Instagram crops every slide in a carousel to the shape of the first slide. So if slide 1 is square and slide 2 is tall, slide 2 loses its top and bottom.
Why it happens
- A carousel has one shape for every slide.
- Instagram takes that shape from slide 1.
- It gives no error. You only see the crop on the live post.
- This is what we see on real posts. Instagram's own docs do not say it.
How to stop it
- Export every slide at the same shape before you upload.
- Lead with the shape you want. Want tall slides? Slide 1 must be tall.
- A carousel holds up to 10 photos or videos.
Which shapes Instagram takes
- Anything from tall 9:16 to wide 1.91:1.
- A photo outside that range gets cropped to fit.
- A common pick is 4:5 for every slide. 1:1 works too.
The same carousel on TikTok
- TikTok has a different rule: every photo must be the same pixel size, not just the same shape.
- So a 4:5 set for Instagram and a 9:16 set for TikTok is a normal thing to want.
- sprkly lets you upload a different photo set for each platform in one post.
What sprkly does and does not do
- sprkly never crops your photos itself.
- Compose checks your slides as you add them.
- If a slide is a different shape from slide 1, it warns you before you schedule.
Do it in sprkly: In Compose, add your slides and read the shape warning. If one shows, re-export that slide at slide 1's shape and upload it again.
Docs: sprkly docs