If you own an Instax, pretty sure, you have a lot of Instax prints now. And if you’re like me, I enjoy adding a little personal touch on it by writing a title, date or location of that photo. This makes me remember right away, what’s the photo all about.

If you have been doing this, maybe you’ve tried few markers already and seen the effect of different brands.

But if you’re new to this, let me give you more ideas on what markers to use when you want to write something on your Instax prints.

Materials you’ll need:

• Different markers {Sharpie, ZIG, Pentel Touch, Steadtler}

• Instax prints {I’m using damaged prints as sample. You can also do this first so you won’t have try it on your actual photo}

There are a lot of pen markers out there. Seriously! I have more 10 brands. But, I think, these are popular and accessible to stores. I didn’t include brush pens already because you can’t really find those in your local bookstores plus they’re not use for normal writing. Take note, these are permanent makers. So try it on a damaged print or paper first before you write on the actual photo.

Here are 6 markers you can choose from:

• SHARPIE Fine Point – First, it has a lot of colours to choose from, which is very nice for DIY’s or adding colour to your Instax prints. The tip has a fine point so can control your strokes and the size of your letters. What I really like about this, it dries really fast and you don’t have to worry about blots.

• SHARPIE Extra Fine – This one is same with the first one, it’s just that, this has extra fine tip. If you want to do lettering, then I suggest you use this because you’ll have more control over your letter. I’m not sure if this kind has different colours but, you can buy it in black.

• ZIG Fudebiyori {Gold} – This also works very fine. Plus it’s an archival and acid-free. The metallic ink will give a little touch to your print. It has silver colour too. However, this has a thick felt tip. So you need to know how to control your pressure while using this. If you’re writing only one word, then it is visible enough. Lettering and too many words would be challenging having a small space to write on. Otherwise, it also dries fast and doesn’t blot on the print.

• PENTEL TOUCH – This pen marker is my go to for papers. I always have this in my bag. It has a fine soft tip. So you can control your thin and thick strokes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work on Instax print. The ink doesn’t stick on the print, therefore it won’t dry at all.

• STAEDTLER Lumocolor – This is almost the same as Sharpie extra fine. The tip is very thin. It dries fast and doesn’t blot. However, you only have black colour for this.

• MICRON .05 – This is not actually a marker but more of a pen. This is mostly used for drawing. But if you like experimenting with pens, I know you’ll have this kind or something similar like UniPin and Art Line brand. It has different ballpoints from .01 to .08 that could have been the advantage. However, it won’t be of any use because the ink is not compatible with Instax print. It doesn’t blot though but the ink won’t stick either. I tried letting it stay overnight, still the ink didn’t stick.

Here are the summary of the markers I used.

{Left to right} : ZIG Fudebiyori • Sharpie fine point • Sharpie extra fine – these are recommended.

{Left to right} Staedtler lumocolor • Micron .05 • Pentel Touch – Only Steadler is usable. The other two will only ruin your prints.

My favourite though is the Sharpie extra fine and Staedtler not only because I like black and fine tip but it really dries fast. For some reason, Sharpie has really mastered their markers. I noticed, it’s the only pen that can write on anything at all and dries fast and it’s permanent.

So go and hoard those Sharpies because they are very handy especially when you’re travelling. I would love to know if you’ve tried a different brand that also work with Instax prints.