Instagram’s ‘First Draft’ trims your Reels clips for you

<figure> <img alt="A screenshot of Instagram’s First Draft feature" data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Instagram" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/insta-first-draft.png?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Instagram is launching a new Reels-editing feature that automatically trims your video clips to focus on the highlights. The feature, called First Draft, is rolling out to Instagram's iPhone app and provides a "starting point" that you can build upon with other edits, according to <a href="https://www.threads.com/@creators/post/Dcd8qfSEbEV/introducing-first-draft-a-new-way-to-create-a-reel-within-the-instagram-app/">an announcement on Tuesday</a>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">An example shared by Instagram shows a user selecting multiple clips for a reel and then tapping the "First Draft" button. From there, Instagram analyzes the clips - each of which is more than a minute long - before trimming them down to eliminate pauses and showcase the most important parts. Instagram then combines the snippets into a …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/984463/instagram-first-draft-edit-reels">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>