social-media-carousel

name	social-media-carousel
description	Multi-slide carousel design for Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X with layout rules and hooks. Covers slide structure, text hierarchy, swipe psychology, and platform-specific specs. Use for: carousel posts, Instagram carousels, LinkedIn carousels, slide posts, educational content. Triggers: carousel, instagram carousel, linkedin carousel, slide post, carousel design, swipe post, multi-image post, carousel template, educational carousel, carousel content, instagram slides, linkedin slides
allowed-tools	Bash(belt *)

Install the belt CLI skill: npx skills add belt-sh/cli

Social Media Carousel

Design high-engagement carousel posts via inference.sh CLI.

Quick Start

Requires inference.sh CLI (belt). Install instructions

belt login

# Generate a carousel slide
belt app run infsh/html-to-image --input '{
  "html": "<div style=\"width:1080px;height:1080px;background:#0f172a;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;padding:80px;font-family:system-ui;color:white;text-align:center\"><div><p style=\"font-size:24px;color:#818cf8;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:3px\">5 Rules for</p><h1 style=\"font-size:64px;margin:16px 0;font-weight:900;line-height:1.1\">Writing Headlines That Convert</h1><p style=\"font-size:22px;opacity:0.5;margin-top:24px\">Swipe →</p></div></div>"
}'

Platform Specs

Platform	Dimensions	Slides	Aspect Ratios
Instagram	1080 x 1080 px	Up to 20	1:1 (default), 4:5, 16:9
LinkedIn	1080 x 1080 px or 1080 x 1350	Up to 20	1:1, 4:5
Twitter/X	1080 x 1080 px	Up to 4	1:1, 16:9
Facebook	1080 x 1080 px	Up to 10	1:1, 4:5

Use 1080 x 1350 (4:5) on Instagram and LinkedIn — takes up more screen real estate in the feed than square.

Carousel Structure

The 7-Slide Framework

Slide	Purpose	Content
1	Hook	Bold claim, question, or promise — stops the scroll
2	Context	Why this matters, set up the problem
3-6	Value	One point per slide, numbered
7	CTA	Follow, save, share, comment, visit link

Slide 1: The Hook

The most important slide. If this fails, nobody swipes.

Hook Type	Example
Bold claim	"90% of landing pages make this mistake"
Question	"Why do your ads get clicks but no conversions?"
Number + promise	"7 Python tricks I wish I learned sooner"
Contrarian	"Stop writing blog posts (do this instead)"
Before/after	Show transformation

# Hook slide
belt app run infsh/html-to-image --input '{
  "html": "<div style=\"width:1080px;height:1350px;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#1e1b4b,#312e81);display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;padding:80px;font-family:system-ui;color:white;text-align:center\"><div><h1 style=\"font-size:72px;font-weight:900;line-height:1.15;margin:0\">90% of Landing Pages Make This Mistake</h1><p style=\"font-size:28px;opacity:0.6;margin-top:32px\">Swipe to find out →</p></div></div>"
}'

Slides 2-6: Content Slides

One point per slide. Never cram multiple ideas.

# Content slide template
belt app run infsh/html-to-image --input '{
  "html": "<div style=\"width:1080px;height:1350px;background:#1e1b4b;padding:80px;font-family:system-ui;color:white;display:flex;flex-direction:column;justify-content:center\"><div><p style=\"font-size:120px;font-weight:900;color:#818cf8;margin:0;line-height:1\">01</p><h2 style=\"font-size:48px;margin:24px 0 16px;font-weight:800;line-height:1.2\">Your headline is too vague</h2><p style=\"font-size:26px;opacity:0.8;line-height:1.6\">\"Welcome to our platform\" tells the visitor nothing. Lead with the outcome: \"Ship docs in minutes, not days.\"</p></div></div>"
}'

