With around 740 million members and over 55 million registered organizations, 40% of LinkedIn users access it daily. And like any other social media platform, LinkedIn changes its algorithm constantly. A certain kind of post that might have got you heaps of visibility and engagement last month might leave you disappointed the next month.

Having worked on the LinkedIn platform for quite some time now, I can say there is no sure-shot recipe as to what will work. So, your safest bet is to stay updated and keep experimenting with the kind of content you post. 

One such content that has presently gained the buzz is the LinkedIn carousel post. LinkedIn carousel posts are perhaps underused; however, they seem to be flying these days. In fact, LinkedIn carousel posts are reportedly doing great to boost LinkedIn engagement.

Now the question is, what are these carousel posts and how to create an engaging LinkedIn carousel post? Well, today, I will tell you how to create seamless LinkedIn carousels for free using Canva.

So let's get started!

What are LinkedIn Carousel Posts?

A LinkedIn Carousel is a document that you can share on your LinkedIn feed, and the users can scroll through it like a presentation. The cherry on the cake? Well, they don't have to leave the platform to do so.

Besides, since the carousel posts are highly interactive and visually appealing, they definitely stand out from the newsfeed. In fact, they are an excellent way to share your expertise via visually engaging graphics.

So, if you are also trying to figure out ways to stand out in the LinkedIn community and grow your LinkedIn business page, LinkedIn carousel posts will definitely help you achieve that. 

tips for creating linkedin carousel

Why use LinkedIn Carousel Posts?

Have you tried your hands in LinkedIn carousel posts to boost your engagement? If not, it's time you give it a shot! Let me tell you how and why LinkedIn carousel posts are incredible.

  • With a bit of time and energy, you can transform even a dull post into an engaging series of carousel posts and gain brand recognition. And out of nowhere, you now have a fun way of attracting people ready and waiting eagerly to engage with your content.
  • Besides, you can leverage carousel posts to boost engagement and clicks without burning a hole in your pocket. 
  • Carousel posts are definitely a great way to stand out on the newsfeed of your connections. 
  • Finally, unlike a video ad, you'll discover that a carousel post is easily accessible.

How to create LinkedIn Carousel in Canva?

  • Step 1: Firstly open up Canva and create a design with custom dimensions. The standard LinkedIn carousel post size is 1080 x 1080. However, for a carousel, you can also use 1080 x 1350, which is taller than usual. You can use either one in this case.

I'll keep it a square or one-to-one ratio. We want to create two posts next to each other, so I will use 2160 width by 1080 height. 

create a design

Why 2160×1080 px ?

In a carousel, you can fit between 2 to 10 images in one post, so if you are thinking of adding 10 images in your design, it would be 10 posts wide which is 10,800 pixels. Unfortunately, this width is too wide for Canva. In my experience, anything over four posts wide is too much. I tried it with four posts, and Canva took incredibly long to respond to every action and eventually slowed down the whole process.

Perhaps, it might just be my system or internet connection, but for me, it's easier to work with two posts side by side and then make more if required.

  • Step 2: Now that we have the page setup, we can click on the file show rulers.
click on the file show rulers

  • Step 3: Next, we click and drag from the side ruler to create a guide to show us where the posts separate.
click and drag from the side ruler

As you can see, it is precisely in the middle at 1080 pixels. Once your design gets separated, you'll notice a purple line across the design. 

divide the design from centre

You can now see the two posts side by side. If you want to make a carousel with more than 2 posts, you can duplicate or add new pages; of course, each page is two posts wide.

Say you want a five-page carousel. Simply create three pages of two and leave the last one blank. I'll tell you how to split the image at the end using a free online tool. So, you can easily omit the last page and can upload five images to LinkedIn. 

  • Step 4: Now that we have the page setup, we can start creating our design. Firstly, add a background color and then an image that spans across the two posts. If you're looking for images with no backgrounds, you can, of course, remove the background in Canva with the pro version. 
  • Step 5: Now, let's add some exciting graphics on the main carousel cover and some text on the other part. Note that you can find images for free on unsplash, pixabay, pixels, and morguefile. If you want png pictures with no backgrounds, then check out the free sites. They offer a good collection of pictures as well as illustrations.

icons8.com is also a great website but make sure you check the license agreement on each image. freepik.com is a good one; if you click on stories by freepik, you can customize the illustrations as well. It's worth bookmarking.

  • Step 6: Now, you can design and add whatever elements you want from these websites. I came up with something like this. You can use the free template, manipulate it and use it as your own here.
design your carousel
  • Step 7: Once you've finished your overall design, click on download, select the pages you want, and then download as a png or pdf. You can directly upload pdf documents on LinkedIn; however, this is not the case with Instagram. For Instagram, you need to download the zipped png file.
download as png or pdf

  • Step 8: Once you unzip the folder, you now have to split the pages to have individual posts to add to Instagram. Remember the magical tool that I bragged about in the beginning?

You can use a website called pinetools.com; this is a pretty cool website with loads of free online tools that empower you to perform various tasks. Besides, it is certainly a good website to bookmark, as you can easily split your images and share them as carousels on Instagram from there.

Congratulations! You now know how to create LinkedIn carousel post for free using Canva. Hopefully, you also discovered some other useful tools and websites that will serve you well in the future.

Wrapping Up

Want to get more attention on a document – a white paper or a report? Or wondering how to grow LinkedIn business page?

Well, create an exciting LinkedIn Carousel Post and drive more traffic to your creations. 

Besides, you can share your expertise via LinkedIn carousel posts that can certainly help you grab new opportunities and level up your social media marketing campaign.

Regardless of whether you choose to share “How to articles,” repurpose blog content, infographics, LinkedIn carousel posts are an incredible way to unite the LinkedIn community and offer your insight that serves all. 

Just make sure to pay extraordinary attention to the carousel's design, structure, and layout to reap the full benefits of this magnificent medium. 

Contact us and talk to our team of marketing experts for more tips on Carousel posts.

Editor: Richa Sharma

Frequently Asked Questions

The carousel format on LinkedIn is like a digital slideshow. It's where you can share a bunch of slides, kind of like a PowerPoint. To make one, you first create a PDF file with all your slides. Then, when you make a post on LinkedIn, you upload that PDF. LinkedIn turns each page in your PDF into a different slide in your online presentation. So, when people see your post, they can click through the slides to see all the information you want to share, just like flipping through a real presentation. It's a neat way to share ideas or stories on LinkedIn.

For LinkedIn Carousel posts, it's best to use square images or videos, like a box. A good size is either 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels or 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels. You can save it as JPG or PNG, or even non-moving GIFs. This way, your posts will look nice and fit well on LinkedIn. Remember, the shape should be like a square!

You can enjoy Free content on Canva without spending money. It includes everything they offer, like pictures, icons, videos, fonts, and templates. Canva provides both Free and Pro Content licenses, ensuring a wide range of creative resources for users. If a video doesn't start, you can try restarting your device for better playback. So, with Canva, you have access to a variety of design elements and options, both free and premium, to enhance your creative projects without breaking the bank.

When you want to share lots of images or videos in a carousel, it's a good idea to use at least 8 slides instead of just a few. Many carousels allow for up to 10 slides, but most people don't use all of them. By filling up more slides, you can show more of your content and make the most out of this feature. So, don't be shy – go ahead and add more slides to your carousel to showcase your stuff effectively!