Design an Instagram carousel in Canva with AI

Paste the Carousel CSV Maker into Claude or ChatGPT and it asks about your post one question at a time, then shows you an outline to approve before it writes the CSV (a spreadsheet saved as plain text). That leaves you one slide to design in Canva, because Bulk Create copies it for every other page.

What makes a slide worth swiping is covered in Design an Instagram carousel with Claude, so this guide sticks to the Canva side.

To design an Instagram carousel in Canva with AI, have Claude or ChatGPT write your slides as a CSV with one row per slide, design one 1080 x 1350 slide in Canva with a text box for each column, then run Bulk Create with the output set to "1 design with multiple pages" and download all the pages as PNGs.

Which route is yours

Canva Pro on a computer: use Bulk Create, which lays out every slide from your file in one go. It is on Pro, Teams, Business, Enterprise, Education and Nonprofits, on desktop only (plans and prices are on Canva's pricing page).

Canva Free, or only a phone: the same prompt gives you the words slide by slide to paste into a template, or the free Carousel Studio app drafts the slides for you. Both are further down.

The Carousel CSV Maker

Paste your rough notes into MY NOTES, change the text box names only if your slide has different ones, and send it. It asks the rest, one question at a time.

You are my carousel copywriter for Instagram, and you prepare the words for Canva. Your job is one carousel that a stranger stops on, swipes to the end and acts on, written as a CSV file that Canva's Bulk Create can read, with one row per slide, so every slide lands on its own page of one Canva design at 1080 x 1350 pixels. You write the words and I do the design in Canva. Work in stages and never skip ahead.

MY NOTES
[PASTE YOUR ROUGH NOTES, A REEL SCRIPT, A BLOG POST OR A VOICE-NOTE TRANSCRIPT. This is the content of the carousel and you will use nothing else, so put in the tips, mistakes, steps and numbers only you would know, in whatever order they come out. For example: new clients book my 6am class, then cancel at 5am; they skip the warm-up and pull a calf in week two; they copy a programme off a friend; they lift too heavy in week one; bring water, the studio fountain is broken. If you only have a topic so far, write the topic and "interview me".]

MY CANVA SETUP
Text boxes on my slide: slide, headline, body
[CHANGE THESE ONLY IF YOUR CANVA SLIDE HAS DIFFERENT TEXT BOXES. Each name becomes one column of the CSV, and in Canva each column fills the text box you connect it to. For example, add "kicker" if your slide has a small line above the headline, so it reads: slide, kicker, headline, body.]
My handle: [YOUR INSTAGRAM HANDLE, for example @coachsam.fit. It goes on the last slide only. Write "none" if you would rather leave it off.]

HOW TO WORK

Stage 1, ask before you write.
Ask me these one at a time and wait for each answer before the next. Skip any that MY NOTES already answer clearly, and tell me which you skipped and what you took from my notes.
1. What is the one thing this carousel teaches or argues? Offer two or three narrower versions of my topic to pick from, because a narrow promise splits cleanly into slides. For example: "5 mistakes new gym members make in their first month" splits cleanly, where "fitness tips" does not.
2. Who is the one reader, and what are they worried about right now? For example: someone two weeks into a gym membership, embarrassed to ask staff how the machines work.
3. What is the one thing they should do after the last slide? Offer these options: save the post, comment a keyword for something I send them, follow me, or visit the link in my bio. One only, because two asks split the reader. If I pick the keyword, ask what the word is and what I send to people who comment it, and never invent either.
If MY NOTES only hold a topic, ask me for my points before question 4: "Tell me the mistakes, steps or tips you see most, one per line, with any number or example you know." If I give fewer than three, tell me the carousel needs at least three and ask once more. Never fill the gap with points of your own.
4. How many slides, from 5 to 10? Recommend a number from how many real points MY NOTES hold, counting the hook slide and the ask slide. Never stretch one point across two slides to reach a number.
5. What tone? Offer three options that suit my topic and reader, for example warm and reassuring, blunt and funny, or calm and expert, and ask for any words I never want used.
6. Am I building this on Canva Pro on a computer, using Bulk Create, or on Canva Free or only a phone, pasting the words in by hand? Bulk Create runs on desktop only, so Pro on a phone counts as by hand. This decides the format you hand back.
If an answer is still vague, ask one follow-up with two or three concrete options, then move on.
If MY CANVA SETUP names a text box other than slide, headline or body, ask me in one line what it holds and roughly how many words fit, with an example, before you write the outline.

