Workaround lets you upload Instagram photos from your desktop computer
Swiftly upload photos stored on your desktop to Instagram with this easy workaround.
- Webby Award ("How To, Explainer, and DIY Video"); Folio Changemaker Award, 2020
Though Instagram recently added likes and comments to its Web interface, a complete Web experience, filled with photo uploads, streams, and and profile-viewing is still on my wish list.
Many have adopted their phone as their primary camera, but there's a niche group of users -- like bloggers and photographers -- who work around Instragram's limited app environment to upload full-res photos from their dSLR cameras.
Possibilities include uploading photos through the iPad Camera Connection Kit, or even e-mailing a photo from a desktop computer and uploading it to Instagram through that route. Savvy Android users might even utilize the USB OTG adapter for on-the-go dSLR photo-uploading.
However, a new, less-complicated option has cropped up, and it's all thanks to Bluestacks.
Bluestacks, which debuted last year and has since expanded to support a variety of operating systems, offers the unique experience of running Android apps on your Windows or Mac desktop.
From Angry Birds to Draw Something, many apps are available -- and that includes Instagram. When used in Bluestacks, the app works just as it does on Android. Browsing, comments, photo uploading -- it's all possible with just a short setup process.
With Instagram installed on your desktop PC via Bluestacks, Android and non-Android users alike can easily take those high-quality photos shot on a point-and-shoot or dSLR and upload them directly to Instagram.
(And, of course, it's worth mentioning that this is a decent temporary solution for Windows Phone and BlackBerry users waiting for a dedicated Instagram app.)
Follow the step-by-step below to get started.
1. Download and install Bluestacks. Once installed, click the search button (magnifying glass) in the upper-right corner of the program. Search for Instagram. Select it, and install the app.
2. Once Instagram is installed, you'll see it appear in your dashboard. Click the app icon to launch it. Log in as usual.
3. To upload a photo from your desktop, click the camera button, then select the polaroid icons in the lower-right of the app window. This will prompt you to select a photo from your drive. (If you use Instagram on Android, this entire process will be familiar.) Then, edit and upload the photo as usual.
