If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what about 10 pictures? On Feb. 22, Instagram announced a new feature which enables you to share up to 10 photos and videos in a single post. Before you get all camera-happy, however, there's one question you might want to consider: Can you tell if someone takes a screenshot of your Instagram gallery-esque posts? It was big news when we learned that notifications are now sent when someone takes a screenshot of disappearing photos — which, of course, has had us asking that same question for a wide variety of other Instagram features as well.
Over the next few weeks, the ability to share multiple photos in one Instagram post will become available to 'Grammers around the world on iOS and Android, so be sure to update your Instagram apps accordingly. With the new feature, users can combine as many as 10 photos or videos into one gallery-type post and then swipe through to see them one by one, almost like a slideshow. All of your pics for these multi-photo posts can be edited either one at a time or all at once if you want a consistent filter throughout. Since the photos and videos are all compiled into one post, you have just one caption to write for the entire thing.
And here's the answer to our initial question: At the moment, you won't get any notifications if an Instagram user takes a screenshot of your multi-image post. You can only know if someone screenshots a photo that disappears, similar to how Snapchat works. Since these new Instagram photo "galleries" (there's no official term, so we'll call them galleries for now) go up on your profile like a regular, one-photo post, you won't be able to tell if someone has taken a screenshot of your gallery. (You can also delete your multi-image posts at any time if you like, just like you can with any other post.)
Here's what your Instagram app looks like when you want to share multiple photos and videos in one post:
As you can see above, you only need to simply tap on the desired photos or videos and add them to your post (numbered blue buttons will indicate the order of the gallery items). All multi-image posts will have an icon that looks like two blue squares on top of each other when they're displayed on your profile, so people will be able to tell they're galleries; within the regular feed, a photo that's part of a multi-image post will have dots beneath it to indicate that you can swipe to see more. Even though each gallery-type post gets its own caption, geolocation, and commenting thread, you can still tag friends in individual pictures and videos within the collection of images.
This new feature is particularly handy if you're looking to publish multiple photos from a meal, vacation, or other experience, but don't want to clog your friends' feeds (I've totally been "that person"; I think we all have, for that matter). You can also get crafty by using the feature to make, say, a step-by-step recipe guide or even a creative film or comic strip.
Since Instagram has yet to add the option of receiving screenshot notifications for gallery-style posts, your friends on Instagram will have no way of knowing if you take a screenshot of theirs. Still, though — I wouldn't recommend saving someone else's photo as a screenshot without their permission. It's their artistic property, after all. And don't forget that they could do the same right back to you!
