LinkedIn carousels: how to design posts people swipe

A LinkedIn carousel is a PDF you upload as a document post. LinkedIn turns each page into a slide that readers swipe through in the feed. Design the pages at 1080×1350 pixels, open with a cover page that makes one specific promise, give each page one idea, and keep the same background, type and layout on every page. Do those four things and most of the work is done; the rest of this guide is the detail that makes people reach the last page.

How LinkedIn carousels work

The usual way to make one is to create a post, choose to add a document, upload a PDF and give it a title. LinkedIn displays it as pages with arrows and a page counter, and readers can swipe on a phone or click through on a desktop. Because it is a PDF, keep every page the same size, and the text is flattened into the pages, so what you design is exactly what people see.

Portrait 1080×1350 is the right choice for almost every carousel. It is the same size as a portrait LinkedIn post image, so a single page can also be posted on its own, and it matches an Instagram carousel, so one design can serve both. Uploading a presentation deck as it is wastes most of the screen and makes the type tiny.

The cover page earns the first swipe

In the feed, only the cover is visible. Readers decide in a moment whether it is worth a swipe, and they decide on the words. A cover needs a promise that is specific, a hint of how much follows and enough calm space that the headline is the only thing to read.

• Use a number when the content is a list. It sets an expectation readers can measure.
• Promise a result or a reversal: what changed, what you stopped doing, what most people get wrong.
• Keep the headline under about ten words, set large.
• Put your name or a small logo on the cover, because covers travel when people repost them.

A page structure that carries people to the end

Most good carousels follow the same arc, whatever the subject. You can adapt the lengths, but keep the shape.

The summary page is the one people screenshot and save, so give it real care. The closing page should not beg: a name, a line about what you do and one question is enough. For the craft of the inside pages, tips carousels goes deeper.

Keep one look across every page

A carousel feels professional when every page obviously belongs to the same object. It feels thrown together when each page has a different background, a different type size and the page number wandering around. Consistency is also what makes your posts recognisable before anyone reads your name, which is the heart of LinkedIn personal branding.

Type that reads on a phone

Many people read LinkedIn on a phone, where a 1080 pixel wide page is shown at a few hundred points across. Set headlines very large, keep body text well above what looks comfortable on a desktop monitor and leave generous margins. Font size for social media has working minimums. If the words sit on a gradient or photo, check every line, because contrast changes across the page.

How to make a LinkedIn carousel, start to finish

1. 1

   Write the outline first

   Draft the cover promise and one line per page in a plain document. If the outline is weak, no design will save it.

2. 2

   Set up pages at 1080×1350

   Create one page per slide in a single design, so the background and type styles are shared.

3. 3

   Design the cover last

   Once you know what the pages say, the promise on the cover gets sharper.

4. 4

   Export one PDF

   All pages in order, in one file. Check that text is crisp and nothing sits too close to the edges.

5. 5

   Upload as a document and title it

   The document title appears on the post, so write it like a headline, not a file name.

6. 6

   Write a short post above it

   Two or three lines that set up the carousel. Let the pages do the explaining.

In Gradiently, a carousel is a design with several pages sharing one Mark, so the background flows across every page and Auto ink keeps the words readable wherever they sit. On Pro you export the pages as one PDF ready for LinkedIn, and resize the same pages to a square or a story in one step. Carousel pages shows how.