---
name: create-html-carousel
description: Create LinkedIn carousel posts as high-quality PNG images. Design informational multi-slide posts like "5 AI GTM workflows" with consistent styling, then automatically screenshot each slide at LinkedIn's optimal 1080x1080px format.
---

> **Deprecated:** This skill is superseded by `goose-graphics`. See `skills/composites/goose-graphics/` (install with `npx goose-skills install goose-graphics`). The carousel format is one of seven formats in the newer skill and supports 36 style presets plus image sourcing and PNG export. This skill is retained for one release cycle before removal.

# LinkedIn Carousel Creator

Create stunning LinkedIn carousel posts as PNG images. This skill generates styled HTML slides optimized for square format (1080×1080px), then automatically screenshots each slide for direct upload to LinkedIn.

## Core Philosophy

1. **LinkedIn-First Design** — Square format (1080×1080px), optimized for mobile feed viewing
2. **Informational Content** — Tips, workflows, lists, frameworks (not presentations)
3. **Consistent Styling** — Reuse proven design systems from frontend-slides
4. **Automated Export** — Generate HTML → Screenshot → PNG files ready for LinkedIn
5. **Viewport Perfect** — Every slide must fit exactly in 1080×1080px without scrolling

---

## LinkedIn Carousel Specs

**Format:** Square (1080×1080px)

- **Aspect ratio:** 1:1
- **File format:** PNG (recommended) or JPG
- **File size:** Under 10MB per image
- **Max slides:** 10 images per carousel
- **Ideal slide count:** 5-8 slides (best engagement)

**Content Structure:**

1. **Cover slide** — Hook + title + your brand
2. **Content slides** — One key point per slide (3-6 slides)
3. **Closing slide** — CTA / summary / follow prompt

---

## When to Use This Skill

Use for LinkedIn carousel posts like:

- "5 AI GTM workflows you should be using"
- "How to build X: A step-by-step guide"
- "7 mistakes founders make with Y"
- "The complete framework for Z"
- "Before & After: How we 10x'd our metrics"

**NOT for:**

- Long-form presentations (use frontend-slides)
- Video content
- Single-image posts

---

## Workflow Overview

```
1. Content Input → User provides topic/outline
2. Style Selection → Choose visual style (or preview options)
3. HTML Generation → Create 1080×1080px HTML slides
4. Screenshot → Auto-capture each slide as PNG
5. Delivery → Folder of PNG files ready for LinkedIn upload
```

---

## Phase 1: Content Discovery

### Step 1.1: Get Topic & Structure

Ask the user:

**Question 1: What's the topic?**

- Header: "Topic"
- Question: "What's the main topic of this carousel?"
- (Free text input)

**Question 2: Content Type**

- Header: "Format"
- Question: "What type of post is this?"
- Options:
  - "Numbered list" — "5 ways to...", "7 mistakes...", "3 steps to..."
  - "How-to guide" — Step-by-step tutorial or process
  - "Framework" — Concept explanation with structure
  - "Before/After" — Transformation or case study
  - "Insights/Tips" — Collection of advice or learnings

**Question 3: Slide Count**

- Header: "Length"
- Question: "How many slides?"
- Options:
  - "Short (5-6)" — Quick, punchy (best for mobile scrolling)
  - "Medium (7-8)" — Standard carousel length
  - "Long (9-10)" — Maximum LinkedIn allows

**Question 4: Branding Handle**

- Header: "Brand"
- Question: "What handle or name should appear on each slide?"
- (Free text input — e.g., "@yourhandle", "Acme Inc", or leave blank for none)

**Question 5: Content Ready?**

- Header: "Content"
- Question: "Do you have the content written?"
- Options:
  - "Yes, I have all content" — Paste it in
  - "I have bullet points" — Need light formatting
  - "Just the topic" — Need help outlining

If user has content, ask them to share it.

### Content Density Rules for LinkedIn

Each slide should be **scannable in 2-3 seconds** on mobile:

| Slide Type | Max Content                                              |
| ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Cover      | Title (1 line) + subtitle (1 line) + branding            |
| List item  | Number/icon + heading (2 lines max) + body (3 lines max) |
| Framework  | Diagram/visual + 2-4 labels                              |
| Quote/Stat | 1 large stat or quote + context                          |
| CTA        | 1 action + visual element                                |

**If content exceeds limits:** Break into multiple slides or simplify.

---

## Phase 2: Style Selection

Users can choose styles two ways:

### Option A: Direct Selection (Faster)

Show preset picker:

