Instagram has added Instagram carousel editing tools to Edits, its standalone video editing app. Until now, Edits was built for Reels. Creators can now lay out and style multi-image carousel posts with the same creative tools.
According to Instagram, users can drop in photos and videos, try different layouts, reuse Edits fonts and text styles, and cut out their own stickers to use across content. In practice, the fonts, overlays and effects that were available for video now work on a carousel canvas.
Edits has been shipping updates almost weekly, and Meta has already announced Edits Plus, a paid tier for the app. Carousel support pushes Edits from a Reels utility toward an all-purpose Instagram creation tool.
In 2024, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said carousels improve engagement and reach opportunities: more slides mean more time spent in-stream, and Instagram re-shows carousels to followers, starting from the second slide, when they come back to the app.
Buffer’s social engagement research also found that carousel posts earn about 12% more engagement per post on average than single-image updates.
If re-exposure starts on the second slide, that slide needs to stop the scroll just like the first. Test putting your strongest stat or question on slide two.
Sharing fonts and sticker cutouts in one app makes it easier to keep Reels and carousels visually consistent. A ready-made brand kit of fonts and cutouts will speed up production. The broader shift toward video-first browsing is visible in Instagram’s test of opening the app to Reels.
Moving some carousel production from third-party design tools into Edits removes an export-and-upload step. Since it’s iOS-only for now, confirm Android availability before switching a whole team’s workflow.
It is available first on the iOS version of the Edits app, with an Android release coming soon.
They hold attention longer, and Instagram re-shows carousels to followers starting from the second slide when they return to the app.
Buffer’s research found carousel posts earn about 12% more engagement per post on average than single-image posts.
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