The first major changes to the photo editing options and filters on Instagram since the app's launch and have been released for iOS and Android today in the 6.0 update.
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There aren't a host of new filters to play with, but rather, a new editing suite that will allow you to alter photos to a greater degree than before. Some of the features return in altered form, whereas others are entirely new additions. Instagram announced the news on its blog, stating that 6.0 is available now on both the App Store and Google Play.
The new editing tools are called Filter Strength, Adjust, Brightness, Contrast, Warmth, Saturation, Highlights, Shadows, Vignette, and Sharpen.
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Contrast, Saturation, and Brightness are fairly self-explanatory, allowing you to edit the levels of each for the photo you're going to upload. Warmth will "shift the colors of your photo towards warmer orange tones or cooler blue tones", while Sharpen adds "crispness" to make the image clearer. Filter strength, presumably, lets you set the level of intensity of the filter you're using, but there are no descriptions on the site for it or Adjust.
Highlights will adjust the focus on the brighter parts of the image, while Shadows will do the same for the darker sections. Finally, Vignette will darken the edges of the photos, which Instagram says can "direct the attention away from the edges towards the center of the photo". Descriptions and pictures of each new feature can be found on the official website.
For returning tools, the vividness and detailing Lux tool has undergone a redesign, as has the Blur/Tilt Shift tool seen in the previous version of Instagram. Like before, you can still rotate the picture or add a border, and they've maintained the ability to crop images. The instructions for the redesigned tools can be found here.
Check your app store for an update on both platforms, as it should be live now, and enjoy the new features at your disposal. The update is not currently live for Windows Phone, but hopefully won't be too far behind.
