Guide · Publishing
LinkedIn Carousel Mistakes
Wrong page size, unreadable type, no reason to swipe — the failures that waste a good carousel, in the order they usually happen.
A LinkedIn carousel is a PDF posted as a document, which means the page size of that PDF decides everything about how it displays. Most carousel problems are set in motion before a single word is written — at the moment someone opens a blank document at the wrong dimensions.
The seven mistakes
Step 1
Designing on a letter or A4 page
Document defaults are print sizes, which are taller and narrower than anything LinkedIn displays well. Set a square or portrait pixel canvas before you design, not after.
Step 2
Treating slide one as a cover
The first page is the only page most people see. It has to state the payoff, not the title of a deck. Put the promise there and the branding somewhere else.
Step 3
Body-copy-sized type
A page that is 1080 pixels wide renders a few hundred wide on a phone. If the type would be small on a slide projected in a room, it is invisible in the feed.
Step 4
Content in the margins
The document viewer rounds page corners and floats navigation controls over the page. Keep text and key detail well inside every edge.
Step 5
Too many pages
Long decks lose people mid-swipe. A tight run of pages that each make one point beats a thorough one nobody finishes.
Step 6
No reason to keep swiping
Each page should open something the next one closes. If every page is self-contained, there is no momentum.
Step 7
Exporting for print
Bleed, crop marks and print resolution change the dimensions LinkedIn reads and inflate the file. Export at the exact page size, screen resolution, nothing added.
Design for the swipe, not the page
The unit of a carousel is not the slide, it is the transition. Write the sequence as a single argument first — one line per page — and only then design. If the one-line version does not build, no amount of layout will save it.
Finish with something specific: a next step, a resource, a question worth answering in the comments. A carousel that ends on a logo ends the conversation.
Pre-publish checklist
- Canvas set to a square or portrait pixel size before designing
- First page states the payoff in plain words
- Type large enough to read at phone width
- Nothing important within the outer margins of any page
- Each page opens something the next resolves
- Exported as a PDF at exact page size, no bleed or crop marks
- Final page gives a specific next step
Frequently asked questions
- What size should a LinkedIn carousel be?
- Square or portrait pixel pages, exported as a PDF and posted as a document. The Carousel Size Guide lists the exact dimensions, page limits and safe margins.
- How many slides should a carousel have?
- Fewer than you think. Enough pages to make one argument properly, and no pages that exist only to fill the deck out.
- Can I build a carousel from separate images?
- No. LinkedIn carousels are document posts built from a PDF, where each page becomes one swipeable slide.
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