What is TikTok photo mode?

TikTok photo mode is the way to post a set of photos instead of a video. You pick your images, add text, sound and a caption, and people swipe through them. TikTok’s help center calls the result a photo post. People also call it a carousel or a slideshow, and in this article all four names mean the same thing.

For founders who sell an app or a SaaS product, it matters for a simple reason: you can explain your product with screens and short sentences, without filming anything.

Photo posts, video posts and text posts

TikTok lets you create different types of posts, including video, photo and text posts. A video post is a recording. A text post is words on a background. A photo post sits between them: it is still, but it has several slides, so it can tell a short story one step at a time.

How a photo post is made

These are the steps TikTok’s help center describes for posting photos from your device in the TikTok app.

1. Tap the Add post + button at the bottom of the app.
2. Tap Photo, then tap Upload and choose photos from your device. You can add up to 35 photos.
3. Tap Next. Swipe to move between photos and edit them: you can add a filter, sound or text, add stickers, or crop.
4. Tap Next again to set the details, then tap Post to publish, or Drafts to save it for later.

Drafts are visible only to you on your profile, which makes them a useful stopping point before anything goes live.

What you can add to a photo post

Beyond the photos themselves, the help center lists these options for photo posts:

• a filter, sound, text and stickers on the photos, and cropping,
• a cover for the post,
• a description and hashtags,
• tagged people and a location,
• a link,
• who can view the post. New posts keep the privacy setting of your previous one, so check it each time.

Sound deserves a mention. A photo post can carry music, and in the TikTok app that choice is yours at the editing step.

Why photo mode suits founders

• No filming. You work with images and words you already have: screens, short sentences, a diagram.
• One idea per slide. The format pushes you to say one thing at a time, which is also how people read on a phone.
• Easy to review. You can read a photo post in seconds and check every claim before it goes out.
• Easy to repeat. A consistent look across slides makes a series of posts quick to produce each week.

There are limits. A photo post does not move, so it is a weaker way to show a flow that unfolds over time, such as a long onboarding. For that, a screen recording works better. Photo posts are good for naming a problem, showing a result and saying who the product is for.

What a good photo post does

You do not need design skills to do the basics well. Put the problem on the first slide, in the customer’s words. Keep text short and large enough to read on a phone. Use one visual style across the slides. Show your real product on at least one slide. End with a clear next step, such as the product name. Check that everything you wrote is true of your product today.

Ideas a founder can turn into photo posts

A photo post suits any idea that fits in a few steps. Common ones for a product are a customer problem and how the product answers it, a three-step how-to, a checklist, a before and after of a screen, and a short answer to a question customers keep asking. If an idea needs more than a handful of slides, split it into two posts.

Common questions

Is photo mode the same as a carousel?

In everyday use, yes. TikTok’s help center speaks of photo posts, and people say photo mode, carousel or slideshow for the same thing.

How many photos can I add?

Up to 35 photos, according to TikTok’s help center.

Do I have to appear on camera?

No. A photo post is made from images you upload, so it can be built from screens and text alone.

Can I save a photo post before publishing it?

Yes. Tap Drafts instead of Post, and the draft stays visible only to you on your profile.

Check what you see in your own app

TikTok updates its app often, and button names and options can differ by version, region and account. The steps above follow TikTok’s help center at the time of writing. If something looks different on your screen, trust your screen and check the help center for the current steps.

Where Zliding fits

Zliding’s Autopilot creates TikTok photo posts from your website. You can edit any of them at any time, and on a paid plan, with automatic publishing on, Autopilot publishes them to TikTok for you. Paste your site into the form below to start with two free weeks and 14 posts, with no credit card. To make one by hand instead, read how to make a TikTok photo carousel, and for what to put in the posts, see how to market your app on TikTok. The pricing page lists what the paid plans add.