Ask Dave Taylor
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • YouTube Videos
  • Top Categories
  • Subscribe via Email
  • Ask A Question
  • Meet Dave
  • Home
  • Pinterest Help
  • How Do I Optimally Resize an Image for Pinterest?

How Do I Optimally Resize an Image for Pinterest?

January 7, 2019 / Dave Taylor / Pinterest Help / No Comments

I’ve been posting images on Pinterest and it’s really fun. Now I want to learn how to optimize image size. What should I be aiming to post?

While the vast majority of social media sites are horizontally oriented – including this very Web site – it turns out that Pinterest is one of the very few that is actually vertically oriented. Look at the home page on Pinterest and you’ll see the images that are taller than they are wide get more screen real estate and therefore attract more clicks and pins. Making this a bit complicated, Pinterest has two different display modes; images when they’re part of a board or stream, and pins after you’ve clicked on them to get more information or see them bigger.

There’s also the issue of what device you’re using, because any smartphone user tracking Pinterest already knows that vertical is good, horizontal not so much. Nonetheless, there is an optimal size for Pinterest images, and that’s 735 pixels. Height can be whatever you want to keep the image proportional, but if you’re just posting horizontally oriented photos from your smartphone, for example, you’re wayyyy off on the size.

The good news is that every device has a graphics editor that lets you crop and resize to produce the best possible result, whether you’re on an Android phone, an iPhone or even a Mac or PC. For this demo, I’ll use my Mac system and the terrific shareware program GraphicConverter for basic image editing. To start, here’s the okay photo I took of some hot sauce I want to post on my Pinterest account [tip: Follow me on Pinterest as @d1taylor]:

hot sauce photo

The sauces are in the photo, front and center, but there’s so much else going on that it’s a bit of a distraction and certainly not going to work well on Pinterest. It’s also horizontally oriented in that it’s wider than it is tall. There’s even data to show that you’ll get more shares if your image is taller too:

data showing pinterest pins clicked on more if they're taller

So let’s fix it! I’ll import the image into GraphicConverter, which lets me then tightly crop it to eliminate all the distractions in the photo:

tightly crop pinterest image

I’m a big fan of really tight cropping. Eliminate random clutter and distractions and people can better focus on what’s important in an image! In this case, cropping gets rid of so much chaos!

Once cropped, though, how big is the image? That’s easily answered in the Information Window in GC:

image dimensions - graphicconverter mac

You can tell just how enormous the original image was from my iPhone XS when this cropped region is still 1237 x 1849. Remember, our goal is to get it to a width of 735, the optimal image size for Pinterest. That’s done by scaling it and letting the height be whatever retains the original proportions:

graphicconverter resize scale image photo

Still pretty big, actually, but now the image is tight and ready to go:

cropped moore's hot sauce photo

Huge improvement, isn’t it?

To post it to Pinterest, just click on the “+” on the top right of your Pinterest home page, then upload the image and fill out all the fields as appropriate. For me, it looks like this:

pinterest post with optimal size graphic

Now you can see how the image works really well with its tight crop and optimal size: we want the image to look as crisp and detailed as possible without wasting people’s time having to download a massive image that’s nonetheless just going to be shown at the 735px width anyway.

This also shows how to add a URL – mooresmarinade.com – pick a board, etc. Looks good? A click on “Save” in the top right and we have a solid and attractive Pinterest pin on the Stuff to Eat! board!

pinterest food stuff to eat board demo image size dimensions

Notice how the other images tend to be horizontal on this board. Well, ya can’t be perfect at everything, right? 🙂

Pro Tip: I have a lot of Pinterest help tutorials. Please check ’em out while you’re here on the site.

About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

Let’s Stay In Touch!

Never miss a single article, review or tutorial here on AskDaveTaylor, sign up for my fun weekly newsletter!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
best pinterest photo size, graphicconverter, image cropping, pinterest image dimensions, pinterest image size, pinterest photo, pinterest tips

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • Everything You Need to Know about Apple’s Clean Energy Charging
  • How Can I Watch Free Classic Movies on my Windows PC?
  • How Can I Maximize Online Privacy with a VPN Connection?
  • SCAM: Did I Just Buy A Computer From Amazon? I Demand a Refund!
  • How Can I Stop My AirPods Pro Making Beeps and Noises?

On Our YouTube Channel

iClever Bluetooth 34-Key Number Pad Keyboard -- REVIEW

Google Pixel 7 Pro Android Smartphone - UNBOXING

Categories

  • AdSense, AdWords, and PPC Help (106)
  • Amazon, eBay, and Online Shopping Help (164)
  • Android Help (228)
  • Apple iPad Help (147)
  • Apple Watch Help (53)
  • Articles, Tutorials, and Reviews (346)
  • Auto Tech Help (17)
  • Business Advice (200)
  • ChromeOS Help (33)
  • Computer & Internet Basics (782)
  • d) None of the Above (166)
  • Facebook Help (384)
  • Google, Chrome & Gmail Help (188)
  • HTML & Web Page Design (247)
  • Instagram Help (49)
  • iPhone & iOS Help (625)
  • iPod & MP3 Player Help (173)
  • Kindle & Nook Help (99)
  • LinkedIn Help (88)
  • Linux Help (174)
  • Linux Shell Script Programming (90)
  • Mac & MacOS Help (914)
  • Most Popular (16)
  • Outlook & Office 365 Help (33)
  • PayPal Help (68)
  • Pinterest Help (54)
  • Reddit Help (19)
  • SEO & Marketing (82)
  • Spam, Scams & Security (96)
  • Trade Show News & Updates (23)
  • Twitter Help (222)
  • Video Game Tips (66)
  • Web Site Traffic Tips (62)
  • Windows PC Help (951)
  • Wordpress Help (206)
  • Writing and Publishing (72)
  • YouTube Help (47)
  • YouTube Video Reviews (159)
  • Zoom, Skype & Video Chat Help (62)

Archives

Social Connections:

Ask Dave Taylor


Follow Me on Pinterest
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Instagram


AskDaveTaylor on Facebook



microsoft insider mvp


This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to our terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. Our lawyer says "Thanks for your cooperation."
© 2023 by Dave Taylor. "Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Accessibility Policy