Instagram Carousel Template: Layouts and Fill-In Copy
A good Instagram carousel template is two things: a fixed layout (size, colors, fonts, where the text sits) and a fixed slide structure (hook, body slides, closing slide). Many free templates only give you the first half, which is why you still stare at a blank slide every week. Below are both halves. First the six slide types every template needs, then three fill-in copy templates you can paste into any tool, then how to keep one layout across Instagram and LinkedIn. The same templates work for a LinkedIn carousel exported as a PDF.
What should a carousel template include?
One layout for each kind of slide you post, all at the same size. Six slide types cover almost every carousel:
| Slide type | Job | What goes on it |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | Stop the scroll | One promise in a short line, an optional subtitle |
| Text | Make one point | A short title and a few lines of body |
| List | Give steps or items | A title and 2 to 5 short items |
| Quote | Borrow a voice | The quote and who said it |
| Stat | Prove one thing | One number and what it measures |
| Closing | Ask for the next step | What to do now and your handle |
These are the six slide types Karou renders, with character limits matched to each layout so the text stays readable. If your template is missing one, you end up improvising it in the editor, and that slide never matches the others.
What size should an Instagram carousel template be?
1080 by 1350 pixels (4:5 portrait) for the most space in the feed; 1080 by 1080 (1:1) if you want square. The same 4:5 layout works as a LinkedIn PDF. Keep text away from the edges. Full spec in Instagram carousel size and LinkedIn carousel PDF size.
What are good fill-in copy templates?
Three structures that fit most topics. Replace the brackets with your own facts.
The mistakes template (7 slides)
- Hook: “[Number] mistakes I made [doing the thing]”
- Text: “Mistake 1: [what you did]” / [what it cost you]
- Text: “Mistake 2: [what you did]” / [what it cost you]
- Text: “Mistake 3: [what you did]” / [what it cost you]
- List: “What I do now” / [3 short fixes]
- Stat: [a number from your own work] / [what it measures]
- Closing: “Save this before your next [thing]” / [your handle]
The how-to template (6 slides)
- Hook: “How to [result] in [time or steps]”
- Text: “Why most [attempts] fail” / [the one reason]
- List: “The steps” / [3 to 5 steps]
- Text: “The step people skip” / [why it matters]
- Quote: [a line from a client or someone you learned from, with permission]
- Closing: “Try it this week. Tell me how it went” / [your handle]
The comparison template (6 slides)
- Hook: “[Option A] vs [Option B]: which one for [reader]?”
- Text: “[Option A] is better when” / [the case]
- Text: “[Option B] is better when” / [the case]
- List: “What actually decides it” / [3 questions]
- Text: “My pick” / [your honest answer, with the reason]
- Closing: “Which one are you using?” / [your handle]
More starting points: carousel post ideas has thirty formats, carousel hook ideas forty first slides, and the last slide of a carousel covers the closing one.
How do you reuse a template every week without drift?
The layout drifts when you edit it by hand. A margin moves, a color is picked by eye, a font size changes on one slide. Three rules keep it fixed:
- Edit copies, never the master. In Canva or Figma, the master stays locked. Canva carousel template covers that routine.
- Write the text before you open the layout. The structure above is plain text, so you can write it in any notes app or AI chat.
- Let the tool fit the text. If you resize boxes every week, the template is doing half its job.
Or skip the manual part: render the template from text.
How do Karou templates work?
Karou treats a template as settings, not a design file: colors, fonts, alignment, decoration, list style, handle and footer. You connect Karou to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, ask for a carousel with one of the copy templates above, and your AI fills in the slides and calls Karou. The thumbnails come back in the chat, with a PNG per slide, a ZIP and a PDF. The layout never drifts, because nobody touches it.
| Template | Look | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | Near-black ground, heavy type, warm accent | Hooks that need to stand out in the feed |
| Clean | White ground, lots of air, blue accent bar | Tips, how-tos, LinkedIn |
| Editorial | Cream paper, serif headlines, centered, thin frame | Essays, quotes, a magazine feel |
All three are on every plan. On Pro you make up to 20 of your own from any of them, with your colors, fonts, handle and footer, either in a web form with a live preview or by asking your AI (“make me a template with my brand colors”). That is how a feed ends up looking like one author: see brand consistency across carousels.
FAQ
Is there a free Instagram carousel template?
Karou’s three templates are free to render: 3 carousels a day with a small watermark. The copy templates above are free to use anywhere.
Can I use the same template for LinkedIn?
Yes. Render at 4:5 and post the PDF as a LinkedIn document post; post the PNGs on Instagram.
Can I put photos in a Karou template?
No. Karou renders text slides only. For photo slides, use an editor or mix your photos in when you post.
How many custom templates can I have?
Up to 20 on Pro, enough for one per brand or client plus a few variations. Pro is free for 14 days, then $12 a month or $97 a year.
Start free and fill your first template from the chat you already write in.