Most Carousels Die On a Blank Canva Artboard
You open Canva. You stare at a 1080x1350 square. You try three templates. You hate all of them. You close the tab. You tell yourself you'll post tomorrow.
The fix isn't another template pack. It's a system that knows your brand, knows the style you love, and builds the slides for you. Claude plus the Canva connector is that system. Two prompts and you're done thinking about carousel design for the rest of the year.
Ninety Seconds, One Time, Done Forever.
Open the Claude desktop app. Click the + button in the chat box. Pick Connectors. Click Add Connectors. Select Canva. Authorize.
That's it. From here on, Claude can create Canva designs, edit existing ones, swap photos, change colors, rewrite text inside slides, and export. Every layer stays a real Canva layer you can open and adjust by hand.
If you don't see Canva in the connectors list: update Claude to the latest desktop version. The Canva connector ships with newer builds.
Turn Your Website Into Brand Guidelines Claude Can Design With.
Claude doesn't know your brand. You have to give it a reference. The fastest reference is your website. Drop this prompt and Claude will pull fonts, colors, voice, vibe, and save it as a guideline document you can reuse on every future design.
// paste this into claude (with canva connected)
What you'll get back: a clean brand doc with your primary + secondary colors (hex codes), your fonts, your voice notes (tone, vocabulary, what to avoid), and the kind of imagery that matches you. Save it. Pin it. Reference it every time you ask Claude to make anything visual.
Swap before you paste:
[INSERT WEBSITE]→ your actual URL. If you don't have one, paste your Instagram bio link or a Notion landing page. Claude works with any public URL.
Save References You Love As a Reusable Skill.
Now the magic. Pick 2-3 Instagram carousels you genuinely love the look of. Doesn't matter whose. Grab the post URLs. Drop them into this prompt. Claude studies them, pulls the structure, the hook style, the swipe pattern, the CTA, the layout choices, and saves it all as a /carousel skill you can run anytime.
// paste this into claude
What happens next: Claude analyzes each carousel slide by slide. Hook slide structure. Story arc. CTA slide. Visual rhythm. Font weight contrast. Then it writes a skill file that codifies all of that. From now on you can type /carousel [topic] and Claude spins up a fresh carousel in your brand voice with that exact reference style applied.
Swap before you paste:
- The two carousel URLs→ replace with your 2-3 favorite references. Pick stuff in your niche if you can. Closer match = better skill.
- Want it ultra-personal? Add a third URL of your own best-performing carousel. Claude will blend your voice with the reference style.
Every Layer Stays Editable In Canva.
This is the part most people don't realize until they try it. Claude isn't generating a flat AI image. It's creating a real Canva file with real layers. Headline text. Photo frames. Background shapes. Icons. All separate. All editable.
Headline reads wrong? Open Canva and rewrite it. Photo doesn't fit? Drag a new one in. Color off? Click the swatch. You stay in full creative control. Claude does the boring 80% and you spend 5 minutes on the polish that matters.
Type One Slash Command. Get A Carousel.
Once the skill is saved, this becomes your whole workflow:
Claude reads your brand guidelines. Pulls the carousel skill. Writes the slides in your voice using the reference structure. Opens Canva. Builds the file. Sends you the link. Done.
From blank artboard to publish-ready in under five minutes. Without you opening Canva once until the polish step.
Garbage References = Garbage Skill.
If you don't have at least 2-3 carousels you genuinely love the look of, don't run prompt #2 yet. The whole thing breaks down with weak references. Spend 20 minutes saving carousels in your niche first. Then run it.
What makes a good reference:
- Strong hook slide that makes you swipe.
- Clear story arc across slides, not just decorated quotes.
- A CTA that actually fits the topic (not bolted on).
- Design choices that feel like a real brand, not a template pack.
Two Prompts. One Connector. Carousels Forever.
That's the whole loop. Connect Canva. Drop the brand prompt. Drop the carousel-skill prompt. From here on, /carousel is a button you press whenever you have a topic. Nothing about your design process has to be heavy ever again.
Send me the first one when it ships. @tenfoldmarc.