LinkedIn Carousel PDF Size: Dimensions That Work
A LinkedIn carousel is a PDF, and the size that works is a portrait page in a 4:5 ratio (1080 by 1350 pixels) or a square (1080 by 1080), one slide per page, under 100 MB, with no more than 300 pages allowed and ten to twelve pages actually read. The rest of this guide covers why those numbers, what breaks when you ignore them, and how to export a PDF that LinkedIn accepts the first time.
What size should a LinkedIn carousel PDF be?
LinkedIn renders the first page of your PDF as the preview in the feed and keeps that page’s ratio for every slide. Three ratios are common:
| Ratio | Pixels | Where it comes from | How it reads on the phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:5 portrait | 1080 x 1350 | Instagram’s portrait post size | Tallest in the feed, largest text, most space per slide |
| 1:1 square | 1080 x 1080 | Instagram’s square post | Safe everywhere, slightly smaller than 4:5 |
| 16:9 landscape | 1920 x 1080 | Presentation slides exported from Keynote or PowerPoint | Small text, lots of empty margin, the format most people regret |
Portrait wins because the LinkedIn feed is a vertical column on a phone. A 4:5 page fills more of the screen than a square, and a landscape slide shrinks until a 24-point title becomes a caption. If you only remember one number, remember 1080 by 1350.
Does the PDF have to be a specific resolution?
No, but the pixel size decides the sharpness. A page exported at 1080 by 1350 pixels is plenty for a phone; anything above that mostly adds file size. Text should be set at a size that reads at roughly a third of the page width, which in practice means a title around 60 to 80 pixels tall on a 1080-pixel-wide page and body text around 36 to 44 pixels. The same limits that keep an Instagram carousel readable keep a LinkedIn one readable, because both are read on the same screen.
What are LinkedIn’s limits for document posts?
LinkedIn accepts PDF, PPT, PPTX, DOC and DOCX files up to 100 MB and up to 300 pages. Those are ceilings, not targets. A carousel of ten pages at 1080 by 1350, exported as flattened images, lands between 2 and 8 MB, which uploads in seconds and opens fast on mobile data. A 60 MB PDF with embedded fonts and vector art technically works and loads slowly enough that people scroll past it.
Two more details that catch people:
- Fonts. If you export from a design tool with live text, embed the fonts or flatten each page to an image. A PDF that falls back to a default font on LinkedIn’s renderer looks like a different post.
- Links. Links inside the PDF are not clickable in the feed. Put the call to action as text on the last slide and the link in the post body.
How many pages should the carousel have?
Between six and twelve. LinkedIn shows a page counter, and people decide whether to swipe based on it: “3 of 8” invites a swipe, “3 of 42” invites a scroll. If you have more to say, that is two carousels, and the second one gets its own post and its own reach. The slide count guidance for Instagram carries over almost unchanged.
A working structure for ten pages:
- Hook: one claim or question in large type.
- Why it matters: one or two sentences.
3 to 8. One idea per page, title plus two sentences, or a three-item list. - Proof: a number, a quote or a before and after.
- Close: what to do next and your name or handle.
How do I export a LinkedIn carousel as a PDF?
You have three routes, in order of effort.
From a presentation tool. Set the slide size to 1080 by 1350 (custom size), design, export as PDF, and check the first page’s ratio. Keynote and PowerPoint default to 16:9, so change the size before you design anything.
From a design tool. Make a 1080 by 1350 page, duplicate it per slide, and export all pages as one PDF with images flattened. Most tools have a “download as PDF (print)” option that embeds fonts.
From the chat. With Karou connected to Claude or ChatGPT, the AI writes the slides and Karou renders them at 1080 pixels wide in 4:5, returning a ZIP of PNGs and a PDF in the same reply. The PDF is already one page per slide at the right ratio, with the text sized to fit each page, so it uploads to LinkedIn as is. The create tool returns both files every time; there is no separate export step.
What goes wrong most often?
- Landscape pages. The feed shows a wide thin strip and the text is unreadable. Re-export in 4:5.
- Mixed page sizes. LinkedIn takes the first page’s ratio and letterboxes the rest. Keep every page identical.
- Text too small. A slide that looks fine on a laptop screen is read at phone width. Test by looking at the PDF at 25 percent zoom; if you cannot read the body text, nobody on a phone can either.
- Hook on page two. The first page is the preview. If it says “Introduction” or shows a logo, the carousel has no hook. Put the strongest line on page one.
- A cover that promises a different post. The title on page one and the post body should say the same thing; a mismatch reads as bait.
Should I upload the same carousel to Instagram?
Yes, as PNGs rather than a PDF. Instagram takes images, LinkedIn takes documents, and a 4:5 slide set is right for both, which is why the 4:5 ratio is the one to standardize on. Carousel post ideas that work on one network usually work on the other with the caption rewritten; the hook slide and the last slide do most of the work on both.
FAQ
Can a LinkedIn carousel be square?
Yes. 1080 by 1080 reads well and is the safest choice when the same slides also go to a network that prefers square. Portrait 4:5 takes a bit more of the screen.
Does LinkedIn compress the PDF?
It re-renders each page as an image for the feed. A clean 1080-pixel-wide export survives that fine; a page full of tiny text does not.
Can I edit a document post after publishing?
You can edit the text of the post, not the PDF. To change a slide, delete and repost, which is one more reason to check the PDF at phone size before uploading.
What about video carousels?
LinkedIn’s document post is static pages only. A carousel with motion is a video post, a different format with different rules.
Get the ratio right (4:5), the page count right (six to twelve) and the first page right (a hook, not a cover), and the PDF size takes care of itself.