each page in a story can be created by selecting a template, which is the special preset frame or design you apply to the page. Depending on the template you choose, a page might display one image, one video, or multiple images and videos.

Create a new story

To create a story:

  1. On the Unfold home screen, tap +.
  2. Tap Story, then tap Project title in the top-left to customize the post title.
  3. Tap + to add the first page of your story.
  4. Select a template from the collection, or view more templates by tapping another collection at the bottom of the screen. To learn more, review the following section.
  5. Tap + again to add more pages, or start editing the current page.

Depending on the template you choose, the layout may include places for multiple images or videos and example text boxes. You can edit the existing layout and add more elements.

Select a template

When you click + on a story, you can browse different template styles by swiping through the collections at the bottom of your screen. To view a collection, tap its name. Some collections have multiple sets of templates, divided by number. To view the corresponding set of templates, tap the number after tapping the collection name.

Keep in mind, each collection and template has its own unique layout. Which layout you select determines which elements on that story page you can edit. For example, some layouts include a background color or image that you can style, while others have a fixed background.

Animated templates

The Animated collection contains a set of templates with dynamic transitions to add movement to your stories. Pages in these templates support both images and videos. 

Add images and videos

To add images or videos:

  1. Tap the image icon.
  2. In Gallery, select the images or videos from your device, or tap Unsplash to select an image from the Unsplash library.

You may need to give Unfold permission to access your images. You can also take new photos directly in the Unfold app by tapping the camera icon.

Note: In iOS 14, ensure you select All Photos when granting access to Unfold. If you choose Select Photos, you won't be able to download pages or stories from the app. 

Unsplash images

With our Unsplash integration, you can find stock images and add them to your stories. Use of the Unsplash library is subject to Unsplash Terms.

Learn more about our Stock image best practices in the Squarespace Help Center.

Google Photos

On Android devices, you can add images from Google Photos by tapping the black circle button in the bottom-right corner of the gallery picker to open the Google Photos app. On iOS devices, it's not possible to import images from Google Photos directly, but you can save images from Google Photos to your camera roll, then import from there.

Supported file types

You can upload the following file types for images or videos:

  • .jpg
  • .png
  • .gif (converted to video on iOS, static image on Android)
  • .heif
  • .webp
  • .mp4

Transparent backgrounds aren't supported for image files.

Slideshows

Turn a single page of your story into a slideshow that displays multiple images. When followers view your slideshow, it runs once, then the story advances to the next page.

To create a slideshow:

  1. Tap Slideshow at the bottom of your screen.
  2. Tap + to view available images.
  3. Tap Select to add your images.

To edit a slideshow, tap the play icon in the top-left corner. To delete a slideshow, edit it, then tap the trash can icon.

Customize with text, stickers, or a background

You can add more elements to your story, like text boxes and stickers. Some of these advanced options are only available with Unfold Plus or Unfold Pro.

To add more elements:

  1. Tap your story.
  2. Tap Text Box to add a text box.
  3. Tap Stickers to add a sticker.
  4. Tap Background to select from colors or textures to apply to the image.
  5. After making changes, tap the back arrow.

The free version of Unfold includes a curated selection of fonts, stickers, and background options. Subscribe to Unfold Plus for access to all options, or subscribe to Unfold Pro to upload your own custom colors, stickers, and fonts.

Move a page

To move a page in your story:

  1. Tap your story and go to the page you want to move.
  2. Tap .
  3. Tap Move left or Move right until the page is where you want it.
  4. Tap X.

Add music

Add music to your stories to increase their impact. You can add a different song for each page in your story. Choose from 20 different tracks, or more if you're using Unfold Plus or Unfold Pro.

To add music to a story page:

  1. While creating or editing a story, tap Music.
  2. Use the tabs at the top of the screen to browse available music.
  3. Tap a song to hear a sample.
  4. As the sample is playing, tap + to add the song to your story.
  5. Scrub left or right along the waveform to select an eight-second clip from the chosen track to add to your story.

Undo and redo changes

In the top-right corner, tap the undo or redo icons to undo or redo changes you make to a story. All changes are permanent after you close the story.

Delete content

Delete images, text, and stickers from a page

To delete an image, text box, or sticker from a story, tap the content you want to delete, then tap the X in its top-right corner.

Delete a page in a story

To delete a page from a story, tap , tap Delete, then tap Delete Page.

Recover deleted content

If the story is still open, you can restore deleted content by tapping the undo button in the top-right corner.

After saving a story or closing the Unfold app, deleted content can’t be restored.

Preview the story

To preview the story, tap the eye icon. When your story’s ready, you can save it to your device and share it to social media.

Duplicate a page

To duplicate a page:

  1. Tap your story and go to the page you want to duplicate.
  2. Tap .
  3. Tap Duplicate.

It’s not currently possible to duplicate an entire story.

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