One of the more exciting and fun additions to iOS 16 is the ability to lift the subject of a photo, out of the photo, simply by holding your finger on the subject. This feature is called Visual Lookup and works better than you might suspect. By doing so, you can quickly and easily remove the background of an image, without needing to use photo editing tools such as Photoshop, Affinity Photo, or Pixelmator. But the best part about all of this is that you can create iMessage stickers on iOS 16, essentially creating customized memes to send to your friends and family, or just to have a little bit of fun.
With iOS 16 installed on your iPhone, there’s really only one way that you can lift a subject out of a photo. However, you might run into instances where the subject isn’t being properly identified if you try to do so from the Photos app. In that case, you might want to save the image to the Files app on your iPhone, as some iOS 16 users have found better success. Here are the steps you need to take in order to do so.
Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
Locate and select the image that you want to use to create the iMessage Stickers.
Tap the Share button in the bottom left corner of the image preview.
From the Share Sheet, scroll down and tap Save to Files.
Open the Files app on your iPhone.
Navigate to the location that you saved the photo.
Tap and hold on the photo that you want to use to create iMessage stickers.
From the context menu that appears, tap Quick Actions.
Select Remove Background at the bottom of the list.
The more-traditional method for lifting a subject out of a photo is to follow these steps:
Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
Locate and select the image that you want to use to create iMessage Stickers.
Tap and hold on the subject of the photo.
From the context menu that appears, tap Copy.
Once the subject has been copied, you can then open another application, such as Messages or even Apple Notes, and paste the subject into the text field. Knowing how to lift the subject out of a photo is important if you want to create iMessage stickers on iOS 16.
How to Create iMessage Stickers on iOS 16 Using Sticker Drop
Shortly after the final version of iOS 16 was released and the ability to lift subjects out of photos was discovered, a new app landed on the App Store. You can easily go through the steps above to lift the subject from your photos or videos, but then you’ll have to figure out where to put them if you want to “stockpile” images to use later. Sticker Drop solves this as you can create custom sticker packs that are easily accessible from the Messages app. Here’s how you can create iMessage sticker packs on iOS 16 with the help of Sticker Drop:
Once installed, open Sticker Drop and go through the initial setup for the app.
Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
Locate and select the image that you want to use to create iMessage Stickers.
Tap and hold on the subject of the photo.
From the context menu that appears, tap Copy.
Once copied, open the Sticker Drop app.
Click the + button in the top left corner.
Tap Image Gallery.
Select the images that you want to use to create iMessage stickers.
Tap the Add button in the top right corner.
From the drop-down menu that appears, tap Paste.
After you have pasted the image, it will appear under the Default Sticker Pack section within Sticker Drop. But the app allows you to customize the newly-created sticker if you want, before you start sending them to your friends. After tapping the sticker that you want to edit, you’ll be presented with the following options:
Description
Emoji Shortcut
Border
Border Width
Border Colour
Drop Shadow
Corner Curl
Sticker Pack
In the bottom left corner, of the Edit Sticker panel, you’ll find a square with an arrow in the corner. This allows you to rotate the sticker if you see the need to do so. Additionally, there’s an overflow menu button in the bottom right corner of the Edit Sticker page. Tapping this allows you to “Reset Sticker” to the defaults, or you can choose to “Delete” the sticker altogether.
How to Use iMessage Stickers on iOS 16 With Sticker Drop
Whether you decide to create an entire sticker pack with Sticker Drop or just want an app that houses all of the ones that you want, you’ll then want to actually be able to use them in your conversations. Because Sticker Drop is also an iMessage app, it really couldn’t get any easier to use iMessage stickers on iOS 16.
Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
Locate and select the iMessage conversation that you want to send the stickers in.
In the toolbar that appears above the keyboard, swipe from right to left until you see the Sticker Drop app icon.
Tap the Sticker Drop app icon.
Drag and drop the sticker onto the message that you want.
Alternatively, you can just tap the sticker that you want to send, and it will appear in the Message box.
Then, tap the Send button to send it as a standalone sticker.
Sticker Drop might not seem like a big deal, but if you want to create your own iMessage stickers and sticker packs, you can now do so, without needing to purchase a bunch of different sticker packs from the App Store.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
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