Hi Dave. I saw your helpful tutorial on how to pin a favorite photo on Pinterest from the Web but am wondering if you can explain how to actually upload my own photo to Pinterest?
If you read the earlier tutorial, you’ve got about 80% of what you need to contribute new content to the surprisingly popular and engaging Pinterest site. I know that whenever I go and check the Pinterest boards my friends maintain, I find that I can quickly lose 20-30 minutes at a streak (thanks to Jolene at Heathy Discoveries for turning me on to Pinterest in the first place!)
Still, in the interest of completeness, let me show you step by step exactly how to upload, categorize and post / pin a new photo to the world of Pinterest, with the additional step of adding a witty — or snarky! — comment.
It all starts with a Pinterest account, of course. I’m d1taylor on Pinterest, if you’d like to see what catches my attention…
Once you’re logged in, look on the top right for the “Add +” button…
Click on it and you’ll get the usual “add a pin” window:
Click on it…
Click on “Choose File” and select the image file you want to upload.
All looks good? Now the big question: do you want to cross-post it to your Facebook account? If so, check the tiny “Facebook” box on the lower right before you proceed.
Either way, when you’re ready and the comment is a good match, click on “Pin It”.
All looks good? Great. Here’s what your friends and followers will see on Pinterest:
I have been pinning for ages, but as one of your questions above, each pin only says ‘uploaded by user’. I want it to say my profile name!
My suspicion is that everyone else sees your account name when they look at it, and this is because it’s your pin.
How do I add the “visit site” button
I don’t see this “pin it” icon so I can upload my pictures. Where is it???
I can’t find the box with Add a pin, Upload a pin, Create a board. I have create a board on my site, but not the box mentioned here. I have a place to add a pin but it is looking for a pin already out on Pinterest I guess. I cant add a web url or find anywhere that I can upload my own photo, etc.
Am on a Mac – with Yosemite.
Am tired of trying to figure this all out.
did u find it? I wanted to put a vw van on there
There’s nothing lost. They’ve just moved the darn button again. Now look for a “+” button on the top right of your Pinterest screen. Click on it and away you go, Greg!
Too darn confusing for me.
I’m not seeing it ( “pin it”) either.
Is anyone faceing problem pinning pic from iphone gallery to pinterest
It was working fine but since thelast update i cant ???
I am having this same problem. It’s driving me crazy!
I am new to Pinterest. Will someone tell me how to make the pin show my profile picture and say pinned from “my name” instead of pinned from “uploaded by user” They are all my own pins from jpegs from my own computer. Is there a setting some place I need to adjust? Also, I do not have a webpage to put there yet. Thank YOU for any help, I appreciate it.
I created my first board on Pinterest. But, it doesn’t show up on searches, even if I use the exact wording from the description and even if there aren’t alot of pins for the topic. Any idea why or what I need to do?
Hi Dave,
Having a problem and hope you can help. All the pins I have uploaded from my computer via ‘add a pin’; state (pinned from: uploaded by user). I see upload a pin/choose image/add a description; then a choice of which board to add it to. Only after it’s pinned, can I go in and edit (adding a website link or any other details. However, the only thing I cannot find in either of these boxes or under my settings or edit my profile; is how to get the image to state pinned by: ‘uploaded by my profile name’ rather than just ‘uploaded by user’. I see the board names and follow this board name suggestions all of the time in my news feed and cannot for the life of me, figure out why my own board name doesn’t show when I upload my own pics. Hope you can help! Kind thanks
Hi there, I want to assign my website with the board on Pinterest. Any suggestion ??
I don’t know what you mean, Linda, when you say “assign my website with the board”. Can you clarify?
Your tutorial was easy and I was able to pin my own photo, however, it doesn’t post correctly, ie, it posts sideways. When I mess with it at my end and rotate it, it comes out right, however, it’s a very squished photo. What adjustments to I need to make?
How are you rotating your picture, Kathy? That’s easy to do with Microsoft Paint, if you’re on Windows…
Hey Dave
I am trying to pin from my mac and when I go to pin it, it says that “it is not supported” even though it is a JPG. Is there some other format Pinterest likes?
Pinterest definitely supports JPG, Terri. Hmm… try dragging the image directly onto your Web browser’s main window and see if it’s rendered properly by the browser?
That worked for me and my old Macbook. Thanks.
I have a balloon delivery business & have watermarked my pictures however, I see some of my pictures on pinterest without my knowledge or consent. I thought maybe I should just starting posting pictures on to pinterest to avoid the piracy. Do you need to have a website to post pictures as I only have a facebook page for publicity reasons. Thank you in advance!
Tamara – pinterest can be a real pain of copyright infringement for photographers. A REAL PAIN! Pinterest users copying photos to their pin boards with the photographer’s permission.
For heaven’s sake people, if it’s not your photo what makes you think it’s legal to copy to your pin board?
