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Split a panorama for an Instagram carousel

Cut a wide picture into slides that swipe as one, on your own device.

Split a wide photo or panorama into a seamless Instagram carousel of 4:5 or square slides in your browser. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your files are not uploaded: everything runs in your browser on your device. The size limit is your device’s memory, and phones hold less; give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, and then it works offline.

Drop a wide photo to splitor click to choose files. Batches welcome.
    Details

    Posting order numbers the bottom-right tile 1, so posting 1, 2, 3… builds the grid on an Instagram profile.

    Working…

    Done

    Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.

    A seamless carousel is one wide image cut into slides, so each swipe continues the picture. Instagram carousels take 4:5 and square slides, so a panorama is trimmed to fit the slides exactly, and the preview shows how much of the sides or of the top and bottom goes. Choose Keep the picture’s shape to cut it without trimming.

    The photo is cut in your browser and never uploaded. Each slide is a full-resolution piece of it, numbered in the order to add them to the post.

    The slide size comes from the photo’s height. With 4:5 slides each one is four fifths as wide as the photo is tall, so a panorama 2000 px tall gives slides of 1600 × 2000, and the width decides how many fit. Instagram shows posts about 1080 px wide, so a photo at least 1350 px tall keeps every slide sharp. If your panorama needs more than three slides, type a number into Columns (up to 10) and keep Rows at 1.

    Leave Number the tiles on Left to right. That numbers the slides 1, 2, 3 from the left edge, which is the order they go into the post. In posting order is for a profile grid and numbers them backwards. When you add the slides, keep Instagram’s crop on the 4:5 or square shape you chose here, or the app trims each slide again and the joins stop lining up.

    How it works

    1. Drop a wide photo or panorama, or tap to pick one.
    2. 3 across with 4:5 slides is set. Use 2 across for a less wide photo, or Square 1:1.
    3. Split, then add the slides to one post in number order.

    In your browser, not on a server

    Your browser decodes the picture (libheif or the Squoosh decoders step in for HEIC, AVIF and JPEG XL). When the tiles must be square or 4:5, the middle of the picture is kept at the right proportions. Each tile is then copied pixel for pixel from the original onto its own canvas, without scaling, and encoded once in the format you chose.

    Compared with upload-based tools: Grid and carousel apps ask for your whole photo library, add a watermark unless you subscribe, and web versions upload the picture. Here it never leaves your device and the tiles carry no mark.

    Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.

    Questions

    How many slides should I use?

    Divide the photo’s width by its height and multiply by 1.25 for 4:5 slides (or by 1 for square). A 3:1 panorama fits about four 4:5 slides.

    Why do the joins not line up after I post?

    Usually because Instagram cropped the slides again when you added them. Every slide in a carousel takes the shape of the first, and if the crop in the app is not set to the same 4:5 or square shape you chose here, each slide loses a strip at its edges. Select all the slides together and set the shape once.

    How many slides can a carousel have?

    At the time of writing Instagram allows up to 20 photos or videos in one carousel. This page cuts up to 10 columns in one go, which is enough for all but the widest 360 degree panoramas. For a very long strip, split it in two halves first and cut each half separately.

    Should I pick In posting order?

    No, not for a carousel. That option numbers the tiles from the bottom right so a profile grid builds up correctly when you post them as separate posts. In a carousel the slides are added left to right in one post, so keep Left to right and add slide 1 first.

    Is the file uploaded anywhere?

    No. There is no server in this process. The page is a static file and the work is done by code running inside your browser tab. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use; then you can turn off Wi-Fi and it still works.

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