An Instagram carousel template is two things at once: a layout you design slide by slide, and a set of technical rules the finished slides have to meet, or the post is refused. Most template pages give only the first. This page gives the second, which does not change with the design, and a plan for the first. Use it as the checklist behind whichever design tool you use.
The export specification
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Slide size | 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5) or 1080 × 1440 (3:4) |
| Same shape for every slide | Yes: slides are cropped to the first |
| Number of slides | 2 to 20 |
| File format | JPEG, in sRGB |
| File size | 8 MB or less each |
| Width | 320 to 1,440 pixels |
| Video slides | 23 to 60 fps, within the Reel length and size |
| Caption | 2,200 characters, 30 hashtags, 20 mentions |
| Alt text | Up to 1,000 characters per picture |
A PNG export is refused by the API; Preflight converts it, but exporting JPEG yourself avoids a copy. The shapes and the live test behind these figures are on the carousel size page, and the picture rules on the post size page.
Safe margins
Instagram shows a slide in the feed, in a profile grid tile and in a swipe, and the crop is different in each. A template should keep text and the main subject inside the middle of the slide, away from the edges by about a tenth of the width. It survives a 1:1, a 4:5 and a 3:4 crop alike. This is a design habit, not an Instagram rule: Instagram publishes no official safe zone for carousels.
A slide-by-slide plan
This is a suggested structure for an informational carousel, not a requirement:
| Slide | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 1 | The hook: one claim or question, large text. It is the cover and decides the crop for all the others |
| 2 | The problem, in one sentence |
| 3 to N-2 | One point per slide, the same layout each time |
| N-1 | The summary or the checklist |
| N | The call to action: save, share, or follow |
Ten slides is a common length, but the limit is 20, and a shorter carousel is easier to finish. Keep the same typeface, margins and colours across slides so the swipe reads as one piece.
The caption template
- First line that works on its own, since the feed folds the caption behind "more".
- One or two short paragraphs with what the carousel is about.
- A call to action.
- Hashtags, up to 30 through the API, or in a first comment. The Instagram app itself allows 5 per post.
The caption preview shows where each feed folds a caption.
Alt text for each slide
Write one sentence per picture that says what is on it, including the text, since a screen reader cannot read an image. Instagram takes up to 1,000 characters per picture through the API: see the alt text guide.
Scheduling the finished carousel
Export JPEGs in order, name them 01, 02 and so on, add them in Preflight, check the composer shows no warning on any slide, and set the time. The steps are in how to schedule an Instagram carousel. Scheduling works on every plan, the free one included.
Technical rules from Meta's Instagram documentation and live publishes of 30 October 2026; the slide plan and margins are editorial suggestions.
Questions people ask
- What size is an Instagram carousel template?
- 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5) or 1080 × 1440 (3:4), the same for every slide, exported as JPEG up to 8 MB each. Instagram crops every slide to the first one.
- How many slides should an Instagram carousel have?
- Up to 20 are allowed. Ten is common, but the right length is the one that makes each slide carry one point.
- Should I export a carousel as PNG or JPEG?
- JPEG. The publishing API takes JPEG only. Preflight converts a PNG for you, but a JPEG in sRGB avoids a second copy.
- How much text can an Instagram carousel caption have?
- 2,200 characters, up to 30 hashtags through the API and 20 mentions. Only the first lines show before the caption folds behind more.
- Is there an official safe zone for carousel slides?
- No. Keeping text in the middle, about a tenth of the width away from the edges, is a design habit that survives the crops of the feed, the grid and the swipe.