A clean Instagram grid – four panels, white borders, identical spacing. Then the subject in one tile steps out. A leg crosses the line. A shoulder breaks past the border. The grid stays. One piece of it just refuses to stay inside the box.

That’s the out of frame story tutorial. Polished collage layout plus a 3D cutout illusion. Works for fashion, street style, portraits with attitude.

Looks like After Effects. It’s actually Picsart Collage + Remove BG, fifteen minutes start to finish. Creator @ bbyb3a posted the original tutorial – 9K likes and counting.

What is the out of frame story tutorial?

A 2-4 panel grid with one subject cut out and re-layered on top so it crosses the gridlines. Part stays inside its tile. The rest spills past the border.

The illusion is layering:

  • Base layer: A grid collage of your photos
  • Cutout layer: Subject from one tile, background removed, scaled larger, repositioned over the borders
  • Depth pass: Soft drop shadow behind the cutout

One breakout point per post. The other tiles stay contained. That contrast is the entire hook.

Why it stops the scroll

  • Familiar layout, broken rule. The IG grid is overexposed. Disrupting it reads as confident.
  • 3D in a flat feed. The depth interrupts the scroll for a half-second. That’s the stop.
  • Genre-agnostic. Fashion, street, portraits, products, pets. Pick the subject, pick the angle.

How to make it with Picsart

Step 1: Build the grid

Open Picsart Collage Maker and pick Grid. Choose a 2-4 tile layout. Set borders to thick white or black – the thicker, the more obvious the breakout.

Step 2: Drop in your photos

Use the same image across tiles for a rhythmic feel, or mix angles from one shoot for a story flow. Decide which tile hosts the breakout.

Step 3: Cut out the subject

Open the breakout-tile photo in Picsart Background Remover. Save the cutout as a transparent PNG.

Attaching extra items – a hat, a coffee cup, a product, a bag? Use Picsart Sticker Maker to turn each object into a reusable cutout you can drop into the layout.

Step 4: Stage the breakout

In Picsart Photo Editor, add the cutout on top of the grid. Scale it slightly larger than its tile. Position it so a limb, shoulder, or hat crosses the border into the next panel – or off the canvas. One breakout point. That’s it.

Step 5: Clean the overlap

Use the Eraser to refine where the cutout meets the borders. Erase a thin slice where a limb crosses the line so the frame feels partially in front of the subject.

Step 6: Add depth

Drop a soft shadow behind the cutout. Optional: dim the static tiles slightly and bump contrast on the cutout. The eye locks onto whatever is sharpest.

Export and post.

Variations worth trying

  • Single-photo grid – same image every tile, one cutout breaks out
  • Outfit grid – 4 looks, hero look pops out
  • Walking pose – leg crosses the gridline mid-stride
  • Reach-in – hand extends from one tile into the next
  • Product flat lay – one product floats off the layout
  • Pet edition – paws on the border
  • Black-border noir – thick black borders, monochrome, editorial mood
  • Carousel build – slide 1 clean grid, slide 2 reveal

The grid is the frame. The subject is the punchline.

The out of frame story tutorial uses the most predictable layout on Instagram as a setup. The breakout is the joke. One figure refusing to stay in the box makes the rest of the grid feel intentional.

Pick the photo. Cut it out. Step it out.