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How to create your own Snapchat geofilter

How to create your own Snapchat geofilter

There are 2 kinds of geofilters: free "community" geofilters and more customizable "on-demand" geofilters you have to pay for.

Community geofilters can be submitted by anyone and are meant to showcase neighborhoods and cities. They can't feature any logos or trademarks and are usually visible in the app for a long period of time.

"Artists and designers are encouraged to create and submit a free Community Geofilter for their city, university, a local landmark, or another public location," Snapchat says on its website. "No brand logos allowed."

You have to follow Snapchat's design rules to have a geofilter approved.

Snapchat's website shows a map where you assign an area you want your geofilter to appear in.

Snapchat has a geofilter template for Illustrator and and Photoshop you can download to help you assemble your design. (Yes, will need to know at least a little bit of Photoshop.)

Snapchat's FAQ about community geofilters is a must-read if you have more questions.

You can also pay for "on-demand" geofilters that can be more personalized. They cost money, but they are ideal for businesses and more specialized events.

One advantage of an on-demand geofilter is that it can be set to expire after a certain duration of time. People make them for events like birthday parties and weddings.

To create an on-demand geofilter, you have to login with your Snapchat account.

Login on Snapchat's website to get started.

When you log into Snapchat's web tool for creating geofilters, you now have the option to create your own from scratch or use one of Snapchat's themes.

Snapchat lets you pick from three theme collections: birthdays, celebrations, and weddings.

You can customize the colors and text in each theme.

Snapchat lets you preview what the geofilter will look like over a photo.

Once you submit your design and choose your date and time, Snapchat will calculate your price based on the size of the area you've selected and how long you want it to be visible in the app.

In its FAQ, Snapchat says the best way to see how much a geofilter is going to cost is to enter the area and times you want it to run.

Once you've paid for and submitted your on-demand geofilter, Snapchat will send you an email saying it's received your submission followed by another email informing you if it's been approved or not.

Snapchat employees review each geofilter submission. It shouldn't take more than a day or two for yours to be approved.

You'll then get another email when your geofilter goes live in the Snapchat app.

Once your geofilter has run its course, you'll get one last email.

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