How to Export Your Own Canva Carousel for LinkedIn
LinkedIn carousels are PDF document posts, not separate images. Here is the exact Canva export workflow for your own design, plus the size and file limits that matter.
By Syed Ali Hamza Shah · · 5 min read
You designed a carousel in Canva. Now you need it on LinkedIn, and LinkedIn does not work like Instagram. On Instagram, a carousel is a set of separate images uploaded in swipe order. On LinkedIn, a carousel is a document post: you upload one multi-page file, and LinkedIn turns each page into a swipeable slide. Export the wrong file type and you will either get a single flat image or a broken upload. Here is the exact workflow for your own Canva design.
Step 1: set the slide size before you export
LinkedIn does not publish an official pixel size for carousels. It publishes file limits, and the sizes everyone uses are the industry standard that matches how the mobile feed displays images: 1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5 portrait) for maximum screen space, or 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1 square) for a tidy desktop frame.
The rule that matters more than the exact pixels is consistency. Every page in your file must be the same size. LinkedIn fits PDFs with mixed page sizes to one page size before upload, which is how text gets cropped on the odd slide out. If your Canva design mixes sizes, fix that in Canva first, not after export.
If you are starting a new design in Canva, set a custom size of 1080 × 1350 before designing anything. If the design already exists at another size, resize it in Canva and check every slide for cropped text before exporting. A carousel that looks fine in Canva and broken on LinkedIn almost always broke at this step.
Step 2: export as one PDF, not separate images
In Canva, click Share, then Download. Set the file type to PDF Standard, not PDF Print, unless you have a specific reason to use print settings. PDF Standard keeps the file smaller and renders reliably on LinkedIn. Download all pages, not a page range, unless you are deliberately splitting the deck.
Do not choose PNG or JPG here. That is the Instagram workflow, where separate images are exactly what you want. For LinkedIn, separate images uploaded as a normal post will not become a swipeable carousel. The document post is what makes the swipe happen, and the document is a PDF.
Check the finished file before you upload it. Open the PDF and swipe through every page. Check for cropped headlines, text that runs off the edge, and any slide that looks different from the rest. LinkedIn converts each page to an image, so what you see in the PDF is very close to what readers will see, and a flaw you catch here costs nothing to fix.
Step 3: check the file limits
LinkedIn's document post limits are generous, but they are hard limits. A file over 100 MB is rejected. A file over 300 pages is rejected. Most carousels should be nowhere near either limit: a strong LinkedIn carousel is usually 5 to 10 slides, and a file that large is almost always a sign of uncompressed images rather than good content.
If your PDF is unexpectedly large, the usual cause is full-resolution photos on every slide. Compress the images in Canva before exporting, or export at a lower resolution, and re-check that text is still crisp at phone size. Body text below about 24 points, or headlines that only read at full screen, will vanish on a phone feed.
Step 4: upload it as a document post
On LinkedIn, start a post, choose Add a document, and upload your PDF. Do not upload it as images, and do not paste a link to the Canva file and expect a carousel. The document upload is the step that creates the swipeable format.
The document title you type during upload is not a throwaway filename. It appears above the carousel in the feed, so it is the second thing readers see after your post copy. Give it the same care as a headline: specific, promising a payoff, and matched to the post copy above it. A title like "presentation-final-v3" wastes that space.
Write a short caption that introduces the carousel and tells readers what they will get by swiping, then post. LinkedIn turns each PDF page into a slide, in order, and readers swipe through it in the feed.
The Instagram version, for comparison
If you also want this carousel on Instagram, that is a second export, not a reuse of the LinkedIn file. For Instagram, go back to Canva, Share, Download, choose PNG or JPG, and check the option to download pages as separate files. That gives you one image per slide, in swipe order, ready to upload as an Instagram carousel. The LinkedIn PDF and the Instagram images are two exports of the same design, built for two different formats, and confusing them is the most common export mistake.
Quick checklist
- Slide size: 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080, and the same on every slide.
- LinkedIn export: one multi-page PDF, PDF Standard, all pages.
- File limits: under 100 MB, under 300 pages, aim for 5 to 10 slides.
- Upload: Add a document on LinkedIn, with a real document title, not a filename.
- Instagram, separately: PNG or JPG, pages as separate files.
Design once, export twice, and each platform gets the file format it actually wants. That is the whole trick, and it is why a carousel that looks perfect in Canva can still fail on LinkedIn: the design was right, the export was for the wrong platform.