# Upload your own photos or video and post them URL: https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video Level 2: Make your first post (https://blackbox.plus/guides/make-a-post) Updated: 2026-11-04 Time: about 3 minutes You'll end with: Your own photos or video out on Instagram or TikTok, or scheduled to go Do it in Blackbox: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan > Post your own photos or a video to Instagram and TikTok from your computer: upload them from Plan, add a caption, then publish or schedule. ## Short answer 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 - **A brand in Studio.** A post files under a brand, and that decides which accounts it can go to. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/set-up-brand-kit) - **Your files.** Up to 10 photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF) or videos (MP4 or MOV, H.264, under 100 MB). - **An account to post to.** Instagram or TikTok, connected for that brand. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/connect-instagram) ## How to upload your own photos or video and post them in Blackbox 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**. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan ![A day in Plan’s side panel with Instagram chosen: Write it with the CMO above, Upload your own below, with Upload files ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/01-upload.png) 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. ![Where it goes with Daybreak Coffee Co. picked as the brand, and its accounts ringed: the Instagram and TikTok accounts ticked, a second Instagram account left out](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/02-where.png) 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. ![Three pictures added, ringed: numbered in the order they go out, with Carousel of 3 above them and Add files and From Library at the end of the row](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/03-files.png) 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. ![The three pictures, numbered 1 to 3, with the left and right arrows under the second one ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/04-order.png) 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. ![A tall photo with Fix: too tall on the picture, and its menu ringed: Crop to 4:5 and Skip Instagram for this post, both free, and Expand with AI to 4:5 for 1 picture](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/05-fix.png) 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. ![What to make, ringed: Post as is, picked, with 3 photos become one carousel under it, and Photos into a carousel, both free, above the Create the post button](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/06-make.png) 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. ![A caption typed in the Caption box, with the Instagram and TikTok character counters under it ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/upload-your-own-photos-or-video/07-caption.png) 8. **Create the post.** Click **Create the post**. You'll see: The post, with its **Caption**, **Check** and **Post** steps. 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. ![The Publish button and Schedule: Thu 19:00, ringed, with the date and time fields open below](https://blackbox.plus/guides/schedule-instagram-posts/04-schedule.png) ## 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 - [Instagram: image and Reel specs](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/instagram-platform/instagram-graph-api/reference/ig-user/media) - [TikTok: video and photo file rules](https://developers.tiktok.com/docs/en/content-posting-api-media-transfer-guide) ## Questions people ask **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.