Slide 7: CTA Slide

# CTA slide
belt app run infsh/html-to-image --input '{
  "html": "<div style=\"width:1080px;height:1350px;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#312e81,#1e1b4b);display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;padding:80px;font-family:system-ui;color:white;text-align:center\"><div><h2 style=\"font-size:56px;font-weight:900;margin:0;line-height:1.2\">Found this useful?</h2><p style=\"font-size:32px;opacity:0.8;margin-top:24px;line-height:1.5\">Save this post for later 🔖<br>Follow for more tips</p><p style=\"font-size:24px;opacity:0.4;margin-top:40px\">@yourusername</p></div></div>"
}'

Design Rules

Text Hierarchy

Element	Size (at 1080px)	Weight
Slide number	96-120px	Black (900)
Heading	48-64px	Bold (700-800)
Body text	24-28px	Regular (400)
Caption/tag	18-22px	Medium (500)

Readability

Rule	Value
Max words per slide	30-40
Max lines of body text	4-5
Line height	1.5-1.6
Font	Sans-serif (Inter, Montserrat, Poppins)
Text contrast	4.5:1 minimum (WCAG AA)

Visual Consistency

Element	Keep Consistent Across All Slides
Background color/gradient	Same palette, slight variations OK
Font family	Same font throughout
Text alignment	Same position (left or center)
Margins/padding	Same spacing
Accent color	Same highlight color
Numbering style	Same format (01, 02 or 1., 2.)

Carousel Types

Educational / Tips

Slide 1: "5 CSS tricks you need to know"
Slide 2: Trick 1 with code example
Slide 3: Trick 2 with code example
...
Slide 6: Trick 5 with code example
Slide 7: "Follow for more dev tips"

Storytelling / Case Study

Slide 1: "How we grew from 0 to $1M ARR"
Slide 2: The beginning (context)
Slide 3: The challenge
Slide 4: What we tried (failed)
Slide 5: What worked
Slide 6: The result (numbers)
Slide 7: Key takeaway + CTA

Before / After

Slide 1: "I redesigned this landing page"
Slide 2: Before screenshot
Slide 3: Problem 1 annotated
Slide 4: After screenshot
Slide 5: Improvement 1 explained
Slide 6: Results (conversion lift)
Slide 7: "Want a review? DM me"

Listicle / Tools

Slide 1: "10 tools every designer needs in 2025"
Slides 2-6: 2 tools per slide with logo + one-liner
Slide 7: "Save this for later 🔖"

Swipe Psychology

Principle	Application
Curiosity gap	Hook promises value that requires swiping
Numbered progress	"3/7" creates completion drive
Visual continuity	Consistent design signals "there's more"
Increasing value	Best tip last — rewards completing
Swipe cue	Arrow or "Swipe →" on slide 1

Batch Generation

# Generate all slides for a carousel
for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7; do
  belt app run infsh/html-to-image --input "{
    \"html\": \"<div style='width:1080px;height:1350px;background:#1e1b4b;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;padding:80px;font-family:system-ui;color:white'><div style='text-align:center'><p style='font-size:28px;opacity:0.5'>Slide $i of 7</p></div></div>\"
  }" --no-wait
done

AI-Generated Carousel Visuals

# Generate illustrations for each slide
belt app run falai/flux-dev-lora --input '{
  "prompt": "minimal flat illustration, person at desk with laptop, clean modern style, simple shapes, limited color palette purple and blue tones, white background, icon style",
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1080
}'

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
Weak hook (slide 1)	Nobody swipes	Bold claim, question, or number + promise
Too much text per slide	Overwhelming, stops reading	Max 30-40 words per slide
No visual consistency	Looks like different posts	Same colors, fonts, margins throughout
No swipe indicator	People don't realize there's more	Add "Swipe →" or arrow on slide 1
No CTA on last slide	Missed engagement opportunity	Ask to save, follow, share, or comment
Inconsistent numbering	Feels disorganized	Same number format on every content slide
Cramming 2+ ideas per slide	Hard to digest	One point per slide, always
Square format on Instagram	Wastes feed real estate	Use 1080x1350 (4:5) for more visibility

Related Skills

npx skills add inference-sh/skills@ai-image-generation
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@content-repurposing
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@linkedin-content

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