**Question: Pick a Style**

- Header: "Style"
- Question: "Which visual style works best for your content?"
- Options:
  - "Bold Signal" — High-contrast card on dark, confident
  - "Dark Botanical" — Elegant dark with soft abstract shapes
  - "Notebook Tabs" — Editorial cream paper with colorful tabs
  - "Pastel Geometry" — Friendly pastels with decorative pills
  - "Neon Cyber" — Futuristic tech aesthetic
  - "Split Pastel" — Playful two-tone split design

(See STYLE_PRESETS.md for full details on each style)

### Option B: Guided Discovery

If user isn't sure, ask:

**Question: Audience & Tone**

- Header: "Vibe"
- Question: "Who's your audience and what tone?"
- Options:
  - "Professional/Corporate" → Recommend: Bold Signal, Dark Botanical
  - "Creative/Playful" → Recommend: Split Pastel, Pastel Geometry
  - "Technical/Dev-focused" → Recommend: Neon Cyber, Terminal Green
  - "Elegant/Premium" → Recommend: Dark Botanical, Paper & Ink

Then generate 2-3 preview slides and let user pick.

---

## Phase 3: Generate HTML Carousel

### File Structure

All carousel files (HTML source and PNG exports) are saved to the shared assets directory.

```
[carousel-name]/
├── index.html              # Full carousel (all slides)
├── slides/
│   ├── slide-01.html       # Individual slide pages
│   ├── slide-02.html
│   └── ...
└── exports/
    ├── slide-01.png        # Screenshots (generated in Phase 4)
    ├── slide-02.png
    └── ...
```

### HTML Architecture for 1080×1080px

**CRITICAL: LinkedIn carousel slides are SQUARE (1:1 ratio), not widescreen.**

```html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Slide 01</title>

    <!-- Fonts -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://api.fontshare.com/v2/css?f[]=..." />

    <style>
      /* ===========================================
           LINKEDIN CAROUSEL: SQUARE FORMAT
           Fixed 1080×1080px for screenshot
           =========================================== */
      :root {
        /* Fixed size for LinkedIn */
        --slide-width: 1080px;
        --slide-height: 1080px;

        /* Colors (from chosen preset) */
        --bg-primary: #0a0f1c;
        --text-primary: #ffffff;
        --accent: #00ffcc;

        /* Typography - scaled for square format */
        --title-size: 72px;
        --subtitle-size: 36px;
        --body-size: 28px;
        --small-size: 20px;

        /* Spacing */
        --slide-padding: 80px;
        --content-gap: 40px;

        /* Animation */
        --ease-out-expo: cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1);
      }

      * {
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
        box-sizing: border-box;
      }

      html,
      body {
        width: var(--slide-width);
        height: var(--slide-height);
        overflow: hidden;
      }

      body {
        font-family: var(--font-body);
        background: var(--bg-primary);
        color: var(--text-primary);
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: column;
        justify-content: center;
        align-items: center;
        padding: var(--slide-padding);
      }

      /* Content container */
      .slide-content {
        width: 100%;
        max-width: 100%;
        display: flex;
        flex-direction: column;
        gap: var(--content-gap);
      }

      /* Typography hierarchy */
      h1 {
        font-size: var(--title-size);
        font-weight: 800;
        line-height: 1.1;
        margin-bottom: 20px;
      }

      h2 {
        font-size: var(--subtitle-size);
        font-weight: 700;
        line-height: 1.2;
      }

      p,
      li {
        font-size: var(--body-size);
        line-height: 1.4;
      }

      /* List styling */
      ul {
        list-style: none;
      }

      li {
        padding-left: 40px;
        position: relative;
        margin-bottom: 20px;
      }

      li::before {
        content: "→";
        position: absolute;
        left: 0;
        color: var(--accent);
        font-weight: bold;
      }

      /* Number badge (for list items) */
      .number {
        font-size: 120px;
        font-weight: 900;
        color: var(--accent);
        opacity: 0.15;
        position: absolute;
        top: -40px;
        left: -20px;
        z-index: 0;
      }

      /* Branding footer */
      .brand {
        position: absolute;
        bottom: var(--slide-padding);
        right: var(--slide-padding);
        font-size: var(--small-size);
        opacity: 0.7;
      }

      /* ===========================================
           STYLE-SPECIFIC OVERRIDES
           Inject preset styles here
           =========================================== */
      /* ... preset-specific CSS ... */
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="slide-content">
      <!-- Slide content goes here -->
      <h1>Your Title Here</h1>
      <p>Your content here</p>
    </div>

    <div class="brand">@yourbrand</div>
  </body>
</html>
```

