Publish your first story

1. Start a story

Go to Create while signed in. The builder walks you through six steps: Upload, Arrange, Details, Presentation, Preview, Publish.

2. Upload

Drag in JPEG images from a real camera. Free accounts publish exactly 5 images per story; Pro accounts can use 5–30. Every file is checked as it’s added: JPEG only, up to 10MB per image, 50MB total per story. A rejected image (wrong format, too large, or one that fails the camera-origin check) blocks Continue until you remove it — the reason is shown next to the file.

If an image’s camera can’t be automatically confirmed (metadata missing or stripped, or an unrecognised model) but isn’t positively a phone, you’ll be asked to confirm it’s a real-camera photograph before continuing — a statement the Terms of Service require, not a silent pass.

Validated images may also be flagged SOOC — straight out of camera, meaning the JPEG exactly as the camera made it, with no edits. SOOC is informational; it doesn’t affect whether a story can publish.

3. Arrange

Drag your images into the order you want them told in. This sequence becomes your story’s carousel order, including the Instagram carousel if you publish there too.

4. Details

Title is required (up to 100 characters). Synopsis and up to 10 keywords are optional — keywords become hashtags if you publish to Instagram. Location name and coordinates (latitude/longitude) are required — every story is pinned to a real place.

The pin also carries a radius: free accounts are fixed at 100m; Pro accounts can widen it to 200, 300, 400, or 500m — a wider radius generalises the exact spot rather than pinpointing it.

5. Presentation

Choose the format your story opens in — viewers can switch freely afterwards:

• Gallery — “The Print”: one matted frame at a time, the provenance plate beneath.
• Cinema — “The Reel”: full-bleed and immersive, the plate rises on demand.
• Contact Sheet — “The Edit”: the whole take as a mosaic, provenance on hover.

Pick a ground — White, Black, or Gold — the background every image sits on by default. You can override the ground on a single frame, name its recipe (film simulation or preset), and add a caption to each frame. Pro accounts can request an AI-drafted caption per frame when that feature is enabled — it lands in the editable caption field and is never published unreviewed.

6. Preview

Review the story as an Instagram-style carousel, in both 4:5 feed and 1:1 square framing, before you commit to publishing.

7. Publish

Choose visibility — Public (discoverable to everyone), Followers only, or Private (only you). Pro accounts also see an explicit opt-in to sign the story with C2PA Content Credentials at publish; it’s never on by default, and you can do it later from the story page instead if you’d rather decide then.

Publishing can take a little while for a large story — up to a few minutes — and the button shows real progress (uploading, then publishing) rather than a fake percentage. If it fails, your images and details are kept and a retry button appears; nothing is lost.

About drafts

The builder autosaves what you type — title, synopsis, location, keywords, and your presentation choices — to your browser as you go. Your uploaded images can’t be restored on reload, though: if you leave mid-draft and come back, you’ll be offered your typed details back, but you’ll need to re-add the photos.