How to make a LinkedIn carousel

Written by Sakib, LinkedIn Carousel Maker · Updated 2026-10-20

A LinkedIn carousel is a PDF document post: you upload a PDF, and LinkedIn shows it in the feed one page at a time, so readers swipe or click through it like a set of slides. Each page is one slide. There is no special carousel format to unlock; any account that can post can share a document.

Carousels suit ideas that have steps, a list or a before-and-after, because the reader moves through them at their own pace. The craft is mostly in the writing: a hook that makes someone swipe, one idea per slide and an ending that asks for something specific. This guide walks through the whole process with LinkedIn Carousel Maker, from the first idea to the uploaded post, then works through a full example and the mistakes worth avoiding.

What you need

• One idea you can explain in under ten slides, ideally from your own work or experience.
• A rough outline or notes, even a few bullet points. The AI composer can also start from a topic or an article link.
• A browser. The editor runs in the browser; there is nothing to install.
• A free account, if you want AI help. It includes 5 AI generations and 30 AI edits or captions a month and cloud save for 10 carousels. Without an account you can still design and export; the PDF carries a small watermark.
• A LinkedIn account to post the PDF from, on desktop or in the mobile app.
• Optional: a profile photo and your handle, so every slide carries your name.

1. Start with one clear idea

Pick a single point you can defend in under ten slides: a mistake you keep seeing, a process you use, a result and how you got it. If you need the word “and” to describe it, you probably have two carousels. Write the idea as one sentence before you touch a slide; if the sentence is vague, the carousel will be too.

Then open the editor. You can type the topic into the AI composer, paste notes or a draft post, give it an article link, or start from one of the templates. Templates are a good choice when you already know what you want to say and only need a structure to fill in.

2. Write a hook that earns the swipe

The first slide is the one everyone sees; the rest only get read if it works. A good hook follows a few rules:

• Keep it to about eight words. It has to land in the time it takes to scroll past. The AI generator holds its hook titles to eight words or fewer for the same reason.
• Create tension. A bold claim, a surprising number or an expensive mistake makes people want the rest.
• Skip the warm-up. Openers like “In this post” or “Here are some tips” give readers nothing to react to.
• Highlight one to three key words in an accent colour so the eye knows where to land.

A useful test: read the hook aloud to someone who does not know the topic. If they ask “which ones?” or “why?”, it is working. If they nod politely, rewrite it. Numbers in a hook help only when they are real; “5 mistakes” is a promise about the structure, which is fine, but a percentage you cannot back up is not.

3. One idea per slide

Treat each middle slide as a single beat. Aim for no more than about 25 words per slide; lists can run a little longer if each item is short. Cut every sentence that only repeats the one before it. Swiping is cheap, reading a wall of text is not.

Be specific. “Communicate better” is advice nobody can act on; “send a three-line recap after every client call” is. Real numbers, named examples and before-and-after comparisons do more than adjectives. And never present a made-up statistic as fact: use your own numbers, or label an example as an example.

Give the middle slides a visible order. Numbering the points (“Mistake 3 of 5”) or turning on the slide counter tells readers how far they are from the end, which makes the next swipe an easier decision.

4. Vary the layouts

Repeating the same slide design ten times feels like a slideshow. Match the layout to the content instead: a big number for a key figure, numbered steps for a process, a side-by-side comparison for a contrast, a quote for a strong line. Avoid using the same layout twice in a row. The editor's 13 layouts, including a free-form Canvas, cover the opening, middle and closing slides, and when the AI writes your carousel it picks a layout for each slide for you.

Every layout keeps text at least 72 px from the edges of the slide and reserves a 120 px band at the bottom for your name, the slide counter and the swipe hint, so nothing important ends up cramped against the edge or hidden behind the footer.

5. Close with a specific call to action

The last slide should ask for one thing tied to the topic: “Follow for a pricing teardown every Friday” beats a plain “Follow me”. Keep hashtags, emojis and links off the slides; they belong in the caption, if anywhere.