### Content Slide Templates

**Cover Slide:**

```html
<div class="slide-content">
  <h1>5 AI GTM Workflows<br />You Should Be Using</h1>
  <p>Scale your outbound without scaling your team</p>
</div>
<div class="brand">@yourhandle</div>
```

**Numbered Item (e.g., Slide 2/6):**

```html
<div class="slide-content">
  <div class="number">01</div>
  <h2>Signal-Based Outbound</h2>
  <p>
    Monitor job postings, funding announcements, and tech stack changes to find
    companies actively solving your problem.
  </p>
</div>
<div class="brand">@yourhandle • 1/5</div>
```

**Framework Slide:**

```html
<div class="slide-content">
  <h2>The GTM Engineering Stack</h2>
  <div class="framework-grid">
    <div class="box">Research</div>
    <div class="box">Personalization</div>
    <div class="box">Outreach</div>
    <div class="box">Tracking</div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="brand">@yourhandle • 3/5</div>
```

**CTA Slide:**

```html
<div class="slide-content">
  <h2>Want more like this?</h2>
  <p>Follow me for more tips and workflows.</p>
  <div class="cta">Hit that follow button →</div>
</div>
<div class="brand">@yourhandle</div>
```

---

## Phase 4: Screenshot Generation

After generating HTML, automatically capture screenshots.

### Using Playwright (Recommended)

Create a Node.js script to screenshot each slide:

```javascript
// screenshot-slides.js
const { chromium } = require("playwright");
const path = require("path");
const fs = require("fs");

async function screenshotSlides(slidesDir, outputDir) {
  const browser = await chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();

  // Set viewport to LinkedIn carousel size
  await page.setViewportSize({ width: 1080, height: 1080 });

  // Ensure output directory exists
  if (!fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
    fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });
  }

  // Find all HTML files in slides directory
  const slideFiles = fs
    .readdirSync(slidesDir)
    .filter((f) => f.endsWith(".html"))
    .sort();

  console.log(`Found ${slideFiles.length} slides to screenshot`);

  for (const slideFile of slideFiles) {
    const slidePath = path.join(slidesDir, slideFile);
    const outputName = slideFile.replace(".html", ".png");
    const outputPath = path.join(outputDir, outputName);

    console.log(`Capturing ${slideFile}...`);

    await page.goto(`file://${path.resolve(slidePath)}`);

    // Wait for fonts and animations
    await page.waitForTimeout(500);

    // Take screenshot
    await page.screenshot({
      path: outputPath,
      type: "png",
      fullPage: false,
    });

    console.log(`✓ Saved ${outputName}`);
  }

  await browser.close();
  console.log("\n✨ All slides captured!");
}

// Usage
const carouselName = process.argv[2];
if (!carouselName) {
  console.error("Usage: node screenshot-slides.js <carousel-name>");
  process.exit(1);
}

const slidesDir = path.join(__dirname, carouselName, "slides");
const outputDir = path.join(__dirname, carouselName, "exports");

screenshotSlides(slidesDir, outputDir);
```

### Installation

The skill directory needs these dependencies:

```json
{
  "name": "linkedin-carousel-screenshots",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "playwright": "^1.40.0"
  }
}
```

First time setup:

```bash
cd /path/to/skills/create-html-carousel
npm install
```

### Running Screenshot Script

After generating HTML slides:

```bash
node screenshot-slides.js carousel-name
```

This will:

1. Open each slide HTML in a headless browser
2. Set viewport to 1080×1080px
3. Wait for fonts/animations to load
4. Capture PNG screenshot
5. Save to `[carousel-name]/exports/`

---

## Phase 5: Delivery

After screenshots are generated, present to user:

```
✨ Your LinkedIn carousel is ready!

📁 Location: /assets/carousel-name/

**Slides:**
- 6 HTML slides in slides/ folder
- 6 PNG images in exports/ folder (1080×1080px)

**Preview:**
Open index.html to see all slides with navigation.

**Upload to LinkedIn:**
1. Create new post on LinkedIn
2. Click "Add media"
3. Upload all PNGs from exports/ folder in order
4. Add your post copy
5. Publish!

**File sizes:**
- slide-01.png: 234 KB ✓
- slide-02.png: 198 KB ✓
- slide-03.png: 256 KB ✓
(All under 10MB limit)

Want to make any changes to the slides?
```

---

## Style Adaptation for Square Format

All styles from frontend-slides work for carousels, but require these adjustments:

