How to Make a Continuous Instagram Post

Thinking about how to create those super engaging, swipeable panoramic posts on your Instagram feed? You're in the right place. These continuous images don't just look cool, they’re a powerful way to get people to stop scrolling and spend more time with your content. This guide breaks down exactly how to plan, create, and post a seamless Instagram carousel, step by step, using tools you probably already have.

What’s a Continuous Instagram Post, Anyway?

A continuous Instagram post, often called a seamless carousel or panorama, is a single wide image that has been sliced into multiple square or portrait-sized pieces. When you upload these pieces as a carousel post, users can swipe through them, creating the illusion of a single, continuous image. Think of it like a mini-mural on your feed that unfolds as your audience engages with it.

It's an amazing technique for showcasing wide landscape photos, detailed infographics, group shots where no one gets cropped out, or even for telling a visual story that flows from one frame to the next. The effect is visually striking and encourages the swipe - one of the best forms of engagement on the platform.

Three Big Reasons to Start Making Them

If you're wondering if these are worth the extra effort, here are a few reasons why the answer is a definite "yes":

• They Stop the Scroll: A standard photo can be easily scrolled past. But a post that clearly continues off-screen sparks curiosity. People naturally want to see what comes next, which makes them stop and engage.
• They Boost Engagement: The Instagram algorithm loves it when users spend more time on a post. Every swipe on your carousel signals to the algorithm that your content is valuable. This can lead to increased reach and better performance for your post overall.
• They Unleash Your Creativity: This format is perfect for more than just wide photos. You can create compelling tutorials, before-and-after reveals, tell a sequential story, or break down a complex idea into digestible visual steps. It gives you a much larger canvas to work with.

Step 1: Get Your Dimensions Right

Before you even open a design tool, you need to do a little bit of planning. The success of a continuous post comes down to getting the math right from the start. Fail here, and your images won’t line up, ruining the seamless effect.

It’s All About the Math

An Instagram post can have up to 10 slides. The key is to calculate the total width of your master image based on how many slides you want. The standard width for a single Instagram post is 1080 pixels.

For height, you have two great options:

• Square (1080px): Total canvas size is (1080px × number of slides) wide by 1080px tall.
• Portrait (1350px): Total canvas size is (1080px × number of slides) wide by 1350px tall.

We strongly recommend using the portrait height (1350px). It takes up more screen real estate on a mobile phone, making your post more impactful and harder to ignore.

Common Canvas Sizes (for Portrait Posts)

• 2 Slides: 2160px wide by 1350px tall
• 3 Slides: 3240px wide by 1350px tall
• 4 Slides: 4320px wide by 1350px tall
• 5 Slides: 5400px wide by 1350px tall

Decide on the number of slides you want, and use these dimensions for your starting canvas. For this tutorial, we’ll use a 3-slide portrait post (3240px by 1350px) as our main example.

Step 2: Design and Slice Your Masterpiece

Once you have your canvas size, it’s time to design your panoramic image. The tools you use will determine how you slice it into separate files for uploading. Here are two popular methods.

Method 1: Using Canva (The Go-To for Most Creators)

Canva is a fantastic and user-friendly tool for this. While it doesn't have an automatic "slice" button, the workaround is simple and straightforward.

1. Create Your Custom Canvas: On the Canva home screen, click "Create a design" and select "Custom size." Enter your calculated dimensions. For our example, that’s 3240px width and 1350px height.
2. Set Up Guides: Guides are a lifesaver for seeing where your slides will split. Go to File > View settings > Show rulers and guides. Now, you can click on the vertical ruler on the left and drag a guide onto your canvas. Place guides at the 1080px mark and the 2160px mark. These lines show you exactly where the first, second, and third slides begin and end.
3. Design Your Post: Now for the fun part! Add your images, text, and graphics across the entire canvas. Use the guides to make sure you don't place anything important (like a person's face or critical text) right on a split. Think about creating elements that flow across the guides to really emphasize the seamless effect. For example, a wavy line or an arrow that starts in slide one and ends in slide two can powerfully encourage people to swipe.
4. Download the Full Image: Once you love your design, click "Share," then "Download." Choose either PNG or JPG format and download the entire 3240 x 1350px image to your computer.
5. Slice Your Image (Using a Free Tool): Since Canva doesn't slice, you'll need one more quick step. Use a free, web-based tool like PineTools' "Split Image" feature.
   • Upload your master image.
   • Select "Horizontally" to split the image vertically.
   • Set the "Quantity of blocks" to 3 (or however many slides you designed for).
   • Click the "Split image!" button. It will generate your perfectly sliced pieces, ready to be downloaded as separate files.

And that’s it! You now have three separate files that will line up perfectly side-by-side.

Method 2: Using Adobe Photoshop (For Precision and Control)

If you're comfortable with Photoshop, the process is even more integrated and gives you more professional control.

1. Create a New Document: Go to File > New and enter your dimensions (e.g., width 3240 pixels, height 1350 pixels).
2. Use the Slice Tool: This is where Photoshop makes it easy. Go to View > Guides > New Guide Layout. In the pop-up, you can create columns. Check the "Columns" box, set the "Number" to 3, and ensure the "Gutter" is set to 0. This overlays perfect guidelines on your canvas.
3. Create Your Slices Automatically: Select the Slice Tool (it might be hiding under the Crop Tool - just right-click it). At the top tool options bar, click the "Slices from Guides" button. Photoshop will instantly create three perfect 1080 x 1350px slices along the guides you just made.
4. Design Your Post: Add your creative elements. Because the slices are already defined, you can work with complete confidence, seeing exactly how the final slides will look as you design.
5. Export for Web: This is the most important step. Don't just save the file. Go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy).
   • In the settings window, choose your format (JPG is usually best for photos).
   • Make sure the setting at the bottom is for "All Slices."
   • Click "Save." Photoshop will automatically export each slice as a separate, sequentially numbered image (e.g., my-post-01.jpg, my-post-02.jpg).

Step 3: Putting It All Together on Instagram

You’ve done the hard work. Now, all that’s left is to post your creation.

1. Transfer the sliced images to your phone.
2. Open Instagram and tap the "+" icon to create a new post.
3. Tap the icon for "Select Multiple."
4. This is the important part: Tap your sliced images in the correct order: left to right (slide 1, then slide 2, then slide 3). Instagram will show numbers on the thumbnails to help you confirm the order.
5. Tap "Next." You can now preview the swipeable carousel. Slide through it to make sure everything lines up as you intended.
6. Write a compelling caption. It’s a great idea to add a call-to-action in your caption like, "Swipe left to see the full picture!" This explicitly tells users that there's more to see.
7. Post and watch the engagement roll in!

Final Thoughts

Creating a continuous Instagram post is a surefire way to make your content stand out and encourage longer, more meaningful engagement from your audience. It just takes a little planning with your dimensions and a design tool like Canva or Photoshop to slice it all up before posting.

Once your show-stopping carousels are ready, getting them scheduled and published without a hitch is the final piece of the puzzle. At Postbase, we built our visual calendar specifically for content like this, allowing you to easily plan and schedule multi-image posts and see exactly how they fit into your overall strategy. It’s all about making your workflow simpler, so you can spend less time managing your posts and more time creating beautiful content that connects with people.