TikTok Photo Carousel Size, Photo Count and File Limits

Use 1080 × 1920 px, the 9:16 shape of a phone screen and of TikTok videos. Every guide recommends it, though TikTok doesn't publish it as a requirement. Photos of other shapes still post, but they won't fill the screen.

Tools that post through TikTok's API are held to at most 1080p (1080 × 1920 upright, or 1920 × 1080 landscape) and at least 360 px on each side, so there is no gain in uploading bigger.

Up to 35 photos. Every source agrees on the maximum. The minimum is where they split: TikTok's API sets none, while guides say 2 or 4. If you want the swipeable carousel rather than a single still, post at least 2.

The sources disagree here too. TikTok's API takes JPEG or WebP up to 20 MB a photo, and not PNG. SocialRails lists JPG or PNG at 20 MB each for posting in the app, and PostNitro gives only a 500 MB total. A JPEG under 20 MB works under every one of them, and a 1080 × 1920 px JPEG is far smaller than that.

Photo posts carry the same overlay as videos: the For You tabs at the top, the like, comment and share buttons down the right, and your name, caption and sound at the bottom. On a 1080 × 1920 photo, keep text and faces 200 px from the top, 480 px from the bottom and 140 px from the right edge. SocialRails gives similar margins for photo posts.

A photo post's caption holds 4,000 characters, the same as a video's. Some guides still say 2,200. Tools posting through the API can also set a separate title of up to 90 characters.

You can add a sound to a photo post, as with a video. The photos move on by themselves every few seconds, and viewers can swipe through them.

Photo mode keeps each photo as a still that viewers swipe through, up to 35 of them. A slideshow video plays on its own with timed transitions and can go to Reels and Shorts too. If you want the same set everywhere, make an MP4 instead.