While Instagram is a great place for photographers to share their work, the platform has become quite saturated. Many are looking for other apps where they can publish their content and connect with like-minded people.
In comes YouPic—a platform designed to help photographers do both of those things.
But what exactly is YouPic and do you need to pay for it? And how can you use the platform to improve your photography? You’ll find the answer to all of these questions in this article.
YouPic: What Is It and How Does It Work?
YouPic was founded in 2012 by current CEO Navi Razazi. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, which is the second-largest city in Sweden. YouPic has over three million users around the world.
In essence, the platform works like a cross between Twitter and Instagram. In addition to the image-sharing nature, users can reshare and like their favorite pictures.
The platform is designed to help photographers not only share their work, but also gain feedback. YouPic also allows users to get hired for client work, while image rights remain with the photographer after publishing.
With YouPic, photographers can also enter competitions and enjoy other perks.
What Can You Do With the Free Version?
YouPic has an extensive array of features for free users. Below are some of the best...
Critiquing
In addition to gaining feedback yourself, you can use YouPic to critique other users’ photos. On the platform, you can rate images based on composition, creativity, technique, and content.
You can rank all of these based on a score out of 10.
Exploring
YouPic’s Explore tab works in a similar way to Discover on Instagram. In this section, you can discover some of the most popular images on the platform from photographers you may not follow.
But its capabilities go far beyond that. You can filter images based on different categories, along with finding content marked as inspirational. Moreover, you can browse through various stories and models.
Another cool Explore feature is the ability to apply filters when browsing through photographers. For example, you can filter photographers based on their expertise or where they’re based.
Resharing and Favoriting
If you’ve ever used Twitter before, you’ll be more than familiar with retweeting and liking posts. On YouPic, sharing and favoriting works in an identical way.
When you share a post on YouPic, the content will feature on your activity feed. To share a picture, you’ll need to click on the button that looks like a retweet icon.
Favoriting a post will tell the photographer that you like what you see. To do this, you’ll need to press the heart icon instead.
You can also leave a star on users’ photos, which will signal that you found it inspiring.
Insights
Beyond connecting with other photographers, you can also gain insights into how well you’re doing on YouPic.
The free version of the app offers in-depth analytics, where you can see how your feedback scores have changed over time. With this tab, you’re also able to look at how many views, favorites, and shares you’ve received.
In the Insights tab, you’ll also find an overview of the achievements you’ve unlocked. Moreover, you can see how your posts have performed individually over the past 30 days.
Does YouPic Have Paid Membership Options?
Although YouPic’s free version is pretty comprehensive, you might also want to consider purchasing either a Premium or Pro plan.
Premium costs $19.99 per month. Alternatively, you can choose to pay an annual subscription fee of $119.99.
The Pro plan is the more expensive option and provides the whole YouPic experience. If you pay monthly, this membership tier costs $49.99. As for the yearly option, you’ll pay $359.88.
With YouPic Premium, you’ll get access to more advanced search options. For example, you can look for pictures based on camera type and ISO—plus other filters.
You can also gain higher visibility in YouPic’s directory with Premium, making you more visible to potential clients. Furthermore, you can create albums, post unlimited stories, publish an unlimited number of high-quality photos, and more.
With YouPic Pro, you get all of the above features and more. For pictures, you can set your pricing and keep all of the markup. Moreover, YouPic will allow you to create your own photography site, including your own custom name. The company’s tech team will also handle the SEO for you.
YouPic Pro also allows you to see who has viewed your profile, in addition to sharing your content with password protection.
How Can You Customize Your Profile?
YouPic allows you to add your own profile picture and cover photo to give your account a personal look and feel. Beyond that, you can also share a little about yourself in the bio section.
When customizing your profile, YouPic also enables you to pick your primary area of expertise. You can also choose your location, add your website, and share your social media accounts.
Does YouPic Have a Mobile App?
Unlike Instagram, you can upload photos to YouPic from the website on your desktop. But if you’d rather share images on the go, the platform has apps for both iOS and Android devices.
To download them, go to the App Store or Google Play and type YouPic in the search bar. Once you’ve downloaded the app, sign in to your account.
Download: iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases)
How to Create a YouPic Account
Creating a YouPic account is easy. To do so, you’ll need to follow the steps listed below.
- Go to YouPic.com.
- At the top of the page, you’ll find a tab called Join Now. Click on this.
- On the Join Now page, you can choose to sign up with either Facebook, Google, or email. Make your preferred choice.
- If you’ve joined via email, check your inbox and verify your account.
- Customize your account and get involved in the community!
Give YouPic a Try
Instagram still has various benefits for photographers. Beyond a huge potential audience, the platform can help you connect with local creatives and demonstrate your expertise and passions.
At the same time, though, diversifying your photography portfolio might help you reach more people and clients.
This is especially true with YouPic, which allows you to get discovered easier while still having a big enough audience on the website.
Since many of YouPic’s features are free to use, why not give it a try? If you don’t want to get rid of Instagram, consider using both instead.