Turn an idea into an Instagram carousel
CarouselNote turns one idea into a 5-slide Instagram carousel of hand-annotated notes. Type your topic in a sentence and AI drafts every slide in a fixed order (hook, setup, study, explanation, takeaway), or you write them yourself. Add a photo of yourself for the cover, edit any line, and download the slides at 1080 × 1350.
Free during beta. No card needed.
How it works
- 1
Type your topic
One sentence is enough, up to 300 characters.
- 2
Get a draft, or write your own
AI drafts all five slides in seconds. Prefer your own words? Start from empty slides.
- 3
Edit every line
Each line has a length limit sized to the layout, so nothing overflows.
- 4
Add your photo
Optional. The background is removed in your browser and your cut-out goes on the cover.
- 5
Download and post
Five slides at 1080 × 1350, in posting order.
How do you turn one idea into five slides?
Give every slide one job, and make each one earn the next swipe. CarouselNote uses this order, and it works as a writing framework even if you write by hand:
- Hook: the claim, in one line. Circle the single word that carries it.
- Setup: a moment your reader has lived. Make them nod before you teach.
- Study: the evidence or example behind the idea. Name where it comes from.
- Explain: why it happens, in three or four short steps.
- Takeaway: one thing to do differently, in a line they could repeat.
What makes a good carousel topic?
One specific idea with a payoff the reader can use today. “Productivity” is a category; “why the second email is always easier to write” is a carousel.
- Coaching: why people quit new habits in week three, not week one.
- Real estate: what buyers notice in the first ten seconds of a showing.
- Fitness: how to keep a workout habit when you travel.
- Money: the small subscriptions people forget they pay for.
- Marketing: why the first line of a post matters more than the last.
- Leadership: why “any questions?” gets silence, and what to ask instead.
How much text fits on a slide?
Less than you think. Every line has a character limit sized to the layout: the cover headline takes up to 64 characters, and the other lines range from 44 to 115. One or two short sentences per line reads best on a phone.
What does the AI do, and what doesn’t it do?
It drafts the words for the five slides from your topic, using Google’s Gemini model. Nothing renders until you have reviewed the text, and nothing is posted for you. AI drafts can state facts or studies with too much confidence, so check any claim before you post it.
Example: one idea, five slides
The sample slides on this page came from this draft. Topic: why the second email is always easier to write.
- Hook
- Why the second email is always easier to write. (Circled: “easier”.)
- Setup
- You open a blank email to someone important. You stare at it. … Starting costs more than continuing. Every time.
- Study
- Researchers asked people to start tasks they had been avoiding. … The two-minute group was far more likely to keep going.
- Explain
- The hardest part of any task is the moment before it begins. … So lower the bar for starting, not for finishing.
- Takeaway
- Starting is expensive. Continuing is cheap. So never start from zero. … Make tomorrow easy to begin and it will mostly take care of itself.
Questions
Can I write the slides without AI?
Yes. Choose “I’ll write it myself” to start from empty slides with the same layout and length limits.
How many AI drafts can I make?
Up to 20 drafts a day during the beta, and up to 15 finished carousels a day.
Do I need a photo of myself?
No, it is optional. With a photo, the background is removed in your browser and your cut-out goes on the cover with a white outline.
Is it free?
Yes, while CarouselNote is in beta. No card needed.