Instagram carousel originality rule: make slides with n

Instagram says the originality protections it introduced for reels in 2024 now apply to photos and carousels, so accounts that mostly re-upload other people's work stop being recommended. If your slides are new work, the practical step is to create them yourself: Sume's image API takes an n parameter to request several images in one call, and 4:5 is the portrait ratio.

Rule details are from Instagram's own post; image parameters are from Sume's image generation docs, both read 2026-10-01. This is not legal or policy advice, and a generated image is not automatically "original" under Instagram's test.

What does Instagram's originality rule say?

Per the post, accounts that primarily post unoriginal photos or carousels, in addition to reels, are no longer shown in places where Instagram recommends content. It does not change how followers see an account's posts, and it is separate from intellectual property policies. An account can become eligible again when most of its recently posted photos, carousels and reels are considered original over a 30-day period, calculated on a rolling basis.

Instagram defines original content as work you wholly created or that reflects your unique perspective, and says material edits to third-party content can count when your additions add new information, context or a point of view.

How do I make several slides in one request?

The docs say to request up to 10 images per call with n, and that per-model ceilings are lower, so read the n range descriptor from the catalog before pinning a number. The same page says slow configurations (4K, high quality, large n) are the most likely to return a 202 job envelope instead of the images, so check the status code and then poll the job.

curl https://api.sume.com/v1/images \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-image-2",
    "prompt": "Slide set: five flat illustrations of a weekly meal-prep routine, same palette",
    "aspect_ratio": "4:5",
    "n": 4
  }'

What size should a carousel slide be?

Use aspect_ratio: "4:5", which the docs describe as Instagram portrait (1080×1350), not 4:3. Exact 1080×1350 on models that map pixels to a ratio is a post-step, so treat the generated file as the right shape and confirm the pixel size you need.

Does generating slides make them original?

Not by itself. Instagram's test is whether the content is yours or adds real value; the post says nothing about generated images either way. Write the slide text and structure yourself, keep a consistent prompt across slides, and see AI Instagram carousel post generator for the layout side.