Guide
Size a carousel for Instagram and TikTok
An Instagram carousel takes 2 to 10 pictures, and a TikTok photo post 1 to 35. LoopBatch draws Instagram slides at 1080 × 1350 and TikTok slides at 1080 × 1920, and checks every slide against the platform's limits before you can approve the set.
- What you will have
- A set of slides each platform takes without cutting anything off.
- What you need
- A topic for the slides, and a connected Instagram or TikTok account.
- How long it takes
- One run of the Text carousel template.
By LoopBatch · Checked 24 September 2026
Before you start
- A LoopBatch workspace with a connected Instagram or TikTok account.
- A topic for the carousel, in a few words.
What each platform takes
| What | The limit, and where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Instagram: Pictures in one carousel | 2 to 10Meta's IG User Media reference, read 14 September 2026 |
| Instagram: File size of each picture (JPEG only) | at most 8 MBMeta's IG User Media reference, read 14 September 2026 |
| Instagram: Width of each picture | 320 to 1,440 pxMeta's IG User Media reference, read 14 September 2026 |
| Instagram: Shape, width to height | 0.8:1 to 1.91:1Meta's IG User Media reference, read 14 September 2026 |
| Instagram: Caption | at most 2,200 charactersMeta's IG User Media reference, read 14 September 2026 |
| TikTok: Pictures in one photo post | 1 to 35TikTok's Photo Post reference, read 14 September 2026 |
| TikTok: File size of each picture (JPEG or WebP) | at most 20 MBTikTok's media transfer guide, read 14 September 2026 |
| TikTok: Shorter side of each picture | at most 1,080 pxTikTok's media transfer guide, read 14 September 2026 |
| TikTok: Longer side of each picture | at most 1,920 pxTikTok's media transfer guide, read 14 September 2026 |
| TikTok: Description | at most 4,000 characters, counted as UTF-16 unitsTikTok's Photo Post reference, read 14 September 2026 |
LoopBatch draws an Instagram slide at 1080 × 1350, the 4:5 end of Instagram's range, and a TikTok slide at 1080 × 1920, TikTok's largest.
Where to keep the text
Neither platform publishes a safe zone for a carousel slide. TikTok publishes one for in-feed video ads (TikTok Ads Help: in-feed ads, read 24 September 2026), and Meta one for Reels (Meta's ads guide: Instagram Reels, read 24 September 2026), but a slide is a feed picture, not a Reel.
So LoopBatch keeps each slide's text inside margins of its own, as shares of the slide, and a slide whose text leaves them fails its check:
- Instagram: top 10%, bottom 30%, left 2%, right 14%.
- TikTok: top 12%, bottom 28%, left 2%, right 16%.
These are LoopBatch's numbers, not the platforms'. They leave room for the buttons and the caption that sit over the bottom and the right of a phone screen.
The steps
In LoopBatch, open Templates, then Text carousel.
In Topic, write what the carousel is about. In Slides, choose 2 to 10.
Choose the Account it posts to.
In profile, choose Test, then select Start.
When the set waits for approval, look at each slide and its checks. Add a disclosure to the caption if the slides need one, then select Approve.
Check the result
- Every slide is 1080 × 1350 for Instagram or 1080 × 1920 for TikTok.
- Every slide passed its checks: its text fits the slide and stays inside the margins above.
- The set has no more pictures than the platform takes.
If something goes wrong
- If a slide fails because its text does not fit, run the template again: each run writes the slides anew, at most 120 characters each.
- If Approve reads "Fix media before approval", a slide breaks one of the limits above.
- If an Instagram carousel or a TikTok photo post shows no AI label, check its approval: the platform's AI field is set on only when the approval carries the label.
The platforms' own rules
These sources were checked on the dates shown. Product limits and planning advice are identified separately from platform requirements.
- Meta's IG User Media reference, read 14 September 2026
- TikTok's Photo Post reference, read 14 September 2026
- TikTok's media transfer guide, read 14 September 2026
- TikTok Ads Help: in-feed ads, read 24 September 2026
- Meta's ads guide: Instagram Reels, read 24 September 2026
Related pages
Put the plan into practice
Build a workflow you can run again.
Describe your content, review the estimate and approve the finished post before it goes out.