I love the “If I was a” trend on Instagram — it looks great but takes time because you need a lot of photos. You can make it with free tools: an iPhone screen recording, CapCut and Canva. This guide assumes you know basic video steps (if you don’t, a quick Google for “add text to video” will help).
Sound
The clip I used is from Run Boy Run by Woodkid. On an iPhone, the easiest way to capture it is with Screen Recording. Save that video so you can import it into CapCut, extract the audio, then delete the video clip—just the audio remains for your edit.
Preparing images in Canva
I used Canva to collect images for each category. For each category you’ll need 17 photos plus 1 solid-color image (18 images per category). If you do 10 categories that’s 180 images total, plus a 3-second intro image or short video of yourself.
Tips for Canva:
– Choose the “Instagram Story” blank template so images download correctly.
– Use separate pages for each image; Canva downloads them all at once to your photos app.
– The first page for each category can be the color block, and the rest are the photos that match the category.
– You can work in the Canva app on iPhone or on the web/desktop.
– Canva Pro lets you use more images and assets, but it’s not required.
Editing in CapCut
I edited on my iPhone using CapCut. Zoom in on the timeline for precise timing.
1. Add the screen recording you made, tap it, and choose “Extract audio.” CapCut will put the audio on a separate track—delete the video track after extraction.
2. Add the 3-second intro clip or image of yourself at the start and add the text “If I was a.” You can split this text into multiple parts (I split it into four so each word appears separately) or use one text block—just make sure it stays within the 3 seconds and overlaps the intro clip.
3. For each category: add the 17 photos and then the color block image. The 17 photos each show the category word over them. The color block displays the ANSWER split into two parts to match the music—for example, HALLOWEEN becomes “HALLO” then “WEEN” to fit the beat.
4. Match the text overlays to the music using the audio waveform and the timeline zoom. I centered the category text over the photos and used left alignment for the text on the color block, but you can style it any way you like.
5. Repeat for all categories until the music ends. The finished video runs around 39–40 seconds.
That’s it — you’ll have a trendy “If I was a” video made from Canva images and edited in CapCut using audio from a screen recording.
