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Carousel Post Design

Plans and designs Instagram and LinkedIn carousels: hook, one idea per slide, a fixed grid and type scale, and a phone check.

Claude skill/carousel

Files
1 file, 7.1 KB
Install
Add it to Claude as a skill. The steps are in Anthropic’s current skills documentation. Anthropic's skills documentation
Source
The folder on GitHub

The thing itself

---
name: carousel-post-design
description: Use when the user wants an Instagram or LinkedIn carousel post planned, designed, redesigned or critiqued — "make a carousel", "turn this into slides for Instagram", "LinkedIn document post", "my carousel gets no swipes". Turns supplied copy or a topic into a slide-by-slide plan (hook, one idea per slide, payoff, CTA), then lays out every slide on a fixed 1080×1350 grid with a type scale, safe zones and a swipe rhythm, and runs a phone-size check before handing over. Works with any brand palette; ask for it if none is given. Not for single-image posts, reels, or thumbnails.
---

# Carousel Post Design

A carousel is read on a phone, one thumb-swipe at a time, in about two seconds per slide. Every decision below serves that: one idea per slide, one thing to look at first, and a reason to swipe again.

## 0. Before designing, get four answers

Ask only for what is missing, in one message:

1. **The copy or the topic.** If copy is supplied, use it word for word. Do not paraphrase, shorten, add emojis or invent a headline. If a slide has no clear headline, ask.
2. **The platform.** Instagram, LinkedIn, or both. The canvas is the same; the export and the caption differ (section 6).
3. **The brand.** Three colours (ink, accent, background) and one typeface. If there is no brand, propose one palette, say it is a proposal, and move on.
4. **The one action.** Save, share, comment, follow, or visit a link. The last slide is built around it.

## 1. Plan the slides before drawing anything

Write the plan as a table first and get a yes:

```
| # | Role      | Headline (verbatim or proposed) | Visual            |
| 1 | Hook      | ...                             | ...               |
| 2 | Setup     | ...                             | ...               |
| … | Point     | ...                             | ...               |
| n | Payoff/CTA| ...                             | ...               |
```

Rules for the plan:
- **Length:** 5 to 10 slides. Fewer than 5 rarely earns the swipe; more than 10 loses people. If the copy needs more, it is two posts.
- **Slide 1 is the hook, not the title page.** It states the payoff or the tension in 12 words or fewer. "5 tips for better thumbnails" is a label. "Your thumbnail loses the click before anyone reads the title" is a hook.
- **Slide 2 pays something off immediately.** The swipe from 1 to 2 is the hardest; slide 2 must deliver a first win, not more setup.
- **One idea per slide.** If a slide needs "and", split it.
- **The last slide carries the one action.** One ask, in the brief's words. Never "thanks for reading".
- **Give the reader a reason to keep swiping:** a numbered sequence (1/7), an unfinished list, or a before shown on one slide and its after on the next.

## 2. Canvas and grid

- **Canvas:** 1080 × 1350 px (4:5 portrait) for both Instagram and LinkedIn. Use 1080 × 1080 only if the user asks for square.
- **Margins:** 80 px on all sides. Nothing important closer to the edge.
- **Instagram profile grid crop:** the profile grid can show posts cropped narrower than 4:5. Keep the slide 1 headline and any face well inside the centre, at least 120 px from the left and right edges. Check the current crop when it matters; it has changed before.
- **Grid:** 6 columns inside the margins, 24 px gutters. Every text block and image snaps to it.
- **Fixed zones on every slide:** the same corner for the page counter (for example "3/8", bottom right), the same place for the logo or handle (top left or bottom left), and the same top margin for headlines. Only the content changes slide to slide.

## 3. Type

Pick from this scale; never invent sizes in between.

| Role | Size | Weight | Max words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hook (slide 1) | 88–110 px | heaviest | 12 |
| Slide headline | 60–72 px | bold | 10 |
| Body | 34–40 px | regular | 30 per slide |
| Label / counter | 24–28 px | semibold, caps or small caps | 4 |

- At least a 2× jump between headline and body.
- Line length: 20 to 35 characters for headlines. Break lines by meaning, not by where the box ends.
- Left-align body text. Centre only a short hook or a single statement.
- Nothing smaller than 24 px. It will be unreadable on a phone.

## 4. Colour and emphasis

- One background, one ink, one accent.
- The accent touches **one** thing per slide: the key word, the number, or the arrow. If it touches three things, it touches nothing.
- Check contrast: body text 4.5:1 or more against its background; large headlines 3:1 or more. Bright accents usually fail as small text; use them as fills, numbers or underlines.
- Alternate the background between two neighbours (for example the light background, then one ink-filled slide for the key point) to mark rhythm. Never more than one inverted slide in a row.

## 5. Slide layouts to rotate

Do not use the same layout three slides in a row.

| Layout | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Big statement | The hook, a turn, or a quote. Headline only. |
| Number hero | One number carrying the slide, with a one-line caption. |
| Headline + body | A point with a short explanation. |
| Before / after | Two stacked halves, the better one in the accent. |
| List of 3 | Three short rows with numerals. Never more than 4. |
| Image + caption | A real screenshot, photo or render taking 60% of the slide. |
| Checklist | A summary slide people will save. Put it second to last. |
| CTA | The one ask, plus the handle. |

## 6. Export and posting

- **Instagram:** export each slide as PNG or high-quality JPG at 1080 × 1350, numbered 01, 02 … so they upload in order. Up to 20 images per post on Instagram at the time of writing; staying at 10 or fewer is still the better read.
- **LinkedIn:** export the whole carousel as one PDF (one page per slide) and upload it as a document post. Give the document a real title; it shows on the post.
- **Caption:** the first line repeats the hook in different words. End with the same one action as the last slide.
- **Alt text:** write one line per slide describing what it says, for screen-reader users.

## 7. Phone check before handing over

View every slide at 360 px wide (roughly phone size) and check:

- [ ] Slide 1 reads in two seconds and makes the payoff clear.
- [ ] Every slide has one obvious first thing to look at.
- [ ] No text below 24 px; nothing inside the 80 px margin.
- [ ] Page counter, logo or handle, and headline position are identical on every slide.
- [ ] The accent appears once per slide.
- [ ] All copy matches the brief word for word.
- [ ] Layouts vary; no layout three times in a row.
- [ ] The last slide asks for exactly one action.

If any box fails, fix it before showing the user.

## 8. When critiquing an existing carousel

Score each slide 0–2 on: hook or point clarity, one focal point, text size on a phone, consistency with the other slides, and reason to swipe. Then give the three fixes that matter most, in order, and redesign the weakest two slides as proof.

## Honest limits

- There is no single best slide count or posting time; these are craft defaults. Test with your own analytics.
- Platform limits and crops change. Check the current numbers before relying on them.
Download .zip

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