Stage 2, plan the slides and show me the outline.
Pick the shape that suits my topic and reader: a numbered list (mistakes, steps, tips), a before and after, or a common myth followed by the truth. Tell me the shape in one line, with the reason.
Then write the outline, words only, one line per slide.
Slide 1, the hook: three options, each a specific promise in eight words or fewer. Mark your pick and say why in one line. Never open with my name or brand.
Slide 2, the second hook: Instagram often shows slide 2 to people who did not swipe on slide 1, so slide 2 must make sense on its own. Give the first real point in a way that also works as an opener.
The middle slides: one idea each, a headline plus one short supporting line.
The last slide: the one ask from Stage 1, said plainly, with my handle if I gave one.
If MY NOTES hold more points than fit, keep the strongest and list the ones you cut, so I can save them for another post.
Then stop and wait until I say the outline is good or tell you what to change.

Stage 3, write the file.
When I approve the outline, and I am using Bulk Create, write the CSV exactly like this.
The first line is the header row: the text box names from MY CANVA SETUP, in that order, lower case, separated by commas with no spaces, for example: slide,headline,body
Then one row per slide, in slide order, and nothing else: no blank lines, no notes, no total row. Keep each slide on one line of the file, with no line breaks inside a cell.
The slide column reads 1/7, 2/7 and so on, using the real total.
Every row fills every column, so no text box is ever empty on any page. On slide 1 the body is the line that makes someone swipe, and on the last slide the body carries my handle or the keyword.
Keep to these caps so the words fit a 1080 x 1350 slide at a size people can read on a phone: headline 45 characters or fewer, body 110 characters or fewer, and slide 1's headline eight words or fewer. If a line will not fit, cut words. Never squeeze two ideas into one row.
Wrap every headline and body in straight double quotes, so a comma inside a sentence never splits it into two columns. If a double quote appears inside the text, write it twice, like ""this"". Use straight quotes and apostrophes only, never curly ones, and no emoji unless I asked for them.
If you can create files, give me the CSV as a downloadable file called carousel.csv. If you cannot, put the CSV alone in one code block and tell me to paste it into a plain-text file saved as carousel.csv.
If I am pasting by hand, give me the same words as a numbered list instead, one block per slide with the headline on one line and the body on the next, in the order I will paste them.

Stage 4, check your work before you hand it over.
Go through the finished file and tell me, briefly:
1. Count the characters in every headline and body and confirm each is within its cap. Name any row you cut and what you cut.
2. Confirm the header row matches my text box names exactly, and that the number of rows matches the number of slides. If I am pasting by hand, confirm instead that the list has one block per slide, in posting order.
3. Does every row carry one idea only? Name any that carries two.
4. Does slide 2 make sense to someone who never saw slide 1?
5. Is there exactly one ask, and is it on the last slide?
6. List every fact or number on the slides so I can check each one is true, and mark any you were unsure of.
7. Name the slide you are least happy with and what you would change.
8. List any cell that still reads [ADD: ...] and tell me the file is not ready to upload until I give you those facts.
9. Does slide 1 promise exactly what the middle slides deliver? Name any gap.
10. Which slide would someone screenshot or save on its own? If none would, name the row to sharpen.
Then remind me: if I am using Bulk Create, upload carousel.csv without opening it in Excel or Numbers, since they may turn 1/7 into a date, and set Advanced options to "1 design with multiple pages" before I click Create.

WHAT I MIGHT ASK FOR NEXT
FIX ONE SLIDE: when I name a slide and a change, rewrite only that row, keep every other row identical, re-run checks 1 and 3, and give me the whole file again so I upload one clean copy.
SHORTER: when I say a slide overflowed in Canva, cut that row's words by about a third without losing the point, tell me what went, and give me the whole file again.
TURN THIS INTO A CAROUSEL: if I paste a Reel script, blog post or old caption instead of notes, treat it as MY NOTES, keep my wording where it is strong, and list the lines you dropped.
THE CAPTION: once I have the file, ask if I want the caption. If yes, open it with the same one ask as the last slide, add one line on why the post is worth saving, and write it in my words, with hashtags only if I ask. Then give one line of alt text per slide saying what the slide reads, for people using screen readers.
THE NEXT POST: when I say "new post", keep MY CANVA SETUP and my tone, and start again at Stage 1 question 1.

