The best Instagram carousel size is 1080 × 1350 pixels, a 4:5 portrait ratio. It's the tallest format Instagram supports for carousels, so each slide takes up more of the screen than a square or landscape post. Use the same size for every slide, keep important text away from the edges and stay within 20 slides.
Supported carousel dimensions
| Format | Aspect ratio | Size in pixels | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | The default for almost every carousel |
| Square | 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | When you're reusing square graphics |
| Landscape | 1.91:1 | 1080 × 566 | Rarely: it takes up the least space in the feed |
Width stays at 1080 pixels in all three. Designing at a smaller width makes Instagram upscale your slides, which softens text.
Every slide uses the same ratio
A carousel can't mix shapes. Whatever ratio you pick, every slide is displayed in that ratio. Slides with a different shape get cropped to fit. That's the most common reason a carousel looks off after upload: one slide was designed square while the rest were portrait, so the square one lost its edges.
Pick one size before you design anything and set it as the canvas for every slide.
How many slides you can use
Instagram allows up to 20 slides per carousel. You can also mix photos and videos in the same post. The limit is rarely the problem, though. Most carousels that get read all the way through land between 5 and 10 slides. Here's how to decide the right length for yours.
Keep text inside a safe zone
Instagram's interface overlays parts of the post on some screens. The profile grid also shows only a cropped preview of your first slide. To be safe:
- Leave roughly 60 to 80 pixels of margin on every side.
- Keep the main headline on your cover near the center, so it survives the grid crop.
- Never put key information in the bottom corners.
File tips
Export as PNG for slides that are mostly text, since PNG keeps letters sharp. Use JPG for photo-heavy slides. Keep the same color profile across slides so colors don't shift between them.
Skip the setup entirely
Kohapu generates every carousel at 1080 × 1350 with text kept inside the safe zone and your brand colors applied to every slide, so you never set up a canvas or export a file. It writes the hook, the slides and the caption from your Instagram profile, then publishes the ones you approve. Here's the full step-by-step process if you'd rather make one by hand.