How to make one of those ‘Best of’ Instagram collages

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So you, like most everyone out there, love posting on Instagram. Selfies, food shots, travel photos… you do it all, and your followers love you for it. Or maybe you’re a lesser-known ‘grammer and want to create a little something to commemorate how you’ve done this year or see what your friends enjoyed most.

Nine-square grid collages on Instagram aren’t new, but the trend of doing a year-end best-of really kicked off in 2018, with big names like Beyonce and Kim Kardashian doing them. And no matter what time of year you do it, it’s still a charming little recap of your best photos. So here’s how you can have a collage of your own.

There are two primary options, both of which work pretty much the same way. One is Top9 and the other is BestNine.

With Top9, you enter your IG handle and your email address, and the website automatically generates your most-liked nine posts. Here’s what it looks like:

No surprise a pic of my dog wound up there, but damn, I didn’t realize my followers liked my knitting that much.

Anyway, the reason that one has a watermark is because you have to pay Top9 a fee to get it removed. Top9 has one advantage, in that it offers you the option to remove your data from its servers via a form on its website. There’s no guarantee this actually removes it, but the gesture is a welcome one.

The other site is BestNine, and it works much the same way. The main difference is that BestNine is free, meaning the final grid comes without a watermark. I much prefer this one for that reason — it’s a small difference, and I hate to sound cheap, but it’s really the only way to distinguish between the two:

Both sites also have app versions, which require you to actually log into Instagram in order to generation the collage. This is currently the only way to make a collage for a private account. Top9 still requires a payment in order for you to get the grid without a watermark, and BestNine has a paid version which offers fancy frames and such.

Of the two, I still lean towards BestNine, if only because it gives the option to make a “Best of 2019” grid (even though the year is only half-over at this point), which Top9 does not.

Good luck with your collages!