How to schedule an Instagram carousel

The short answer

A carousel is one Instagram post with several photos or videos that people swipe through. Apps that publish through Instagram’s official API, Bloom included, can send up to 10 items in one carousel, photos and videos mixed. The Instagram app itself lets you add more by hand.

In Bloom you attach the files to one post, drag them into order, write the caption and schedule it. Bloom publishes it to Instagram at the time you picked.

The first slide sets the shape

This is the rule that catches people out. Instagram’s publishing documentation says carousel images are cropped based on the first image. So if the first slide is a square, a portrait photo in slot three comes out square, cut top and bottom.

• Make every slide the same shape. Portrait 4:5 (1080 by 1350) fills the most screen in the feed; square 1:1 (1080 by 1080) is the safe choice.
• Keep important things away from the edges in any slide you didn’t crop yourself.
• Resize before you upload. The free image resizer crops or fits a photo to 4:5 or 1:1 in your browser.

Order: the cover, the middle and the last slide

The first slide is the only one most people see before deciding to swipe, so it does the work of a headline. Put your strongest image there, or a text card that says what the swipe gives them. The middle carries the detail: steps, angles, before and after. The last slide is where you ask for something, such as the link in bio, a save or a comment.

A carousel can mix photos and videos. A single video on its own posts as a Reel instead; if you want it in the carousel, add at least one more item with it.

Caption, tags and alt text

One caption covers the whole carousel, up to 2,200 characters. Instagram shows the opening before “more”, so lead with the point. Hashtags go at the end.

• Tag people in the photos they appear in: Bloom lets you tag up to 20 people and invite up to 3 collaborators, whose followers can then see the post too. If Instagram refuses a tag, the post still goes out without it.
• Alt text on each photo describes it for people using screen readers. Bloom sends it with every photo.
• Links in a caption aren’t clickable on Instagram. Say “link in bio” and keep a link-in-bio page current.

What other platforms do with the same post

If you send the carousel to more than Instagram, each platform takes what it can:

So put the four slides that stand on their own first. More on fitting one post to two platforms in posting to Instagram and Facebook at once.

Schedule it, step by step

1. Prepare the filesSame shape for every slide, strongest first. Free plan files can be up to 25MB each, Pro and Plus up to 500MB.
2. Attach them to one postUpload from your phone or computer, or reuse files already in your Bloom media vault.
3. Put them in orderCheck the first slide twice.
4. Write the caption, tags and alt textPoint first, detail after, hashtags at the end.
5. Pick the accounts and a timeYour best time to post if you know it; Bloom can suggest one from your results.

Frequently asked questions