Instagram has launched a web-based, artificial intelligence-powered effects builder option as part of its Edits platform, which will enable users to create and share digital effects for use in Instagram Stories.
The new element of Edits, called Effect Builder, works on conversational prompts, with users able to describe the visual effect they want. The tool will then be able to build it, no coding skills required.
As explained by Instagram product designer Cheechee Lin: “We've seen how much people love Restyle effects in Stories and how quickly a great effect takes off when it's easy to try. But until now, building effects required special design and technical skills. Now with Effect Builder, you don't need design or coding skills, or prior experience making effects. Describe the look you want, preview it on your own photos, and publish.”
As shown in this example screen, the Effect Builder process will provide a range of editable fields and elements, which users can change and refine as they go about building their effect.
Meta also said that images can be used as a style reference “to guide the look of your effect.”
“On the homepage’s prompt box, click Style reference to upload a photo,” Meta said. “Meta AI uses aspects of the image like its color, lighting and texture, to guide the look of your effect.”
Users can also test their effects in the editor to help customize and improve the output.
Once submitted, creator effects will be reviewed by Meta for safety before being made available for anyone else to use on Instagram.
Creators can check in on the status of their in-review effects in the Library tab in Effects Builder, and Meta’s review process will generally take less than 24 hours.
Once an effect is published, it will be available in the Stories effects browser alongside all other Stories effects. Lin said that user-created effects will include a link back to the effect creator’s profile.
The process is essentially an effects extension of the AI Restyle option that Instagram launched in October 2025, which also enabled users to generate visual effects via conversational prompts.
Effects created through that process could also be shared with others, so functionally, this new Effect Builder process is not new. But it does now seem to incorporate more creative elements. Meanwhile, the capacity to build effects via desktop could also lead to more complex, interesting creations.
Edits launched for MacOS last week. It’s the first step in the app’s expansion to desktop and this web-based Effects Builder is another part of that.
Maybe that will lead to more interesting uses of Meta’s AI tools for visual effects in Stories.
