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Edits is branching out beyond video clips. Instagram has added a carousel editor to the app on iOS, with an Android version still to come. Creators can arrange photos and videos into swipeable slides and carry their existing presets across to the new format.
Source: Instagram's carousel-editor promotional image, supplied in launch coverage by PetaPixel; this is not a screenshot from our own test.
The Carousel option is in Projects
Open the plus menu in Projects to find Carousel. The editor brings together media, text, layouts and stickers. In Instagram's promotional demonstration, a picture stretches across the boundaries between slides. The design is meant to be read through a swipe, rather than as a stack of unrelated images.
Creators do not have to rebuild their presets
The company's launch explanation, quoted by PetaPixel, says existing presets work here too. Image and video adjustments, colors, audio and text styles can be carried over. For someone maintaining a regular visual style, that removes the need to select those treatments afresh for every carousel.
This is not overview of Instagram's formats explains the distinction for anyone less familiar with the platform.
Publish now or save the finished carousel
A finished carousel can go straight from Edits to Instagram. It can also be downloaded for posting later. The latter is the useful route when someone else has to approve the post, or when editing and publishing are separate jobs. There is no need to publish merely because the design is finished.
Give the opening slide its own check
Our recommendation is to check both the whole sequence and the first slide alone. A headline that carries over an edge may look complete in the editor's wide canvas but reveal only part of itself at the start. Make sure the opening still explains the post; the rest only appears after the viewer swipes.
Our report on Instagram's editing and reach guidance for Reels covers video, where the opening also needs planning. That does not make the formats interchangeable, or promise extra reach for using the new editor. These are workflow suggestions, not results from an independent test.
iOS users can look for Carousel in an updated copy of Edits. Android users will have to wait: the announcement says support is coming soon, without giving them a release date.
