It's October Again: Then vs Now

Two photos, one year apart. Make the card in seconds. Nothing is uploaded.

4:5 post9:16 story

Add a photo to each frame.

Your photos never leave this device.

How to make your then-vs-now card

Four steps, under a minute

Add last October's photo to the left frame and this October's to the right. Tap a frame to pick a photo, drag one in from your computer, or paste it. Put them the wrong way round? Swap photos fixes it.
Choose what's centered. Each frame crops its photo to fit. Drag the photo inside its frame to move it, or focus the frame and use the arrow keys (Shift for bigger steps). Reset focus puts both back to the middle, slightly above center, where faces usually are.
Check the labels and caption. The labels start as last October and this October (“OCT 2025” and “OCT 2026” this year). Type anything up to 16 characters. The caption is “It's October again.” by default; change it, or clear it for no caption.
Download or share. 4:5 post gives a 1080 × 1350 image for the Instagram feed, photos side by side. 9:16 story gives a 1080 × 1920 image for Stories, Reels and TikTok, photos stacked. Then open the app, post it, and add the trending sound from the app's own audio picker.

In the 9:16 format there's also Make video (beta): a 6-second silent clip that opens on last October's photo, flips a little split-flap clock from your first label to your second, and lands on this October's photo with your caption. It's recorded by your browser, so it's an MP4 or a WebM depending on the browser, and we name the file by what was really made. The flip clock is our own touch, not part of the original trend.

What is the “It's October again” trend?

Where it came from, and why it works

“It's October again” is a short-video trend from early October 2026. It started with an Instagram Reel set to an original sound: a parent looking back at how much changed in a year. People picked it up with their own then-and-now: last October, then this October. Social media agency HeyOrca listed it in its trending audio roundup for Reels and TikTok and in its weekly CapCut template list on October 7, 2026.

The format works for almost anything that changes in a year: a baby who's now walking, a puppy who's now enormous, a new city, a finished renovation, a shop's first and second fall, a fitness journey. The point is the reveal, so pick two photos taken from a similar angle if you can.

By mid-October it was already rotating out of the weekly trend lists, so it's a this-month thing. The card itself isn't: change the labels to “JAN 2025” and “JAN 2026”, “Day 1” and “Day 100”, or “Before” and “After”, and it's a plain before and after collage maker that never uploads your photos.

HeyOrca: Trending audio for Reels and TikTok (Oct 2026) (opens in a new tab)Lists the “It's October again” trend: last October, then this October.
HeyOrca: Trending CapCut templates (Oct 7, 2026 edition) (opens in a new tab)Listed in the Oct 7 roundup; gone from the Oct 14 edition.

Sources checked October 19, 2026. We don't reproduce any creator's video or audio. For another October trend, try our Ghost Carousel Maker.

Tips for a better before and after

Photos, labels, sizes

Match the framing. Two photos with the subject the same size and in the same spot make the change obvious. Use the drag to line them up.
Portrait photos fit best. In the 4:5 post each frame is tall and narrow, so a landscape photo gets cropped at the sides. In the 9:16 story the frames are wide, so portrait photos get cropped top and bottom.
Keep labels short. “OCT 2025” reads at a glance on a phone. Labels keep your capitals as typed, so “Day 1” stays “Day 1”.
iPhone photos. If a photo won't open, it's probably HEIC. Pick it from the Photos picker on the phone, or export it as JPEG on a computer.
Post it with the sound. We don't add music. In Instagram, add your card to a Reel and search the audio for “It's October again”; in TikTok, do the same in the sounds panel.

Questions

Sound, privacy, HEIC, video formats

What is the “It's October again” trend?

It's a Reels and TikTok format from October 2026: you show a person, place, pet or project from last October, then reveal where things stand this October, set to the trending “It's October again” sound. HeyOrca listed it among the month's trending audio. This page makes the side-by-side card for it.

How do I add the trending sound?

Download or share the card, then open Instagram or TikTok, start a Reel or post, pick the card from your camera roll, and choose the “It's October again” sound in the app's audio picker. We don't include any audio: the sound belongs to its creator and lives in the app.

Does it upload my photos?

No. The photos are opened and drawn by your browser, on your device. They're never uploaded, saved or sent anywhere, and neither are your labels or caption. Reload the page and everything is gone.

Why can't it open my HEIC photo?

HEIC is the iPhone's space-saving photo format, and many browsers (Chrome and Firefox on a computer, for example) can't read it. On iPhone, choose the photo from the Photos picker, which usually converts it to JPEG, or set Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. On a computer, export the photo as JPEG first.

Why is my video a WebM and not an MP4?

The video is recorded by your browser's built-in recorder, and each browser records the format it supports. Safari and recent Chrome and Edge usually make MP4; Firefox and some others make WebM. We name the file after what your browser really made. Instagram and TikTok take MP4 directly; for a WebM, convert it or use the PNG.

Can I use other months or other dates?

Yes. Type anything into the two labels, up to 16 characters each: “JAN 2025” and “JAN 2026”, “Day 1” and “Day 100”, or “Before” and “After”. If you clear a label, it goes back to the default for this month.

What sizes are the images?

The 4:5 post is 1080 × 1350 pixels, the tallest portrait size Instagram shows in the feed, with the two photos side by side. The 9:16 story is 1080 × 1920 for Stories, Reels and TikTok, with the photos stacked.

Privacy

Your photos never leave this device

Your photos never leave this device. Everything is drawn right here in your browser — nothing is uploaded or saved.

There is no account and no server-side storage. The photos, labels and caption live only in this browser tab until you close or reload it. The page counts anonymous events (for example, “a 4:5 card was downloaded”) to see whether the tool is useful; those never include your photos, file names, labels or caption.