Image sizes

TikTok photo post size (2026): exact dimensions

TikTok photo post size

1080 × 1920px

Aspect ratio

9:16

TikTok photo posts work best at 1080 × 1920 px (9:16) per image — full-bleed slides that fill the screen like video does.

Last verified June 2026

TikTok’s photo posts (often called photo mode or carousels) are swipeable image sets of up to 35 photos, displayed on the same full-screen vertical stage as video and backed by music. Because the canvas is 9:16, images exported at 1080 × 1920 px fill the screen edge to edge; squarer images are shown with blurred or solid fill above and below. Photo posts are cheap to produce compared to video, and TikTok distributes them through the same For You feed — which is why they have become a staple for tutorials, lists, and storytime content.

All TikTok photo post specs

TikTok photo post dimensions, last verified June 2026.
VariantDimensionsRatio
Slide (recommended)1080 × 1920 pxFills the screen with no fill bars.9:16
Portrait slide1080 × 1350 pxInstagram-sized slides display with fill bars above and below.4:5
Square slide1080 × 1080 pxAccepted, but the smallest on-screen presence.1:1
Carousel lengthup to 35 images

Safe zones: what gets cropped

Photo posts inherit the same overlay as video: caption and audio attribution bottom-left, action rail down the right edge, plus a swipe indicator. Keep slide text inside the central area — roughly 480 px clear at the bottom and 140 px clear on the right — and remember viewers swipe fast, so anything near the edges gets missed entirely. The first slide also doubles as the cover in the For You feed and your profile grid, where tiles crop toward the center.

File types & limits

  • Formats: JPG or PNG, up to 35 photos per post.
  • A music track auto-plays over the set; slides can auto-advance or be swiped manually.
  • Captions: up to 4,000 characters — photo posts often carry long, searchable captions.
  • Text stickers and overlays added in-app stay inside TikTok’s safe area automatically.

Getting the most out of the format

Do: design slides like a deck, not a photo dump

The photo posts that travel are structured: slide 1 is a bold hook (“5 mistakes killing your reach”), each following slide delivers exactly one point in large type, and the last slide carries the call to action. One idea per slide, headline-sized text, generous margins — viewers swipe in under two seconds per image.

Don’t: reuse Instagram carousels unmodified

Instagram’s 4:5 slides technically work on TikTok, but they float between fill bars and look imported. If you batch carousels for both platforms, design at 9:16 with the content block placed in the central 4:5 region — then export a cropped 4:5 version for Instagram and the full-bleed version for TikTok from the same artboard.

Batch photo posts — they are the easiest TikTok format to schedule

Unlike trend-dependent video, photo posts are evergreen designed assets: build a month of them in one session and schedule them out. SocialKit publishes scheduled posts natively to TikTok alongside the other 10 platforms it supports, so a single design batch can feed your whole calendar.

Quick questions

What size should TikTok photo post images be?

1080 × 1920 px (9:16) per slide fills the screen completely. Squarer images are accepted but display with fill bars above and below, which weakens the full-screen effect.

How many photos can a TikTok carousel have?

Up to 35 images per photo post. Engagement front-loads heavily, so put the hook on slide 1 and your strongest material in the first three slides.

Do photo posts perform as well as videos on TikTok?

They are distributed through the same For You feed, and many creators report strong reach relative to the production effort — especially for list, tutorial, and storytime formats. Treat them as a complement to video, not a replacement.

More TikTok sizes

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