Photographers: you can use this pinterest form to get your photos removed from pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/about/copyright/dmca-pin/
how to i upload a pic to pinterest that is too large?
as it’s trying to upload the pic the reply is sends me is
XHR returned response code error 413?
is that what it means and how do i shrink my pic?
thank you so much
I haven’t bumped into that specific error before, Karla, but have you tried using a different Web browser to see if that fixes the problem? If the image is more than 1000×1000 pixels or so, it might well be too darn big too. If so, Microsoft Paint lets you reduce your image size if you’re on a PC and it’s pretty easy to use. In fact, I wrote about it: https://www.askdavetaylor.com/how-do-i-resize-a-photograph-or-picture-in-windows/
Thanks for this. I was able to do it easily without screwing up the picture or losing it altogether. Easier than I thought it would be.
How do I upload photos I’ve taken or created to pinterest but link them back to my own website?
Karen, you need to do that in two steps: Upload the photo, add it to the board you want, THEN click on the “Edit” button and add your URL as the target. Tedious, but doable.
Clear as mud regarding uploads. I have given up trying. Cannot identify an “Add +”anywhere when I am logged in or a floating “+” button on the lower right.
Phil, are you logged in to your Pinterest account at the time?
I uploaded the photo following your instruction, clicked pin it, and it disappeared. I assume it’s on the pinterest site somewhere, but I can’t find it to click the edit button to add my web url. How do I find it please. Thanks.
Check the board you assigned it to: For reasons I haven’t been able to figure out, sometimes an image I pin to a Pinterest board doesn’t show up on my Pinterest home page, even though I can confirm it’s on the specific board.
I do not have an add button so what do I do it is a different set up to daves !!!!!!!! 🙁
Emma, Pinterest changed things: There should be a floating “+” button on the lower right. Click on it!
I also don’t have an ‘add button’. I have two little things that look like push pins facing in different directions, but I have waited several times now, for the grey circle to stop spinning so I can add my own recipe or photo to my pinterest wall. What’s going on ? Why can’t I add my own stuff on pinterest ? Can you help me ?
Thanks kindly, Tina
Thanks!
My computer doesn’t even have the 1st step. 🙁
Ah, Pinterest has changed things. Look for the floating “+” on the lower right when you’re on the Pinterest site, Faith!
being a new member on pinterest I just today learned how to put my pictures on my board. I would like to put some on pinterest and when I click the “download to pinterest” button nothing happens. I will keep trying but would love a little help. Thanks
Hi, can I put a picture that I have on Illustrator onto Pinterest, or does it have to just be a pic from a website?
Katherine, you could export an Illustrator picture in PNG or JPG format then upload it to Pinterest, but it won’t work with native file formats from programs like Photoshop or Illustrator.
I have been wondering the same thing i have about nine boards or so but I don’t understand how to post stuff
that was so helpful thanks
Now I cannot get my website verified nor can I download any of my pictures from my computer. Keep getting “woops… “ returned response code 0” or woops wrong filetype… Help…
‘The first step is to identify the photo or other graphic that you’d like to pin from your own computer. If it’s not on your computer, you should probably not be trying to upload it. 🙂 ‘ Thanks Dave, I was trying to upload from my brain.
Sweet. How was that working out for you, Peter? 🙂
:jawdrop:
Ann, what computer are you using? What operating system? What browser? Are you going to pinterest.com and clicking on the menu on the top right?
Hi Dave. I can’t upload to Pinterest either. 🙁 I get a message that says Pinterest doesn’t support that file type. It’s a JPG. I have Microsoft Windows XP on a laptop.
Pinterest does NOT allow me to chose photos from my computer… it wants a web site. I have tried iPad & I have tried my computer with WIN7. I have been attempting this for MONTHS. Pinterest came back with an obscure message that had nothing to do with the question. how can this me so difficult? There is no option to chose a file from my computer – only a web site. Is anyone else finding this so difficult?
same here, not allowing uploads from computer 🙁
I can’t even find the add button.
Yeah, the “Add” button is now the little floating “+” symbol on the lower right of your Pinterest screen, Harmella.
Hi Dave, thanks for the info! I have a few questions though. Im not a blogger and don’t have my own website. However, Im an advid Diyer. If I pin one of my own diy projects on pintrest, will it be traceable…or in other words, will I be notified when my picture is repinned? I dont see the point in posting your own picture unless you can have some ongoing feedback regarding the online activity of the image.
Theres also the question of people “stealing” your photo if theres no blog or web attached…do you see this as a potential issue?
Thanks for your insights…I want to be informed before I use pinterest for posting my own pictures.
Hi Lisa. You can definitely use and enjoy Pinterest without having a site of your own. In fact, you can use it just to pin other people’s photos and pins so you don’t even need any original content. Depending on your settings, yes, you’ll get notifications of repins, etc. And in terms of stealing images? Well, anything that’s online can be ripped off, unfortunately, and Pinterest is no different…
Yes, I have been trying to do the same thing. I have my pictures on my boards but can’t get them to the Pinterest site. I don’t have the buttons they show. I have tried for weeks to get this to work. Very discouraged and tired of this.
