How to Post a Carousel on LinkedIn (There Are Two, and People Mix Them Up)
LinkedIn has two swipeable formats. Attach 2 to 9 images and you get a multi-image post, a simple photo swiper. Attach a PDF and you get a document post, which renders as a page-by-page viewer with a progress bar and a download button. When people say "LinkedIn carousel", they almost always mean the PDF one.
#Quick answer
- Multi-image post: Start a post → image icon → select 2–9 images → Post.
- Document post (the real carousel): Start a post → document icon → upload a PDF → give it a title → Post.
- PDF limits: up to 300 pages and 100 MB.
- Which do I want? PDF, if you are making a slide deck. Images, if you are showing photos.
- Can I mix images and a PDF? No. One or the other.
#The difference in one table
| Multi-image post | Document post | |
|---|---|---|
| What you upload | 2–9 image files | 1 PDF |
| How it looks | Photo swiper | Page viewer with progress bar |
| Page/slide ceiling | 9 | 300 |
| Size ceiling | Per-image | 100 MB total |
| Has a title | No | Yes, shown above the viewer |
| Readers can download it | No | Yes |
| Usual use | Photos, screenshots, an event | Slide decks, guides, teardowns |
The download button is the part people forget. A document post is a file you are handing out, not just something to scroll. That is exactly why it works for a checklist or a template and badly for holiday photos.
#How to post a PDF carousel
- Click Start a post.
- Click the document icon in the composer.
- Upload your PDF.
- Give it a title — this appears above the viewer and is the first thing people read.
- Write your post text.
- Click Post.
The title field is not optional decoration. It sits on the document itself in the feed, so "Untitled" or "deck-final-v3" is a wasted line of prime real estate.
#How to post a multi-image carousel
- Click Start a post.
- Click the image icon.
- Select between 2 and 9 images at once.
- Reorder them if needed, add alt text, write your post.
- Click Post.
Select one image and you get a normal single-image post. Select two or more and LinkedIn switches it to the swipeable layout automatically — there is no separate "make this a carousel" control.
#The limits, exactly
| Constraint | Value |
|---|---|
| PDF pages | 300 maximum |
| PDF file size | 100 MB maximum |
| Images in a multi-image post | 2–9 |
| Videos per post | 1 |
| Mixing formats | Not allowed — images, video and documents are mutually exclusive |
Three hundred pages is far more than anyone should use. A carousel that works is usually 8 to 12 slides. The ceiling matters only because exports from design tools occasionally include hidden pages and push a file over a limit you did not know existed.
#Making the PDF
You do not need special software. Any tool that exports PDF works — Canva, Figma, Keynote, Google Slides, PowerPoint.
Two things that consistently matter more than the tool:
- Design for a square-ish frame. The viewer is not widescreen. A 16:9 deck renders small and unreadable on a phone. 1:1 or 4:5 uses the space you actually get.
- One idea per page. People swipe fast. A page that needs re-reading gets skipped instead.
Export at a sane resolution. A 90 MB PDF of ten slides means something has embedded full-size images, and it will be slow to open on mobile.
#Scheduling a carousel
Both formats can be scheduled through LinkedIn's own composer — build the post, then use the clock icon before publishing.
If you are automating it, note that a PDF is a third kind of media, not a large image, and tools that only model "photo" and "video" cannot post one at all. Schedule & Chill treats a PDF as its own media type and enforces the 300-page and 100 MB ceilings before the post is sent, so a document post fails at upload time rather than at publish time. It is free, and it also posts to Bluesky, Mastodon and YouTube.
#Frequently Asked Questions
How do I post a carousel on LinkedIn? Click Start a post, click the document icon, upload a PDF, give it a title, then post. That produces the page-by-page carousel most people mean. For a photo swiper, use the image icon and select 2 to 9 images instead.
What is the difference between a LinkedIn carousel and a multi-image post? A carousel is a PDF document post — it has a title, a progress bar, a download button, and takes up to 300 pages. A multi-image post is 2 to 9 photos with none of those things.
How many slides can a LinkedIn carousel have? Up to 300 pages in the PDF, though effective carousels are usually 8 to 12.
What is the maximum file size for a LinkedIn document post? 100 MB.
What size should a LinkedIn carousel be? Square (1:1) or portrait (4:5) render best, because the viewer is not widescreen and most readers are on a phone. A 16:9 deck comes out small.
Can I mix images and a PDF in one LinkedIn post? No. Images, video and documents are mutually exclusive — one post carries one media type.
Can I schedule a LinkedIn carousel? Yes, through the clock icon in LinkedIn's composer, or through any tool that supports PDF document posts.
#Where to go next
Zakir Hossen
Founder of Schedule & Chill. Bootstrapped entrepreneur and software engineer.
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