What Size Should a TikTok Carousel Be?
TikTok photo carousels are 1080 x 1920 pixels, 9:16 vertical. Here is the short answer, what happens if you use another ratio, and how Instagram differs.
A TikTok photo carousel is 1080 × 1920 pixels, 9:16 vertical. That is the same full-screen frame as a TikTok video, and every slide in the set should use it.
Carousels in PXT Creator Studio open at 9:16 by default, so if you start from a template or the AI outliner you are already at the right size and there is nothing to configure.
Why you see other numbers recommended
TikTok accepts square and 4:5 images. It just doesn't display them full screen. Upload a square slide and TikTok scales it to fit inside the 9:16 frame and pads the rest, so your design sits in a band across the middle with dead space above and below.
So the useful distinction isn't what TikTok allows, it's what fills the screen. Only 9:16 does.
Don't mix ratios inside one carousel
This matters more than picking the "wrong" ratio in the first place. If slide one is 9:16 and slide two is square, the frame resizes under the reader as they swipe, and the whole set feels broken.
Pick one size for the carousel and use it on every slide. PXT keeps every slide in a carousel at the same dimensions, so this can't happen by accident.
What about Instagram?
It depends which surface you're posting to, which is why the advice you find online conflicts:
| Surface | Size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok carousel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Instagram Stories | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Instagram Reels | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| Instagram feed carousel | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
The first three are identical, so a carousel built in PXT can be reused across all of them without resizing.
The Instagram feed is the exception. A feed carousel is 4:5, and posting a 9:16 slide there crops the top and bottom of your design, which is usually where the headline sits. PXT is built for the 9:16 vertical formats, so if the feed is your main destination you'll want to design for 4:5 elsewhere.
Size isn't usually what ruins a carousel
Getting to 1080 × 1920 is the easy part. What catches most people is TikTok's interface sitting on top of the slide and covering the text. See Why Your Slide Text Is Getting Cut Off for the safe zone, and our full write-up at TikTok Carousel Size: The Only Dimensions You Need for the longer version.
New to the editor? Start with How to Create Your First Carousel.