I am a 75 year old grandmother that has very little computer knowledge. The information you gave on how to upload photos to pinterest worked. It worked the first time I tried it. So I did it again and the picture uploaded. Thank you for your information. I plan to upload from my iphone using your information. Thank you
i hit the pin to upload and when I click the image box I get a message that i need to enter a valid website URL?
You solved my dilemma — thank you so much for being there for us computer novices.
Thank you so much for this well-explained tutorial. Once you do it, it becomes one of the easiest things!
Hi there,
Is there anyway to upload let’s bulk pins from your own computer? That means many pics at the same time like you do so with Flickr photo site, Picasa and so on…
Thanks
I haven’t found a way to pin images to Pinterest other than one-at-a-time. 🙁
I’m having sporadic issues with pinning images to Pinterest. If I’m using Google Chrome and pin an image URL, many times the image does not appear. However, if I use Firefox, the image appears. Why is that?
For everyone who is struggling o upload from iPhone/iPad… I figured out how to do it. You have to do it through the app, though. If you look at the drop down menu on the left there is a “camera” option. Choose this, and you’ll get a library icon in the bottom left corner of the camera screen. Then you can locate your photo library and upload a photo directly from your device. Hope this helps!
oooh.. so you actually have to download the Pinterest app first.. thank you so much!!!
Can’t pin from ipad to Pinterest anymore. I use the camera option…search library but the pin button is disabled
🙂
Yeah, I need to update this article, John. Now on the top right menu it has the option “Add Pin”. That’s how you do it in the newer interface. 🙂
Help! When I click on add a pin it only gives me the option to search the web for pictures! Did they recently update it that way? 🙁
Dave,
I have posted two pictures on to pinterest one was as picture of my dog and the other an anklet. When I go to search to find the picture i posted i don’t see it. I see that it is posted and it is on my activity but why can’t i see in when i search?
Thanks Dave, for bringing this to my attention. I was using Microsoft Office Picture Manager, switched to save as jpg and now it works. Thanks!
RE: Tammy, I definitely upload PNG images to Pinterest with good results. Are you sure your images are “web ready” from your graphics program?
Cindy, you need to rotate your photos before you upload them: Pinterest has no photo editing tools, no cropping, no rotation.
Tammy, I definitely upload PNG images to Pinterest with good results. Are you sure your images are “web ready” from your graphics program?
If i pin an image can anyone see it without me having followers
If people search and match a word in your description or pinboard name, yes, they can see it even if you have zero followers.
I’m wondering if all images that are uploaded need to be in jpeg format or if they can be in png? I ask because every time I upload a png the image shows fine as I upload it but then it shows as a blank on my board. Thanks for your reply in advance 🙂
Why are some of my pins sideways? How do I rotate???
Does anyone know how to rotate a picture on pinterest
Hello,
I am having the same problem as Lnrosy. I have tried rebooting my iPad, signing out and signing back in but still no Upload pin button. I cannot find any solution to this problem on the Pinterest help site. Strange how I don’t have this problem when using my PC.
Thanks in advance for your help
Hi,
How are you? I am trying to add a photo from my I pad to my Pinterest. I have followed your instructions. However when I click on the add button, I do not get the section that says upload pin. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks and have a great day!
I am new to pinterest…sometimes when I upload a photo on pinterest shows up and sometimes I just get a little picture icon and the actual picture will only show up if you click on the icon…I can’t figure out what I do differently…help?
When I upload pictures to Pinterst they are sideways. WHen I right click there is no option to rotate them. How do I rotate them?
Hi Dave,
I am at my wits end! When I upload a photo from my iphoto(imac), the source bar on the pin says “uploaded by user” instead of my name. Can you please tell me what to do? As you know, Pinterest support is
non-existent so no help there.
i started to pinterest recently, must have missed some step. when my friends log in to my pinterest they can see ‘edit’ insted of ‘follows’ below my board. they can see my profile and can change it too. this worried me. please help. thank you in advance. from malaysia
Having used Pinterest for over a year, today I’m suddenly having the same problem as Carolyn P (21st Jan 2013). Photos uploaded from my computer are not displaying once they have been pinned to a board. http://pinterest.com/scrapstore/our-scrapstore/ I have never experienced this before. Can you help?
Dave, have you heard of anyone having this problem with Pinterest? When I type in pinterest.com on Iternet Explorer 10 I see Pinterest Logo at the top, how many people are following me, and that I am following, but that’s it I can’t see my boards, or anyone elses, I can click on Humor but nothing pops up just the category Humor and below it is blank. My computer had been acting up and had to get a new one and the problem still exists. I have even turned of my firewall but that didn’t help either. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Maria
A) Thanks for the helpful post. B) You should have tried the bacon bark – salty+chocolate+crunchy=delicious!
I would like to know why some/most of my picture do not show on my boards. The box is there with description & space where picture should be. What is weird is that they are all from my computer and are identical in properties & some of the pictures showed up. I have even tried to re-upload several. I email Pinterest and they did even try to help.
Please Help!!! If someone could look at my Board/Page, look under “Beautiful Landscapes” or “Garden” or “Water fun”. A suggestions??
http://pinterest.com/carolynp970/