12 IFTTT Recipes for Photographers: Instagram

IFTTT is a free service that makes the web programs and apps you use work together. IFTTT makes connections through what they call 'recipes' and makes your life easier, or at least more automated.

There are hundreds of IFTTT recipes to choose from, but in this tutorial you'll learn how to use a select few focused on making Instagram account automatically send information and images to other services such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Wordpress.

If This, Then That

IFTTT is an acronym for If This, Then That. The basic principle behind IFTTT are triggers and actions: a trigger causes an action. You combine a trigger and an action to create a recipe.

When you create an IFTTT recipe you set up a little computer program that watches for a trigger—something specific—to happen. This is the "If This" part. A trigger could be a new Instagram photo, a new comment, a new follower, and so on. There are hundreds of possible IFTTT triggers.

When the IFTTT program sees the trigger it performs an action. This is the "Then That" part of the equation. There are hundreds of IFTTT actions, too, across dozens of services.

Using this initial list as a starting point is a great idea for streamlining your social media presence, but don't stop with these suggestions! IFTTT has hundreds of recipes aimed at making your life easier. Explore the options available and make more time for capturing images.

1. Send Instagram Photos to Twitter

This recipe will send your Instagram photos to Twitter so that image is posted in your Twitter feed, not just a link to Instagram. This eliminates a step for people scrolling through Twitter.

Recipe: Post Your Instagram Pics on Twitter as a Picture Not a Link

2. Send Instagram Video Links to Twitter

This recipe will create a tweet with an image and a link back to Instagram to watch the video.

Recipe: Tweet Instagram Video on Twitter With Image Link Back to Instagam to See the Video

3. Save Your Instagram Images to Google Drive

This recipe will save a copy of every photo you upload to Instagram to a folder in Drive. This one is handy for creating connections to other services that use IFTTT. Using Google Drive as an intermediary or storage container, you can then move, post, or send the files to wherever you need them to go.

Recipe: Save All My Instagram Uploads to a Folder in My Google Drive

4. Save Certain Instagram Photos to Google Drive by Hashtag

This recipe will save Instagram images marked with a particular hashtag. Note that, unlike the above recipe, this will save anyone's image tagged with the specified hastag, not just your own.

This recipe makes multiple images easily downloadable and is great to suggest to clients for showcasing events in a gallery online or at a later time. This could even be easily incorporated into a slideshow during an event and could be entertaining for guests.

Recipe: Automatically Save Instagram Pics Posted Under a Specific Hashtag to Google Drive

5. Save Instagram Information to a Google Spreadsheet

Make a log of your Instagram activity. This will write information like the URL, time posted, and the caption of each photo to a Google Spreadsheet. Like the recipe above, this spreadsheet can drive other recipes with IFTTT.