Instantane helps you to print precious moments as collages. As such, it differs from many other collage making apps which are more suited for online sharing and not if you want to actually get the collage printed.
The sidebar on the right of the Instantane window has a list of many layouts which support up to nine images.
You can select any layout from this list to get started. While you can select another layout at any time if you're not satisfied with the current one, it may require you to reposition and zoom the image in or out.
Instantane provides you with several options to add an image to a layout, and you can select the approach most convenient to you.
You can drag images from Finder or directly from iPhoto, into Instantane. The dragged images can be dropped directly into an image container in your collage layout for display.
Moving the mouse pointer over any empty image container, shows buttons for adding and rotating the image.
Clicking the add button will allow you to select an image using the Open Panel.
If an image container already has an image in it, the add button turns into a "Remove" button.
You can use the remove button to clear the existing image, and choose a new image once the button turns back into an add button.
The left sidebar allows you to create a library of images for easier access. The '+' button near the bottom of the sidebar allows you to select a folder. Once a folder is selected, all images in the folder are imported into the library.
Images are not imported from any subfolders, so any subfolders need to be added individually as well.
Selecting an image in the library shows a thumbnail preview below the library sidebar.
A list of recently used files are shown above the Library and can be used similarly.
Images in the image containers can be panned, zoomed and rotated as necessary, to focus on the parts of the image that you wish to showcase.
Rotating an image is done using the "Rotate" button which appears when the mouse pointer enters an image container. Clicking this button, rotates the image 90 degrees clockwise.
The button can be clicked multiple times if required, to rotate the image clockwise multiple times.
You can move the image around and zoom in or out using the trackpad or mouse.
To pan the image and move it within the container, either click and drag the image, or scroll using the mouse or trackpad, until the image is correctly positioned.
Zooming can be done using the "pinch" gesture on the trackpad, or by keeping the Command key pressed while scrolling.
Instantane comes with preset image sizes for the most commonly used photo print sizes.
The "Collage size" button in the toolbar, allows you to select from the available sizes and also add your own. To add a new size, you must specify a new width and height in inches and the size will be added to the existing list.
The Orientation settings button, helps you switch between landscape and portrait modes.
The "Divider" button in the toolbar, helps modify the settings of the divider between the images.
Clicking it shows a menu wherein the width, rounding and color of the dividers can be set and modified as necessary.
Once your collage is done, you can choose to save it as a jpeg image for printing at your local print store, or print it directly on your printer.
Saving the collage as an image file, saves the collage correctly sized as per your size and dpi selections.
You can save the collage in its existing state by either selecting the Save option from the menu or toolbar, or using the Cmd + S shortcut.
The image filename generated automatically appends an increasing number to the end of the filename, to make it easier to save multiple files.
This number can be modified or reset through the app preferences.
Printing the collage directly to a printer will fit the entire collage onto a single sheet of paper, which may result in the collage being a different size than the one chosen by you.
You can run Page Setup from the File menu prior to printing, so that the correct paper size is detected while printing.
By default, Instantane overlays a watermark on the collage it generates and also shows advertisements.
Once you're satisfied with Instantane's functionality, you can remove the watermark as well as ads, by upgrading to Instantane Premium using an in-app purchase.
If you're not already upgraded to Premium, the toolbar will show a button to upgrade to premium, which you can click to make the in-app purchase to remove the watermark and get an ad-free experience.
If you would like help with any topic not covered here, feel free to contact us at [email protected]