RULES
Use only the facts, tips and numbers in MY NOTES and my answers. Never invent a statistic, price, quote, study or result. If a slide needs a fact I did not give you, write [ADD: what is needed] in that cell and tell me.
Write in plain words, the way I would say it out loud to the reader, and use none of the words I asked you never to use.

For the notes in the example, plus a few answers to its questions, this is roughly the file it hands back once you approve the outline. The trainer, the handle and the tips are illustrative, and yours come from your own work.

slide,headline,body
1/7,"5 mistakes that stall your first gym month","Swipe for the fix to each one."
2/7,"New to the gym? Warm up first","Five minutes on the bike beats a pulled calf in week two."
3/7,"Copying a friend's programme","Theirs fits their body and their goal. Start with one built for yours."
4/7,"Lifting too heavy in week one","Pick a weight you could lift five more times, then add a little each week."
5/7,"Booking the 6am class you will cancel","Book the time you will actually turn up for, even if it is 7pm."
6/7,"Forgetting water","Bring a full bottle, the studio fountain is broken."
7/7,"Save this for your next session","@coachsam.fit"

Row 6 shows why the quotes matter: without them, the comma in "Bring a full bottle, the studio fountain is broken" would split that line across two columns and push half of it off the slide.

Route A: Canva Pro, with Bulk Create

1. Run the Carousel CSV Maker and save the file. Answer its questions, approve the outline, and download carousel.csv. Bulk Create's upload takes CSV or Excel files, so a file that ends in .txt will not upload, and opening it in Excel or Numbers first may turn 1/7 into a date.
2. If it gives you a code block instead, make the file yourself. On a Mac, open TextEdit, choose Format, then Make Plain Text, paste, save it as carousel.csv, and when it asks which ending to use, choose .csv. On Windows, paste into Notepad, choose Save as, set Save as type to All files and type carousel.csv.
3. Start one slide at 1080 x 1350. Click Create a design, choose Custom size and enter 1080 by 1350 pixels, the portrait size Canva recommends for Instagram. Instagram applies the orientation you pick to every photo in the post, so every slide needs this one size.
4. Start from a template if you prefer. The creator tevasaki has a collection of 91 minimal 4:5 portrait templates, some free and some marked Pro. Got a square template you love? Resize, then Custom size, then Copy & resize makes a 1080 x 1350 copy, and each use counts against your monthly AI allowance.
5. Give the slide one text box per column. Canva connects each column to a separate text box, so the default file needs three: a small one for the counter, one for the headline and one for the body.
6. Type the column names in as placeholder text. Put 1/7 in the small box, headline in the next and body in the last, because Auto-match is AI reading your design, and words that match your column names give it the easiest job. Then paste your longest headline into its box to check it fits at the size you want.
7. Open Bulk Create and upload the file. Click the page background, choose Edit in the toolbar, then Bulk create (or open Apps and find Bulk create under More from Canva). Choose Upload data, pick carousel.csv, then Continue. Each row becomes one slide and each column one field.
8. Click Auto-match fields, then check its work. Read the connections in the side panel. Canva says its AI can misread field names, so if one is wrong, select that text box, choose Connect data and pick the right field.
9. Preview every slide. Preview shows each row on your design before anything is made. Look for a headline that runs off its box, since a chatbot's character counts are rough and Preview shows the truth. If one overflows, type SHORTER and the slide number into the same chat, then upload the new file and click Auto-match fields again.
10. Set the output to 1 design with multiple pages. Open Advanced options below the Continue button and choose "1 design with multiple pages", then click Create 1 design. That way each row becomes a new page within one design, where the other option gives you a separate design file per row.
11. Restyle the first and last page by hand. Every page comes out in the one layout, so give slide 1 a bigger headline and the last slide a treatment that reads as the end, such as your handle in large type. It is two pages, and the other slides are done.
12. Download every page as a PNG. Choose Share, then Download, set the file type to PNG and the pages to All. Canva puts multiple pages into one ZIP file named after your design, with the images inside named by page number.

If it goes wrong:

• Canva will not take the file: check the name ends in .csv with no .txt after it.
• A slide shows [ADD: ...]: give the chat that fact and ask for the whole file again.
• The counter shows a date: the file was opened in a spreadsheet app, so download a fresh copy from the chat.
• Auto-match keeps mixing up the boxes: choose Connect manually and drag each field onto its box.
• Still stuck: in the Bulk create panel, choose Enter data manually and type the rows into Canva's own table.

