Making a LinkedIn Carousel from Markdown Notes
LinkedIn wants a PDF
LinkedIn's carousel is a document post, and the document it accepts is a PDF. Each page becomes a swipeable slide. That is convenient, because a PDF is trivial to generate from a set of rendered cards — you do not need a design tool in the middle.
Square, not portrait
The safe choice is 1:1. LinkedIn renders document posts inside a fixed-width column, and a square page uses that width without getting cropped or letterboxed on either desktop or mobile. Portrait pages get scaled down until the text is uncomfortable to read on a phone.
On TextCard, pick LinkedIn in the size selector — it is set to 1200x1200 — and choose PDF as the export format. You get one document with one page per card.
What to put on the slides
Content written as notes tends to work better here than content written as prose. A heading and three to five bullets per card is about the density the format supports. If a card comes out with a wall of text, the fix is in the source: break the paragraph into a short lead plus a list.
Because the layout is measured, you can see this immediately — edit the Markdown and the card count and content shift as you go.
Keep the source
The Markdown is the asset, not the PDF. Next time you need the same content in a different shape — a square set for Instagram, a 16:9 set for X — you paste the same source, change the size, and export again. Nothing needs to be re-laid-out by hand.
That is the main practical argument for working from Markdown rather than from a design file: the content and its presentation stay separate, so re-targeting is a dropdown rather than a rebuild.
Frequently asked questions
What format does a LinkedIn carousel need?
A PDF. LinkedIn carousels are document posts, and each page of the PDF becomes one swipeable slide.
Should LinkedIn slides be square or portrait?
Square is the safe choice. Document posts render inside a fixed-width column, so a 1:1 page uses the full width on desktop and mobile. Portrait pages get scaled down until the text is uncomfortable on a phone.
How do I export a PDF instead of images?
Pick PDF in the format selector next to the size. You get one document with one page per card, in reading order.
Can I reuse the same notes for other platforms?
Yes, and that is the argument for keeping the Markdown rather than the PDF. Paste the same source, change the ratio, and export again — re-targeting is a dropdown rather than a rebuild.