How to make a continuous carousel in an image editor

What do you need for a continuous carousel?

A design tool that lets you set a custom canvas size and place guides, such as a desktop image editor or an online design tool. Menu names differ, so the steps below describe the method and not the buttons. You also need a source image or a design that is wide enough, and a way to move the exported files to your phone.

How do you build it, step by step?

1. Create a new document at the full canvas size, in pixels, at 72 dpi.
2. Add vertical guides at 1,080, 2,160 and so on, one at each fold.
3. Place your photo or background so it covers the whole canvas.
4. Design across the guides, keeping words and faces off them.
5. Export the canvas as slices, one 1,080 px wide piece per panel, as PNG or high-quality JPEG.
6. Rename the files 01, 02, 03 so they sort in order, then send them to your phone.

What goes wrong with the manual method?

Rounding and naming. If your canvas is 4,319 px instead of 4,320, the last slice is one pixel short, and the editor may stretch or pad it, which puts a hairline at a fold. If the files sort as 1, 10, 2, 3, you will post them in the wrong order. Another trap is transferring the files by a chat app that compresses them, which softens the picture before the social app does. And designers often forget the 3:4 crop in the profile grid, so the cover text gets trimmed.

How do you transfer the files to the phone?

AirDrop keeps the files at full quality and puts them in Photos, though the order depends on how they arrive, so sort by date added and check. Cloud drives work too, as long as you use the original file option. Avoid messaging apps and mail previews that resize images. After the transfer, open each slice and check the dimensions, which should all read 1080 pixels wide.

How do you check the seams before posting?

Put the slices side by side in an album and swipe through them on the phone in order. Look at the horizon, the edges of objects and any text at the folds. If you see a step or a gap, fix the canvas and re-export. A phone app does this check for you. Seamfold's swipe test pages through the panels the way followers see them, and its seam check flags text on a fold.

When is a phone app the quicker route?

When the source is a photo already on your phone and you want to avoid the transfer. In an app such as Seamfold you pick the photo, choose a ratio, check the panel count and save the panels straight to Photos in order. The panels are views of one spread, so every cut lands on the same pixel without you computing it. The splitter page explains the method. A desktop tool still wins when you need heavy retouching, layers or brand templates.

How do you design a picture that survives the cut?

Think of the canvas as one long poster that will be viewed through a moving window. The window shows 1080 px at a time, so anything that matters should be at least a hand's width from each fold. Large objects crossing a fold are a feature, because they pull the viewer across. Small details crossing a fold are a risk, because a gap or a slight shift makes them look broken.

Use leading lines, such as a road, a rail or a horizon, to carry the eye from one slide to the next. These are standard devices from composition in the visual arts, and they work well on a wide canvas. Put the focal point in the middle of a slide and let the transitions between slides be quieter.

Which file format should you export?

PNG for graphics, text and flat colors, and a high-quality JPEG for photographs. PNG files are larger, but they do not add compression damage before the social app applies its own. Export at exactly 1080 px wide per slice, no larger. A wider file is scaled down by the social app and gains nothing. If your tool offers a quality slider for JPEG, keep it high and avoid saving the same file twice.

What about online design tools?

Most online design tools can create a custom size and show rulers or guides, so the same canvas math applies. Some also have templates for continuous carousels, where a long page is laid out in ready-made sections. When you export, check whether the tool gives you separate slides or one long image. If it gives one long image, you still have to cut it, and a splitter does that in a minute. Menus and plans on these sites change often, so check the current options before you rely on a feature.

How long does the manual route take?

For a first project, expect half an hour: setting up the canvas, placing the image, adding guides, exporting and moving the files. Once you have a saved template with the guides in place, the work shrinks to about ten minutes, most of it design. The slow part is usually the transfer and the check on the phone. If you make carousels every week, keep one template per panel count and ratio, and name the export folder after the date, so the files never get mixed with an older set.

A checklist for the manual route

• The canvas is an exact multiple of 1,080 px.
• Guides sit at every multiple of 1,080 px.
• No word or face touches a guide.
• The slices are named in order.
• The files reached the phone without compression.
• You swiped through the set once before posting.