Instagram carousel size guide (2026): dimensions, ratios and safe zones
The exact sizes for Instagram and LinkedIn carousels — 4:5 portrait, square and story — plus safe zones, slide counts and export tips.
Getting the size wrong is the fastest way to ruin a good carousel: text gets cropped in the grid, slides look blurry, or the first slide shows with ugly bars. Here's the cheat sheet we use.
The three sizes that matter
| Format | Pixels | Ratio | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 | Instagram feed, LinkedIn — takes the most screen space |
| Square | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 | Classic feed look, cross-posting |
| Story | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | Stories, Reels covers, TikTok photo mode |
Default to portrait (4:5). It fills more of the phone screen than a square, which means more attention on every slide.
Keep everything the same size
Instagram crops every slide in a carousel to the ratio of the first slide. Mix sizes and some slides will be cut. Design the whole deck at one size.
Safe zones
- Keep headlines and key text at least 80 px from every edge.
- In the profile grid, Instagram may show a cropped preview of your cover — keep the cover headline centred.
- For story format, leave roughly the top and bottom 250 px free of text: that's where the app's buttons and captions sit.
How many slides?
Instagram allows up to 20 images in a carousel, but more isn't better. 7–10 slides is a sweet spot: enough to deliver one idea well, short enough that people reach the end (and the call to action). Use our free Carousel Planner to outline the right number of slides.
LinkedIn: export as PDF
LinkedIn doesn't have a carousel button for personal posts — you upload a PDF document and each page becomes a slide. Use the same 1080 × 1350 pages and export one PDF. More in our LinkedIn carousel playbook.
Export tips
- PNG for slides with text — it stays crisp.
- Name files in order (01, 02, 03…) so they upload in sequence.
- Check the first slide at thumbnail size: if you can't read the headline, it's too small.
Skip the resizing
Article Artist designs every carousel natively in portrait, square or story — switch format with one click and download PNG, ZIP or a LinkedIn-ready PDF. Turn an article into a carousel and see.
Article Artist turns your whole article into six formats. Free to start.