Pick one ask. A slide that says follow, comment, save and visit my site gives the reader four decisions and usually gets none of them. If you want comments, end with a real question the reader can answer in one line.

6. Make it look like you

Choose a palette and font pairing, add your name, handle and photo, and decide whether to show a slide counter and a swipe hint. Consistent styling across your posts helps people recognise your content before they read it. The size guide explains why 4:5 portrait usually beats a square.

The editor offers two slide sizes: 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5 portrait) and 1080 × 1080 (1:1 square). Keep contrast high, since many people read on a phone in daylight, and keep body text large enough to read without zooming.

7. Preview, export and post

Open the feed preview to see the post as it will appear on desktop and mobile, including where LinkedIn cuts off your caption with “see more”. Put the most important line of the caption before that cut. Then export the PDF. Slides are rendered at twice their size, 2160 × 2700 pixels for a portrait slide, so text stays sharp on high-resolution screens. The upload steps are below.

Short on time? The AI carousel generator applies these same rules to write a first draft from your topic, which you can then edit slide by slide.

A worked example: 5 pricing mistakes first-time founders make

Here is how the steps above turn into a real plan. The idea is one sentence: first-time founders lose money through a handful of avoidable pricing mistakes. The hook names the structure and the audience:

Hook: “5 pricing mistakes first-time founders make”

It is six words, it promises a list the reader can count, and “mistakes” creates the tension. The table shows a 10-slide structure for it. The example lines are illustrative wording for this guide, not research findings.

Notice the rhythm. Slides 3 to 7 each carry one mistake, and each could take a different layout: a statement, a comparison of one plan against three tiers, a short list. Slide 8 gives readers something to save. Slide 9 invites a comment with a question anyone in the audience can answer. Slide 10 makes one specific ask.

To build this yourself, open the 5-point listicle template in the editor, which already has a hook, one slide per point and a close. Replace its sample text with your own lines and add the promise, summary and question slides if you want the full ten.

How to upload a carousel to LinkedIn

These are the steps as of October 2026; LinkedIn moves its menus from time to time, so the labels may differ slightly. On desktop:

1. On your LinkedIn home page, click Start a post.
2. Click More (…) at the bottom of the post box to see the other post types.
3. Choose Add a document.
4. Choose the PDF you exported from your computer.
5. Give the document a title. Readers see it above the slides, so make it describe the carousel.
6. Write your caption, then click Post.

In the mobile app:

1. Tap Start a post (or the post button).
2. Open the extra options and tap Add a document, then pick the PDF from your phone and add a title before posting.

According to LinkedIn Help, as of October 2026 a document can be up to 100 MB and 300 pages, so a carousel exported from the editor is well inside the limits.

Common mistakes

• A slow first slide. A logo, a title like “My thoughts on pricing” or a greeting wastes the one slide everyone sees.
• Too many words per slide. If a slide needs scrolling or zooming on a phone, split it or cut it.
• Two ideas in one carousel. The second idea dilutes the first. Save it for next week.
• Every slide looks the same. Ten identical layouts read as a slideshow; vary them with the content.
• Invented statistics. A made-up percentage can cost you credibility in the comments. Use your own numbers or say it is an example.
• A vague ending. “Thoughts?” or “Follow me” asks for little and tends to get little. Ask for one specific thing.
• Small or low-contrast text. Light grey on white, or thin type, disappears on a phone screen.
• Posting images instead of a PDF. A carousel is a document post; upload the PDF so readers can swipe through it in order.

Before you post

• The hook is about eight words and creates tension.
• Every slide makes one point and has no more than about 25 words.
• No two slides in a row use the same layout.
• Every number is real, or clearly labelled as an example.
• The last slide asks for one specific thing.
• Your name, handle and photo are on the slides, and the slide counter is on if you want it.
• You have checked the feed preview on mobile and desktop.
• The caption's key line sits before the “see more” cut.
• The PDF is exported and the document has a clear title.
• You have read every slide once more, out loud, for typos.

Questions about LinkedIn carousels