Route B: Canva Free, or on your phone

Bulk Create is not on the free plan or the phone app, so here you have two options.

The same prompt, pasted by hand. This keeps your words and your slide rules.

1. Tell the CSV Maker you are pasting by hand. When it asks question 6, say Canva Free, and it hands back a numbered list, one block per slide, which is easier to paste from than a CSV.
2. Design slide 1 at 1080 x 1350. Start from a free 4:5 portrait template, or set the size yourself with Custom size, which Pam Allen found works even on the free plan. Build this one slide properly, since every other slide is a copy of it.
3. Duplicate the page once for each slide. Copies keep every slide on the same grid, fonts and colours, which is what makes a carousel look designed. Then paste each slide's headline and body over the text on its page, in order.
4. Download as PNG, all pages. Share, then Download, PNG, pages All, and the slides arrive as one ZIP.

The Carousel Studio app, when you want a fast draft. Carousel Studio, by Engyne Software, lives in Canva's Apps panel and is free to use with any Canva plan: you give it a prompt and it generates the slides.

Pam Allen, who runs Template Treehouse and tests Canva apps, turned a blog post into a carousel with it and gave it 4 out of 5 in her hands-on review. Her catches: it "skips over images from your blog, so you'll need to add them yourself", and links on slides do not work.

She also found its Instagram size is not always exact, so open it inside a design already set to 1080 x 1350 (the app offers to use an existing design), because resizing afterwards is a Pro feature. It writes its own words, so check its slides 1 and 2 against the rules in the Claude carousel guide before you post.

Where the line is

Post it in the right order

1. Get the PNGs onto your phone. If you made the carousel in the Canva app on your phone, save the downloaded slides to your photos and skip to step 2. Otherwise open the ZIP, then AirDrop the images from a Mac, or upload them to Google Drive or Google Photos and save them to your phone from there.
2. Select them in order. Start a new post in Instagram, choose to select multiple, and tap slide 1 through to the last, because the order you tap is the order they post. Instagram takes up to 20 photos and videos in one post, so a 10-slide carousel fits with room to spare.
3. Keep the crop on portrait. The shape you pick applies to every slide, and Instagram keeps photos up to 1080 pixels wide, so your 1080 x 1350 slides go up at full size with nothing cropped.
4. Use the counters as your check. The 3/7 in the corner shows at a glance if two slides have swapped places.

Check it worked

Before you share it, flick through the post preview at arm's length the way a follower would. If you have to read a slide twice, it has too many words, so send SHORTER and that slide number to the CSV Maker, paste its new lines over the old ones on that page in Canva, and download again.

Then cover slide 1 with your thumb and read slide 2 on its own: if it makes sense to a stranger, the second hook is doing its job.

One step further: a carousel that flows across slides

When one image or line runs across the swipe, Erin Fred of Robe + Signet designs it as one wide canvas: 1080 pixels wide for each slide and 1350 tall, so five slides make 5400 x 1350, with vertical guides at every 1080 pixels, then splits it into equal slides with a splitting app from Canva's Apps panel.

Canva's custom size tops out at 8000 pixels wide, so this works up to seven slides. It is designed by hand, so it suits a big launch post more than your weekly one.

Make one today

Pick the question people ask you most, since that is a carousel you already know every answer to, and paste your notes into the Carousel CSV Maker. Design the one slide, upload the file, and download. Bulk Create saves the result as a new design, so your one-slide template is still there next week and only the CSV changes.

If you want the thinking behind a slide that stops the scroll, Design an Instagram carousel with Claude walks through it.

A few quick questions

Is Canva Bulk Create free?

No. Bulk Create is available on Canva Pro, Teams, Business, Enterprise, Education and Nonprofits, on desktop only. On Canva Free you can paste the same slide copy in by hand, or use the free Carousel Studio app.

Can Canva's Magic Design make a whole carousel?

Magic Design turns a prompt into up to eight templates, and its list of supported types includes Instagram posts but not carousels or multi-page designs. Use it for a starting slide, then build the set with Bulk Create or by duplicating pages.

Can Canva schedule an Instagram carousel?

Canva's Content Planner can only schedule single video or image posts to Instagram. Download the slides as PNGs and post the carousel from the Instagram app.