Instagram carousels
Instagram allows up to 20 photos or videos in one carousel post, and every slide takes the aspect ratio of the first. Portrait 4:5 at 1080x1350 is the dependable choice because it fills more of the screen than a square; Instagram has also supported 3:4 at 1080x1440 since 2025, and the profile grid now crops previews to 3:4, so keep the key content of the cover away from its left and right edges. Design the first slide as a cover with a clear promise and the last as a summary or next step, and let a shape or line cross the slide edge so people can see there is more.
LinkedIn document posts
On LinkedIn, the swipeable carousel most people mean is a document post: a PDF, PowerPoint or Word file attached to a post and shown as pages to click through, up to 100 MB and 300 pages. PDF gives the most predictable rendering. Set the page size once, square or 4:5 portrait, and design for a phone: large type, one point per page, high contrast. Give the document a clear title, because it appears on the post. The post text still matters, since it is what people read before opening the first page and where the key message lives for readers who never click. Paid carousel ads are a separate format with their own card specs.
One idea per slide, and a structure that pulls
A good carousel reads like a short argument. The first slide states the promise or the question the set answers, in a few large words. Each following slide carries one idea, one visual and one short sentence or number, so it can be understood in the second it gets. Number the slides when the sequence matters, keep the brand mark in a fixed position rather than on top of the content, and end with a summary or a single next step. Generated sets tend to overfill slides with text and vary the style from slide to slide; lock the template and cut words until each slide passes a glance test.
Localising a carousel slide by slide
Translated text rarely fits the space the original occupied. German and Finnish run longer, Japanese and Chinese need different type sizes and line breaks, and Arabic and Hebrew read right to left, which reverses the layout of each slide. Rebuild each language from the layout rather than pasting translated text into the English file. The studio produces the slides from one brief with brand fonts and colours enforced, localises the copy into 30 languages with approved claims kept intact, and sends the full set for sign-off together, so slide seven in Portuguese carries the same approved wording as slide seven in English.
Updated 25 September 2026