# Seamless Instagram carousels: one image across many slides [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/seamless-carousel) Swipe and the picture keeps going: a shape slides in from the right, a line of type runs on, the colour flows from one slide into the next. Here is exactly how to build one, and the mistakes that break the illusion. ## The short version - A seamless carousel on Instagram is one wide image cut into equal slides, so the design appears to continue as people swipe. - The canvas is 1080 pixels wide for every slide and 1350 pixels tall, so a five slide carousel starts as a 5400×1350 design. - Shapes and colour should cross the cuts between slides, but text should never sit on a cut, where it would split in two. - Each slide should still make sense alone, because the first slide also appears by itself in the feed and the profile grid. - Cutting the wide image into slides takes one command in ImageMagick or a few minutes with guides in any design tool. A **seamless carousel Instagram** post is a single wide design cut into equal slides. Make a canvas 1080 pixels wide for every slide and 1350 pixels tall, so three slides means 3240×1350, design across the whole strip, then cut it every 1080 pixels and upload the pieces in order. Let shapes and colour cross the cuts; keep every word clear of them. ## Canvas sizes for a panorama carousel Work in portrait unless you have a reason not to. The 4:5 frame is the tallest carousel shape Instagram allows, so it fills the most screen. For a square carousel, keep the 1080 width per slide and use 1080 for the height. If the maths of shapes is new to you, [aspect ratios explained](https://gradiently.design/guide/aspect-ratios-explained) covers it in a few minutes. | Slides | Portrait canvas | Square canvas | Cuts at (px from left) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2 | 2160×1350 | 2160×1080 | 1080 | | 3 | 3240×1350 | 3240×1080 | 1080, 2160 | | 4 | 4320×1350 | 4320×1080 | 1080, 2160, 3240 | | 5 | 5400×1350 | 5400×1080 | 1080, 2160, 3240, 4320 | Width is always 1080 times the number of slides. Mark the cuts with guides before you place anything. - Three slide strip 3240×1350: 3240 × 1350 - One slide 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350 The strip you design and the slide people see at any moment. Each slide is exactly a third of the strip. Three to five slides is a comfortable length. Fewer and the effect barely registers; many more and the design gets thin, with long stretches of background between ideas. If you need more content, a regular carousel with a shared background is easier to read; [Instagram carousel size](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-carousel-size) covers the standard format. ## The rules of the seam The cut between two slides is where the effect either works or falls apart. Something should cross it, because that is what tells people the picture continues. But anything that needs to be read whole must stay away from it. ### Avoid on a seam - Any word or letter - A face or a logo - A price, date or call to action - A thin line that must align perfectly - Hard edges that sit exactly on the cut ### Good across a seam - Large soft shapes and curves - A gradient or texture that flows on - An arrow or path leading the eye right - A photo cut out and placed half on each slide - A big background word too large to read on one slide anyway > **Give text a 60 pixel buffer** Keep words at least 60 pixels from every cut and from the outer edges. A buffer forgives a cut that lands a few pixels off, and a line of text never looks jammed against the edge of the screen. ## Designing the flow, slide by slide Think of the strip as a short story told left to right. Each slide needs one job, and each must still look finished on its own, because people pause between swipes and the first slide appears alone in the feed and your grid. 1. **Slide 1: the hook** A clear headline and a shape that runs off the right edge. The cut off shape is the invitation to swipe. 2. **Slides 2 and 3: the content** One point per slide, each set comfortably inside its own frame, joined by the background and a shape that bridges them. 3. **Middle slide: the reveal** If there is a product photo or a big number, put it here, centred on a slide rather than straddling a cut. 4. **Last slide: the landing** The flow comes to rest. The shapes settle, and the call to action sits in calm space with nothing crossing it. The background is what makes the strip feel like one object. A gradient that drifts across the whole width does more than any shape, because every slide picks up where the last one left off. Run it the long way, left to right, with the light changing gradually. Night to dawn, across five slides: `linear-gradient(90deg, #0b1d3a 0%, #1e3a8a 25%, #6d28d9 50%, #db2777 75%, #f59e0b 100%)` Set on a 5400×1350 canvas, each slide gets its own band of colour: navy, blue, violet, pink, amber. Swiping feels like time passing. The first slide of a panorama carousel with the headline A year at the studio and a prompt to swipe Slide one alone: it reads as a complete post, so it works in the grid. The second slide of the carousel showing an order count for spring over the same continuing background Slide two continues the same background, with its number set clear of both cuts. ## How to cut a wide image into carousel slides Export the strip at full size, then slice it. In most design tools you can draw guides every 1080 pixels and export each section as its own image. If you have the free ImageMagick tool installed, one command does the lot, and the files come out numbered in the right order. ```bash # Cut a 5400×1350 strip into five 1080×1350 slides magick strip.png -crop 1080x1350 +repage slide_%02d.png # Result: slide_00.png, slide_01.png ... slide_04.png # Check one slide's size magick identify slide_00.png ``` -crop with a tile size slices left to right; +repage resets each file's position so it uploads cleanly. 1. Export the strip as PNG, so gradients and type stay crisp. 2. Cut it into 1080 wide slides with guides or the command above. 3. Open the app, start a post and select the slides in order, first to last. 4. Check that the first slide is framed at full 4:5, not cropped to a square. 5. Swipe through the preview once to confirm every seam lines up. ## Using one Mark across the whole carousel In Gradiently you can set a custom size up to 8,000 pixels wide, so a five slide 5400×1350 strip is one design. The Mark renders once across the full width, so its colour and light flow naturally from slide to slide instead of restarting on each one, and it still moves its calmest region behind each block of words. Add your text in the safe middle of each slide, export, and slice. Free exports are scaled down to 720p, so a full size strip that slices into sharp 1080 pixel slides needs Pro. For the ideas side, [Instagram carousel design](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-carousel-design) covers hooks and slide writing, and [Instagram grid aesthetic](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-grid-aesthetic) shows how a panorama's first slide sits among your other posts. ## FAQ ### What size is a seamless Instagram carousel? 1080 pixels wide per slide by 1350 tall. A three slide carousel starts as a 3240×1350 design, cut into three 1080×1350 images. ### How do I split an image into an Instagram carousel? Cut it into equal 1080 pixel wide sections, using guides in a design tool or ImageMagick's crop command, then upload the slides in order. ### Why don't my carousel slides line up? Usually the slides are not exactly 1080 pixels wide, or the first slide was framed as a square in the app. Check each file's size and the first frame before posting. ### Can text cross from one slide to the next? Avoid it. Words split across a cut are hard to read and look broken when someone pauses between slides. Keep text at least 60 pixels from every cut. ### How many slides should a panorama carousel have? Three to five works well. Instagram allows up to 20, but long panoramas tend to stretch the design thin.