Remember the VSCO Girl trend? The aesthetic was everywhere for some time and while the trend may have lost its popularity, the place where it started, VSCO, still retains a loyal user base who love using its suite of tools to create ingenious photos.
Now, you might be wondering about what’s so special about VSCO. Isn’t it just another photo editing app? So is Instagram. Then why do people use VSCO over Instagram?
VSCO may have started out as a solitary wasteland where you could meticulously adjust your picture’s white balance, saturation, and global exposure but now it is quickly becoming popular for its community of amateur and experienced photographers who use it to share their work and gain inspiration.
Compared to platforms like Instagram, VSCO’s options for social interaction are still limited but several other factors differentiate it from other similar apps and explain its growing popularity.
Contents
The Suite of Editing Tools
VSCO’s suite of editing tools is unmatched. In addition to basic tools like crop, scale, and rotate, it has options for experimenting with saturation and adjusting white balance as well. The platform offers 200+ preset filters with different vibes and aesthetics- from cute and bubbly to muted and somber ones.
You can even play around with special effects for your photos on VSCO. You can experiment with creative frames or add effects like broken film, grain, and scratches. It also has an excellent video editor with tools to trim, reverse, and speed up videos and add multiple other effects.
Fewer Ads and Algorithms
Nearly every other top social media app these days is full of ads. You cannot browse without being bombarded by ads. VSCO, therefore, is quite a refreshing platform that is free from the menace of ads and algorithms.
It offers a paid version where you can pay $29.99 yearly and edit photos in peace without having to see ads. Even the free tier has far fewer ads than platforms like Instagram and Facebook which majorly explains the growing popularity of VSCO.
Focus on Developing a Positive Community
We all know how vicious trolls on social media can be. This can affect your confidence and mood when all you want to do is share some cool pictures. Many people hold this sentiment and are, hence, shifting to VSCO which fosters a much more positive community of photography enthusiasts.
It is refreshingly free from trolls, spam, and bot accounts due to the absence of the comments feature. Thus, you can enjoy scrolling through photos and artwork without having to see malicious and provocative comments with them.
VSCO nurtures a unique collaborative place via its ‘Spaces’ feature where creators can brainstorm ideas, share tips and inspiration, and connect. Further, you can search or publish blog-style posts on VSCO Journal which helps to foster conversation and a sense of belonging.
Chill Vibe
Social media apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat often feel like a race- a race to get more followers, more likes, and more engagement. This takes away the fun out of these platforms and makes everything seem like a chore.
This is one reason why VSCO has been gaining so much popularity. The photo and video editing app promises a laid-back experience where you can explore photo collections in peace. It does not display follower count publically which not only takes the pressure off the user but also limits spam accounts and bots.
In this way, VSCO levels the playing field between photographers and is also better for the mental health and self-esteem of the users.
Photography Inspiration
VSCO caters largely to people who are serious about photography. The photos and videos uploaded here are truly works of art. Here, you will find a wide variety of photographers from those who shoot landscapes, cities, and portraits to those who capture wildlife and nature.
There is no better place than VSCO if you’re suffering from an artist’s block. The unique photographs and collections you see here will inspire you to go out and create your own work of art. You can, thus, try your hand at different genres and follow informational posts from the people you like.
Profile Layout
If you are a creative person and like to experiment with picture layouts, you will quickly get bored of Instagram’s three-photo-long grid layout. Of course, this is perfect for some people while others may not like this small, square photo preview.
In this regard, VSCO’s profile design is infinitely better as you can post full-size images, even landscapes, without having to crop them. A white background frames your photos giving them a serene look. There are no story highlight bubbles here which makes for a cleaner profile design.
Photo Challenges
If you’re looking for some photography inspiration, what could be better than VSCO’s weekly photo challenges? You can check out the challenges on the Discover tab in the app. They are shown on the top of the page with the relevant hashtags.
You can browse other users’ photos and get inspiration to get out of your comfort zone and shoot a different kind of photo every week. Upload your photos with the relevant hashtags and watch them go into the curated section with other photographers.
Check out this review on VSCO for a more detailed takedown of the app
Who can Use VSCO?
You need to be at least 13 years of age to create an account on VSCO. Apart from that, VSCO is open to everyone. In practice, however, it mainly targets serious and professional photographers who are less concerned with social networking and just want a space to edit their media, browse through new collections, and share ideas and inspiration.
VSCO Pros
Clean Design
VSCO’s design is simple and serene which goes well with its photos-above-all aesthetic. It is free from story highlight bubbles, the boring three-photo-grid preview style and zooming in on photos is easier here. The web galleries are art pieces and you will not find anything like Spaces anywhere else.
Great Suite of Tools
VSCO’s target audience is artsy photographers and it shows in its suite of editing tools. It offers 200+ presets, options for adding special effects, and various tools to adjust white balance, global exposure, and much more. The Video Editor too has powerful tools to help create unique videos.
Less Pressure to be Popular
Despite introducing multiple changes, the options for social interaction on VSCO are still rather limited. Only you can view your follower count and commenting is disabled. This takes off the pressure to gain more followers and visibility and also keeps trolls at bay. This peaceful vibe of VSCO is one of the biggest reasons people have started shifting to the platform.
VSCO Cons
Free Version is Not Good
If you want to get anything useful out of VSCO, you need to pay for it. Its free tier has been consistently downgrading over the years and now offers just the bare minimum features and filters. Not everyone may like to cough up $30-$50 every year just to edit and browse photos.
No Desktop App
VSCO only has a website and mobile app. This may not suit people who prefer working on their PCs and laptops. Accessing the website again and again can be cumbersome while the mobile app does not have the same comfort as editing on a big screen.
Top VSCO Competitors and Alternatives
PicsArt
This photo editing app is available on both Android and iOS devices. It is a highly customizable platform where you can use different themes to change its look and feel to better match your tastes. In addition, PicsArt has other features like multiple editing, one-touch retouching, and live canvas stretch that make it extremely user-friendly.
The filters here are highly adjustable and you can even merge all the images to form a master picture. PicsArt also has an active social network which is an added plus.
Adobe Photoshop Express
A product of the Adobe Inc., Adobe Photoshop Express is a free photo enhancement and collage-making software. It can be used on smartphones including Windows phones, tablets, and PCs. It has various editing and embellishment features that help you create unique pictures.
The free tier is miles better than VSCO’s free tier which has very few features available. You can also upgrade to Adobe Photoshop Pro to get access to more advanced editing tools.
Of course, we have to mention Instagram while talking about VSCO alternatives. It is the top social media app along with Facebook and boasts of over a billion users. Millions of people use it daily to share snapshots of their lives and interact with other people.
It may not have as many filters as VSCO but it has been working on that and introducing new effects so that users can upload interesting photos. You can also use stickers, upload reels, organize posts by hashtags, or tie them to a location with geo-tagging.
Instagram also lets users upload text links to their website or blog so that users can get further information about a brand’s products and services.
Snapseed
It is a photo editing tool for Android and iOS devices. Snapseed has one of the best crop, rotate, and focus tools and you can use the app to instantly apply digital filters to your pictures. It is a free app that as a bonus is also easy to use and has professional-grade presets and tools. The gesture-based editing feature sets it apart from its competitors and makes it an excellent VSCO alternative.
Open Camera
Open Camera is not just an app to edit photos but it can also function like a dedicated camera application. It even lets you create filters on your normal camera view. The app can also be used to find hidden objects in photographs.
You can take pictures remotely with Open Camera App by making a noise. It also supports HDR and offers several grids and crop guides. The only con of Open Camera is that it can only be used on Android devices.