### Typography Scaling

Square format has less horizontal space, so scale fonts:

| Element  | Presentation (16:9)              | Carousel (1:1) |
| -------- | -------------------------------- | -------------- |
| Title    | clamp(2rem, 6vw, 5rem)           | 72px (fixed)   |
| Subtitle | clamp(1.25rem, 3vw, 2.5rem)      | 36px (fixed)   |
| Body     | clamp(0.875rem, 1.5vw, 1.125rem) | 28px (fixed)   |
| Small    | clamp(0.75rem, 1vw, 0.875rem)    | 20px (fixed)   |

**Why fixed sizes?** We're targeting a single export size (1080×1080px), not responsive web viewing.

### Layout Adjustments

**Vertical space is precious:**

- Reduce top/bottom padding (80px instead of 4rem)
- Tighter line-height (1.2-1.4 instead of 1.5-1.6)
- Fewer list items per slide (max 3-4)
- Smaller decorative elements

**Mobile-first mindset:**

- Most LinkedIn users view on phones
- Text must be readable at thumbnail size
- High contrast is critical
- Bold, simple layouts beat intricate designs

---

## Content Best Practices

### Hook Formula (Cover Slide)

Strong hooks for LinkedIn carousels:

- Number + Promise: "5 workflows that 10x'd our outbound"
- Contrarian: "Stop doing X. Do this instead."
- Before/After: "How we went from X to Y in 30 days"
- Question: "Why are only 3% of founders doing this?"
- Curiosity gap: "The GTM strategy nobody talks about"

### Body Slides (Items 2-9)

Each slide should:

1. **One clear point** — Don't cram multiple concepts
2. **Visual hierarchy** — Large number/icon + heading + body
3. **Concrete, not abstract** — "Use job postings to find intent" not "Leverage signals"
4. **Scannable** — 2-3 second read time max

### Closing Slide

Always include a CTA:

- "Follow for more [topic]"
- "Repost if this helped"
- "Comment your biggest takeaway"
- "DM me if you want the full playbook"

Avoid:

- "Link in comments" (often gets buried)
- "Check out my website" (feels salesy)
- No CTA at all (wasted opportunity)

---

## Troubleshooting

### Fonts Not Loading in Screenshots

**Symptom:** Screenshots show default system fonts

**Solution:**

1. Use web-safe fonts (Arial, Georgia) OR
2. Add `await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle')` before screenshot
3. Increase wait timeout: `await page.waitForTimeout(1000)`

### Screenshots Are Blurry

**Symptom:** Text looks fuzzy or low-res

**Solution:**

1. Set device scale factor in Playwright:
   ```javascript
   await page.setViewportSize({
     width: 1080,
     height: 1080,
     deviceScaleFactor: 2, // Retina-quality
   });
   ```

### Content Overflows the Slide

**Symptom:** Text or elements cut off in screenshot

**Solution:**

1. Reduce font sizes
2. Decrease padding
3. Split into multiple slides
4. Simplify content (fewer bullets, shorter text)

### Colors Look Different in Export

**Symptom:** PNG colors don't match HTML preview

**Solution:**

- Ensure browser color profile matches sRGB
- Use hex colors, avoid CSS filters that may render differently
- Test screenshot script before generating all slides

---

## Preset Quick Reference

| Preset          | Best For               | Vibe                  |
| --------------- | ---------------------- | --------------------- |
| Bold Signal     | Confident, high-impact | Professional          |
| Dark Botanical  | Elegant, premium       | Sophisticated         |
| Notebook Tabs   | Editorial, organized   | Friendly-professional |
| Pastel Geometry | Friendly, approachable | Playful               |
| Neon Cyber      | Tech, innovation       | Futuristic            |
| Split Pastel    | Creative, fun          | Energetic             |

See STYLE_PRESETS.md for complete styling details.

---

## Related Skills

- **frontend-slides** — For full presentations (not carousels)
- **personalized-email** — For outreach content to pair with LinkedIn posts
- **deep-web-research** — For researching topics/stats for carousel content

---

## Example Session Flow

1. User: "Create a LinkedIn carousel about 5 AI GTM workflows"
2. Skill asks: content type, slide count, have content ready?
3. User provides bullet points of the 5 workflows
4. Skill asks: style preference
5. User picks "Bold Signal"
6. Skill generates 7 HTML slides (cover + 5 workflows + CTA)
7. Skill runs screenshot script automatically
8. Skill delivers folder with HTML + PNG exports
9. User uploads PNGs to LinkedIn and publishes

Total time: 5-10 minutes from idea to ready-to-publish carousel.