Like with a lot of things, Pinterest is a bit different from social media sites when it comes to image size. While many favor either square or horizontal images, Pinterest wants us to create pins that are vertical – taller than they are wide.
But what size images should Pinterest pins be? And does this mean you can’t pin other size images?
The ideal pin ratio
Let’s start with what Pinterest says. In their best practices, they say that the best ratio for a Pinterest image is 2:3. The most common example of this is 1000 x 1500 pixels. If you were a user of Canva a few years back, their image size was 735 x 1105 pixels, again 2:3.
The same size is good for video pins. So you can make an Instagram Story video and this will be roughly the right size to use on Pinterest without needing to crop or alter. YouTube is more of a problem as their classic horizontal image doesn’t easily translate to the taller vertical images that Pinterest likes – but more on a workaround in a moment.
Taller ‘Giraffe’ pins and infographics
For a long time, certain niches such as food bloggers have used longer pins that became known as ‘giraffe’ pins, although no one really knows why! These are typical dimensions such as 750 x 1500 pixels or 1000 x 2200 pixels.
If you are going to test using these taller pins for some situations, the key thing to remember is that they may be cut off in the Smart Feed. That means only a portion of the pin will appear, usually about the top two-thirds. So make sure your headline or most important information or images are clearly visible in that section.
Infographics are a slightly separate class of pins and Pinterest knows these will be longer than any other pin. They do tend to do well so if you can make them or have ones you have the rights to use, definitely try pinning them.
What size should Pinterest Story images be?
The final category of pin images you might want to make is Pinterest Stories. These are relatively new but are rolling out to most areas. Pinterest has said the ideal size for these images is 900 x 1600 pixels, so a little different from the usual pins but not by much.
It is also similar in dimensions to the typical Instagram Story image which is usually 1000 x 1920 pixels. So again, a little cross-posting may work. But don’t just share from one to another with Instagram or TikTok branding showing as Pinterest isn’t keen on that. Instead, tweak the content a little and upload it straight to Pinterest.
Can you use other sizes?
With the ideal ratio, Pinterest tells us what it likes best. But this doesn’t mean that it will ignore pins that are other sizes. In fact, it often encourages pins from other sites such as Instagram if they are relevant for Pinterest.
So it is worth trying those square Instagram images as pins. Another idea is to take something like a video image and add it to the top half of a standard pin. You can add a headline then a still image below. That way, you don’t have to resize YouTube videos but can use them on Pinterest.
Test and try
With Pinterest images, it is always a good idea to test and try different sizes and styles of pins to see what your audience responds to. After all, Pinterest wants users on the platform and interacting with content and if they like your square pins best, Pinterest will be happy with that!