# Instagram carousel design: slides people swipe through

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-carousel-design)

A carousel is a small book people flick through with a thumb. Here is how to write the first page so they turn it, and design the rest so they keep going.

## The short version

- Design Instagram carousel slides at 1080×1350 pixels, because every slide in a carousel takes the shape of the first one.
- The first slide of a carousel is a promise: it should say exactly what someone gets by swiping.
- Each slide should carry one idea, in words short enough to read in a few seconds.
- A background that continues from one slide into the next makes a carousel feel like one piece and invites the swipe.
- The last slide should give people a clear next step, such as saving the post, following or visiting a link.

An **Instagram carousel** works when the first slide makes a clear promise, every slide after it delivers one idea, and the design flows from slide to slide so swiping feels like turning pages. Design every slide at **1080×1350** portrait: it fills the most of a phone screen in the feed, and all slides in a carousel share the first slide's shape anyway.

## Instagram carousel size and shape

Instagram crops every slide in a carousel to the ratio of the first one, so decide the shape before you design anything. Portrait 4:5 is the right choice for almost every carousel: it is the tallest shape the feed shows for posts, which means bigger type and more room per slide. Square works for content that is naturally square, like product grids. Landscape wastes most of the screen.

- Portrait 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350
- Square 1080×1080: 1080 × 1080
- Landscape 1080×566: 1080 × 566

The three post shapes Instagram accepts, to scale. Portrait gives each slide the most room.

> **Mind the grid** Your profile grid shows a slightly narrower crop of the first slide than the feed does. Keep the hook's words away from the left and right edges so it reads on your profile too. [Instagram post sizes](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-post-size) covers the crop in detail.

## The hook slide decides everything

People see the first slide in the feed exactly as they see a single image. If it doesn't give them a reason to swipe, the rest of the carousel doesn't exist. A good hook is specific about what's inside and hints that there is more to come.

### Weak hook

- Some thoughts on branding
- Our new collection
- Tips for better photos
- A title with no sign there are more slides

### Strong hook

- Five ways to make a small brand look established
- Six pieces, one colour story: the autumn edit
- Better phone photos with only window light
- A number, a clear payoff, and an arrow or edge that continues

A portrait carousel cover reading Five ways to look established, with a small swipe cue

Slide one: a specific promise and a quiet cue to swipe.

The second carousel slide with a single tip on the same gradient as the cover

Slide two: one idea, the same background, the same place for the words.

## One idea per slide

A carousel is read at the speed of a thumb. Each slide gets a few seconds, so each slide should hold one idea: one tip, one step, one product, one number. If you need two sentences to explain a point, split it across two slides rather than shrinking the type.

| Slide | Job | What it holds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Hook | The promise, in large type |
| 2 | Context | Why this matters, or the problem |
| 3 to 7 | Substance | One point per slide, numbered |
| Second to last | Recap | The points in one list, worth saving |
| Last | Next step | Save, follow, reply or visit |

A structure that works for most educational carousels. Short carousels simply drop the middle slides.

Keep the words per slide low, around 20 to 40, with the key line large enough to read without zooming. On a 1080-pixel-wide slide, body text below about 40 pixels starts to feel small on a phone. [Fonts for social media](https://gradiently.design/guide/fonts-for-social-media) covers which faces hold up at that size, and [visual hierarchy](https://gradiently.design/guide/visual-hierarchy) explains how to make the one line that matters land first.

## Continuity: making slides feel like one piece

The difference between a stack of images and a carousel is continuity. When the background, the type and the position of elements stay consistent, each swipe feels like the next page of the same thing. The strongest version is a **seamless carousel**: one long background split across the slides, so the colour flows over each seam.

One background across three slides: `linear-gradient(90deg, #0f1c3f 0%, #23407a 30%, #6a3fa0 62%, #d0558f 100%)`

A single wide field, from deep navy through violet to rose. Cut into thirds, each slide carries its own part of the journey, and the edge of each one continues into the next.

1. **Make one wide canvas** Multiply the slide width by the number of slides: three portrait slides make a 3240×1350 canvas, five make 5400×1350.
2. **Design the background first** Lay a gradient or texture across the whole canvas so it changes gradually from left to right.
3. **Mark the seams** Place guides every 1080 pixels. Keep words at least 60 pixels away from every seam so no letter is split.
4. **Let one element cross a seam** A shape, a line or the edge of a picture that runs into the next slide is the strongest cue to swipe.
5. **Export as separate slides** Slice the canvas into 1080×1350 pieces, in order, and upload them together.

A continuous background isn't required. A carousel that uses the same background on every slide, with the headline always in the same place and a small page number like **2 of 8**, reads just as clearly. What breaks continuity is changing layout, colour and type on every slide.

## The final slide

The last slide is where people decide what to do next, so give them one thing to do. Pick the action that matters most for this post and say it plainly.

- **Save it:** best for reference content like tips, checklists and recipes.
- **Follow for more:** best when the carousel is part of a series.
- **Reply or comment:** best when you ask a real question.
- **Visit a link:** best for a launch or an offer, with the link where people can tap it.

A carousel recap slide listing five points on the same gradient as the earlier slides

A recap slide gives people something worth saving, which is often the most useful action a carousel can earn.

## Carousels on other platforms

The same structure works on LinkedIn, where multi-page documents appear as swipeable posts; see [LinkedIn post design](https://gradiently.design/guide/linkedin-post-design). If you make carousels every week, design a set of slide layouts once and reuse them, so each new carousel is a writing job, not a design job. [Batch creating social media content](https://gradiently.design/guide/batch-create-social-media-content) shows how to plan a month at once.

## FAQ

### What size should Instagram carousel slides be?

1080×1350 pixels in portrait 4:5. Every slide takes the shape of the first one, so keep them all the same size.

### How do I make a seamless Instagram carousel?

Design one wide canvas, 1080 pixels per slide, run the background across it, keep words away from the seams, then slice it into separate 1080×1350 slides.

### How many slides should a carousel have?

As many as the content needs and no more. One idea per slide is the rule; most educational carousels land between five and ten slides.

### What should the first slide of a carousel say?

A specific promise of what people get by swiping, in large type, with a hint that more follows, such as a number or an element that continues off the edge.