Design for a phone held at arm's length
Your slides are read on a small screen, often quickly. Before you post, look at each slide on your phone at normal distance. If you have to zoom in to read anything, the text is too small or there is too much of it.
Use one grid for every slide
Decide margins (for example, the same space on all four sides), where the title sits and where body text starts. Keep those positions identical across slides. When the title jumps around from slide to slide, the post looks unplanned even if each slide is nice on its own.
Typography
- Use at most two fonts: a bold one for titles and a plain one for body text.
- Make titles clearly bigger than body text so the hierarchy is obvious.
- Keep lines short; break long sentences into two lines rather than shrinking the font.
- Left-align body text. Centered paragraphs are hard to read.
Color and contrast
Pick a background color, a text color and one accent color, and stick with them. Dark text on a light background (or the reverse) keeps text readable. Use the accent color only for the words you want to stand out. Pull a palette from your brand photo with Color Palette from Image, or grab exact codes with the Color Picker.
One idea per slide
Each slide should make one point you can say in a sentence. If a slide needs a long paragraph, split it into two slides. People swipe for the next idea, not to read an essay.
Cover and last slide
The cover decides whether anyone swipes. Use a short, specific promise in big type and leave out details. The last slide should summarize and ask for one action: save, share, follow or visit the link.
Photos and icons
Use images that you own or are licensed to use. Keep photo treatment consistent (same filter or the same color overlay) and make sure text over photos has a dark band or overlay behind it.
Good vs. bad
- Good: same margins and title position on every slide.
- Bad: different layouts on every slide.
- Good: two fonts, clear size difference between title and body.
- Bad: four decorative fonts competing for attention.
Checklist
- Readable on a phone without zooming?
- Same grid on every slide?
- Two fonts, three colors at most?
- One idea per slide?
- A clear CTA on the last slide?
For sizes and slide count, see the Instagram carousel size guide.
FAQ
What font size should I use on carousel slides?
Make the title large enough to read at a glance on a phone and keep body text comfortably readable without zooming. If you have to shrink text to fit, split the content into another slide instead.
Should text be centered or left-aligned?
Short titles can be centered, but body text of more than one line is easier to read left-aligned.
How do I keep carousels on brand?
Reuse the same two fonts, the same three colors and the same layout on every post. Save the hex codes so you don't have to guess each time.