The short version
- Strong Pinterest pin design starts with a vertical 1000×1500 frame, the 2:3 ratio Pinterest recommends.
- A short text overlay that says what the pin is about helps people understand it at a glance in a busy grid.
- Pins are seen small, so the headline needs to be large, high in the frame and limited to a few words.
- A consistent background, typeface and layout across your pins makes them recognisable before anyone reads your name.
- Making several pins for one page, each with a different headline or image, gives the same content more chances to be found.
On this page
Good Pinterest pin design comes down to four things: a vertical 1000×1500 frame, a short text overlay that says exactly what the pin is, a clear order of reading from headline to image to brand, and a look that stays the same across all your pins. Pinterest is browsed as a grid of small images, so a pin wins by being understood in a glance. Clever comes second to clear.
What a Pinterest pin is competing with
On a phone, the Pinterest feed shows two columns of pins, each a few centimetres wide. Your pin sits beside photographs, recipes and other people's graphics, all asking for the same tap. People arrive with an intent, often after a search, and scan for the pin that matches it. That is why the words on a pin matter more than on most social posts: they tell the scanner they have found the right thing.
Standard pin 2:3
1000 × 1500
Square pin 1:1
1000 × 1000
Long pin 1000×2100
1000 × 2100
Use 1000×1500 for nearly everything. Square pins take less of the column, and long pins at 1000×2100 can be cut off in the feed, which long pins on Pinterest explains. The full list is in Pinterest pin size.
How to write a Pinterest text overlay
The text overlay is the headline set on the pin itself. Write it the way people search: plain words, the topic first, a benefit or number if there is one. "Easy weeknight pasta" beats "Tonight's the night". "Small balcony garden ideas" beats "Grow your own oasis". The title and description you type into Pinterest help search too, so the overlay and the title should agree.
Clear overlay
Clear overlay
Clear overlay
Clear overlay
- Keep the headline to around three to eight words.
- Set it large: on a 1000 pixel wide pin, a headline in the region of 80 to 120 pixels reads at feed size.
- Place it in the top half, where eyes land first.
- Add a smaller supporting line only if it adds a fact: a time, a number, a format such as "printable".
- Use one or two typefaces at most. Best fonts for social media has pairings that hold up small.
Pinterest pin layouts that work
Most effective pins use one of a handful of layouts. Pick the one that suits the content and repeat it, so your pins read as a set.
Headline first: the whole pin is the promise, with the background doing the brand work.
Split layout: words in one band, room for a product photo or preview in the other.
How it works
Use it for
How it works
Use it for
How it works
Use it for
Use it for
Words straight on a busy photo are where pins fail. If the image has detail everywhere, give the text its own band of colour, or choose a photo with a calm area. Make text readable on photos covers the options. On a gradient background in Gradiently, the Mark makes room for your words by itself: its calmest region moves behind the headline and auto ink picks light or dark type per line.
Make your pins a recognisable series
People save from accounts they trust, and trust starts with recognition. When every pin shares a background family, a typeface and a layout, a returning visitor spots yours in a column of strangers. Change the words and the image; keep the frame.
A simple system is one background per content pillar: apricot for recipes, sage for garden posts, lilac for printables. Your boards then look organised, and each pin still belongs to the brand. The thinking behind pillars is in content pillars, and keeping a look across platforms is in consistent branding across social media.
How to design Pinterest pins, step by step
- 1
Start from the page you want clicks to
Every pin should lead somewhere. Write down what the reader gets on that page in one sentence.
- 2
Write three headlines
Different angles on the same page: a number, a problem, a format. Each can become its own pin.
- 3
Open a 1000×1500 template
Choose a layout from the table above and keep the headline in the top half.
- 4
Add one image or none
A clear photo of the result, or let a confident background carry the pin on its own.
- 5
Put your name small at the bottom
A logo or website line, quiet but legible. It is attribution, not the message.
- 6
Check it at feed size
Shrink the preview to the width of a phone column. If you cannot read the headline, make it bigger or shorter.
Several pins per page is normal practice, and it is where a template and a spreadsheet save hours. Gradiently's bulk create on Pro takes one pin design and a CSV of headlines, shows you every version to review, then creates them as pages. The Designer can also write headline options in your brand kit's voice and lay them out in your Mark.
Questions people ask
What makes a good Pinterest pin design?
A vertical 1000×1500 frame, a short and specific text overlay set large in the top half, one clear image or a calm background, and a consistent look across your pins.
Should Pinterest pins have text on them?
Usually yes. A short overlay that says what the pin is about helps people understand it at a glance and matches what they searched for.
What font size should I use on a Pinterest pin?
On a 1000 pixel wide pin, a headline around 80 to 120 pixels reads well at feed size. Supporting text should rarely go below about 36 pixels.
How many pins should I make for one blog post?
There is no fixed number. Making a few pins with different headlines or images gives the same page more chances to match different searches.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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