Guide 5 of 5 in Level 2: Make your first post

Upload your own photos or video and post them

To post your own photos or video from a computer with Blackbox (blackbox.plus), click Plan in the left menu, then + on a day, your account and Upload files. Drag in up to 10 files: photos in JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF, or videos in MP4 or MOV, H.264, under 100 MB. One file makes a post; more make a carousel in the order shown, which the arrows change. Photos and videos can share one post on Instagram, while TikTok takes photos or one video, not both, and an animated GIF posts as a video. If a photo is too tall for Instagram's feed, click Fix to crop it to 4:5 for free, skip Instagram for this post, or expand it with AI for 1 picture. Under Where it goes, pick the brand and tick the accounts; under What to make, keep Post as is. Add a caption if you have one and click Create the post, then open Post and press Publish or Schedule.

You'll need
Time
About 3 minutes 9 steps Updated
You'll end with
Your own photos or video out on Instagram or TikTok, or scheduled to go
Do it in Blackbox Open Plan, after you sign in
Example
Your own pictures, ready to post

How to upload your own photos or video and post them in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Open Upload

    In Plan, click + on a day, choose Instagram or TikTok, then click Upload files.

    You'll see: Your pictures or video, with a large drop area, Choose files and From Library.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Choose where it goes

    Under Where it goes, pick your brand if you have more than one, and tick the accounts to post to.

    You'll see: Your brand’s accounts, with the ones it goes to ticked.

  3. Step 3:Add your files

    Drag your photos or video onto Your pictures or video, or click Choose files. From Library adds files you uploaded before.

    You'll see: Your files numbered in the order they go out, with a Fix button on any photo that doesn’t fit.

  4. Step 4:Put them in order

    Use the arrows under each photo to move it earlier or later.

    You'll see: Arrows under each photo, whose number shows its place in the post.

  5. Step 5:Fix a photo that doesn’t fit

    If a photo shows Fix: too tall, click it. Pick Crop to 4:5, Skip Instagram for this post or Expand with AI to 4:5.

    You'll see: The Fix menu: Crop to 4:5 and Skip Instagram for this post, both free, and Expand with AI to 4:5 for 1 picture.

  6. Step 6:Choose what to make

    Under What to make, keep Post as is, or pick Photos into a carousel to set your photos in your brand’s fonts and colours.

    You'll see: Your pick, with a line under it saying what your files become.

  7. Step 7:Add a caption

    Type a caption under Caption, or leave it for the next screen.

    You'll see: Counters under the caption for Instagram and TikTok.

  8. Step 8:Create the post

    Click Create the post.

    You'll see: The post, with its Caption, Check and Post steps.

  9. Step 9:Post it

    Open step 3, Post, pick your accounts and click Publish or Schedule.

    You'll see: Post this now? to confirm, or the Date and Time to pick.

Good to know

  • One file makes a post; two or more make a carousel. A video on its own goes to Instagram as a Reel.
  • What can I upload? on the card lists the file rules. A file that breaks one is refused when you add it, and it says why.
  • Photos and videos go in one carousel on Instagram only. TikTok takes photos or one video in a post, not both, so a mixed post goes to Instagram only.
  • An animated GIF posts as a video on its own, up to 20 MB and 60 seconds.
  • Once a photo is fixed its warning goes, or Instagram is unticked for the whole post if you skipped it.
  • Expand with AI adds a strip of picture to reach 4:5 and uses 1 of today’s pictures, refunded if it fails. Your photo is kept as it is, and Undo puts the original back.
  • Photos into a carousel puts each photo on a slide in your brand’s fonts and colours, and you type the words. It takes 2 to 10 photos and no video.
  • You can also paste a screenshot anywhere on the screen. Files upload one at a time, and the caption can wait for the post’s Caption step.
  • Videos must be H.264. Many phone videos are saved as HEVC; re-export them as H.264 MP4 first.
  • Instagram takes pictures from 4:5 (portrait) to 1.91:1 (landscape). Square works. Scheduling is covered in How to schedule Instagram posts.

Official docs

If something doesn't work

I want to post to Instagram from my computer, not my phone

That is what this is for. Upload on your computer, then publish or schedule from Blackbox — no phone needed. Instagram must be connected with posting allowed.

My iPhone video was refused

iPhones usually record HEVC, and Blackbox only takes H.264. Export it again as H.264 MP4 (most video apps have the option) and upload that.

TikTok can’t be ticked once I add a video to my photos

TikTok takes photos or one video in a post, not both, so a mix of photos and a video goes to Instagram only. Send the video to TikTok as its own post.

Expand with AI used a picture after I removed the photo or clicked Undo

Once the AI starts, the picture is used: while it works the photo says Removing it now still uses 1 picture. The expanded copy stays in your Library, so From Library can add it again, and expanding the same photo again after Undo is free.

The upload stopped partway

Click Try again. Nothing before the file that stopped is lost, and it picks up where it left off.

The Instagram account shows as read-only

Reconnect it: on the Data page, reconnect Instagram and leave posting allowed when Facebook asks. Everything you have set up stays, and your reporting keeps working the whole time.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 2: Make your first post