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You Can Now Create Snapchat Geofilters Without Photoshop, So No Birthday Party Is Safe

Photo: Snapchat

Before today, creating a custom Snapchat geofilter (you know, the temporary, geofenced picture overlays that say things like “Congrats on turning 39 again, Judy!” on them) required a decent level of computer knowledge. You had to Photoshop your own PNG and submit it to Snapchat for approval. But now, Snapchat has a new web tool that will allow anyone to create and submit filter designs, without using a secondary program.

Using the new tool, Snapchatters will be able to log in on the Snapchat website and design a filter from a number of preset options. Events are labeled by category like “Birthdays” and “Weddings” to make things easier. From there, users will be able to customize text and color and submit. Users will also have to select the area and length of time they want their filter to run. (Pricing starts at $5 and goes on up from there.) If none of the pre-designed filters are doing it for you, you still have the option to submit your own design. (Either way, filters take a business day to process, so don’t wait till the last minute.)

According to a Snapchat spokesperson, people view snaps with geofilters more than a billion times each day. A number that is likely to go up now that a pastel-colored “CONGRATS” written in Comic Sans is just two clicks and $15 away from being at every wedding, bar mitzvah, and funeral you attend this year. Can’t wait for next week, when Instagram inevitably introduces an identical feature.

You Can Now Create Snapchat Geofilters Without Photoshop