The short answer: in Canva, click Custom size, enter 1080 × 1350 px and build one page per slide. Then choose Share → Download, pick PDF with the lighter preset and Include notes off, and upload that PDF to LinkedIn as a document. On the Free plan, set the size before you start: changing the size of a design you already made is not included.
The size to type into Canva
| Field | Portrait 4:5 (most carousels) | Square 1:1 |
|---|---|---|
| Units | px | px |
| Width | 1080 | 1080 |
| Height | 1350 | 1080 |
Why 4:5: people read LinkedIn on a phone. At the same width, a 1080 × 1350 page is a quarter taller than a square one, so it fills more of the screen and gives your text more room. LinkedIn does not publish a carousel size; it asks for images 1080 px wide and shows them no taller than 4:5, and the convention follows from that. Both sizes sit well inside Canva's custom-size limits. More in LinkedIn carousel size.
1. Create the design at 1080 × 1350
- On the Canva home page, click Custom size in the banner at the top.
- Under Units, choose px.
- Enter 1080 as the width and 1350 as the height.
- Click Create new design.
Do this first, even if you plan to borrow from a template. A custom size for a new design is free, but Resize, the feature that changes the size of an existing design, is not on Free: it needs Pro, Teams, Business, Enterprise or Education, and each use counts against your AI usage limit. If you open a template, check its size before you put an hour into it: on Free, a wrong size stays wrong.
2. Build one page per slide
Each Canva page becomes one page of the PDF, and each PDF page one slide on LinkedIn.
- Design one content slide completely. Set the margins, the heading size and the body size on it, then copy it for every other slide and change only the words. In the scrolling view, use Duplicate page at the corner of the page; copying and pasting a selected page with Cmd/Ctrl+C and Cmd/Ctrl+V works too. Copies keep the same layout, which is most of what makes a carousel look designed.
- Add blank pages with Add page at the top corner of a page, or next to the last page in the grid view.
- Put the pages in reading order. The PDF follows the page order in the editor. Click Pages at the bottom to see thumbnails and drag them, or use the up and down arrows above each page in the scrolling view.
- Keep one idea per slide. A slide should be read in a few seconds. For the type sizes, contrast and margins, see LinkedIn carousel design; for what goes on the first, middle and last slides, see how to structure a LinkedIn carousel.
3. Download the PDF
- Click Share, then Download.
- Under File type, choose PDF.
- Pick the lighter PDF option. Canva's help pages name it two ways: newer pages show Presets called Digital and Print, while the page on file types calls them PDF Standard and PDF Print. Choose Digital, or Standard if that is what your screen shows.
- Keep all pages selected.
- Open Advanced Settings and make sure Include notes is off. Leave Flatten PDF off unless you need it (see the table below).
- Click Download. If the button says Pay and Download, the design contains paid elements.
Already downloaded the slides as PNG files? Turn them into one PDF with every page the same size in our free images to LinkedIn carousel PDF tool; it runs in your browser.
| Option | What Canva says it does | For a carousel |
|---|---|---|
| Digital or Standard | Canva describes PDF Standard as 96 dpi | The default choice: enough for text and graphics, and a smaller file |
| 300 dpi, with bleed, crop marks and a color profile | Only for photo-heavy slides; bleed and crop marks must not end up on your slides | |
| Flatten PDF | Turns each page into a static image; Canva says it keeps fonts displaying accurately | A fix when fonts or images come out wrong. The file can get bigger, and the text can no longer be selected |
4. Post it on LinkedIn
Canva's own Share option for LinkedIn posts image and video designs only, not documents, so it cannot make a carousel. Upload the PDF yourself: start a post on LinkedIn, add a document, give it a title and post. The full steps for a computer, the app and Pages are in how to post a carousel on LinkedIn.
What Canva Free allows
| Task | On the Free plan |
|---|---|
| New design at 1080 × 1350 | Yes |
| Download a multi-page PDF | Yes |
| Change the size of an existing design | No, Resize needs Pro, Teams, Business, Enterprise or Education |
| Use Pro elements | Only as a watermarked draft, unless you buy a license for the element or upgrade |
| Compress the PDF | No, it needs Pro, Teams, Education or Nonprofit |
| Upload your own fonts | No, it needs Pro, Business, Education or Nonprofit |
Canva can also stop a download when an account reaches a daily download limit. It shows up as an issue to fix in the download panel, and Canva does not publish the number.
Canva pitfalls and fixes
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| The PDF has extra pages of notes | Turn off Include notes in Advanced Settings and download again |
| A watermark, or Pay and Download instead of Download | A Pro element is in the design. Swap it for a free one, or pay for it |
| You cannot change the size on Free | Resize is not on Free. Start a new 1080 × 1350 design and rebuild the slides there |
| Text wraps differently or moves in the PDF | Canva's own fixes: try another browser, set the zoom to 100% and drag a text box's handles to reset it. For images that shift, download with Print and Flatten PDF |
| A border or marks around every slide | The Print option added bleed or crop marks. Download with Digital or Standard instead |
| Someone could see the part of a photo you cropped out | Canva puts the original, uncropped image in the PDF, where a PDF editor can pull it out, and LinkedIn readers can download your document. Crop sensitive photos before you upload them to Canva |
| The file is large | Print and Flatten PDF can both add weight; Digital or Standard is lighter. LinkedIn's limit is 100 MB |
The shorter way
If the slow part for you is writing the slides rather than designing them, cropdot starts from the other end. Type a topic or paste your notes, and it drafts the carousel, aiming for 6 to 10 slides with a hook on the first one, into an editor where you can change everything. Export → Download PDF gives one page per slide at 1080 × 1350, every page the same size, so there is no size to set and no notes option to forget.
Canva is the stronger design tool: any layout, a library of photos and graphics, and your own fonts on Pro. cropdot has six fonts, no custom font upload and eight templates. If design is the part you enjoy, stay in Canva; the trade-offs are laid out in cropdot vs Canva.
Sources
- Canva Help Center: Design from scratch, Resize designs, Manage pages, Download file types, Download a flattened PDF, Download with notes, Download or purchase, Elements moved after download, Share on social media.
- LinkedIn Help: Upload and share documents.
Checked on October 2, 2026.