Instagram proved that filters can become popular. Snapchat improved on the concept. Instagram lets you add filters that enhance colors or manipulate the light in a photo. Snapchat has these same filters but it also popularized location tagging filters, weather filters, and then it brought out lenses and embraced AR. Unlike Instagram though, you can apply two filters to one photo in Snapchat.
The process isn’t exactly included in the on-boarding process and there doesn’t seem to be any visual cues that might indicate you can apply two filters to one photo in Snapchat which means there’s a bit of a trick to it.
To be clear, by filters we mean the ones that you apply to photos taken from the back end camera. The filters you apply to photos taken from the front-facing camera aren’t filters; they’re lenses.
Open Snapchat and with the back-end camera take a photo. Remember that you can only apply two filters so perhaps you want to go through all the ones that are available and pick which two you want to use.
You’ll need two hands for this and it’s a good idea if you can put your phone down on a flat surface. Once you’ve taken the photo, swipe like you normally do and select the first filter that you want to apply. Next, place one finger on your screen and use a second finger to swipe to the next filter.
That’s about it. When you’re done, you can release both fingers and send the snap to your story, or to a friend.
The two filter trick works for when you want to add both Bitmoji and maybe your current location or the weather to Snapchat. If you’re trying to combine two different light filters you’re going to get mixed results. It’s hard to say which color will look good on top of the other so you’re in for some experimentation.
This same trick doesn’t work with lenses for obvious reasons. Most lenses are applied to a face, or faces (if you’re snapping with a friend). It doesn’t make sense to apply two different lenses to one face. There are some lenses like the dancing hotdog of 2017 that you can probably apply with another lens like your Bitmoji lens but generally, the idea is impractical.
If there was ever a Snapchat feature for Instagram to copy, it’s this one. It’s actually astounding that Instagram hasn’t thought to add an option that lets its users apply two filters to one photo.
