How to Make Pinterest Pins That Look Amazing: Free Checklist!

Wondering how to make Pinterest Pins?

Or maybe you’re struggling with how many new Pins you need to create, now that Pinterest wants “fresh” Pins.

Eye-catching Pins are essential to capture the attention of your target audience on Pinterest, and grab their clicks to your website, blog, or online store.

There are so many easy design apps available now.

BUT before you go making just any old images, there are a few things you should know.

So read on and learn!

This article has two main parts:

1. How to make Pinterest Pins in a flash (FOUR fast & easy ways to create Pins).
2. How to make the best Pins that get more exposure, traffic, and sales (design tips).

The important thing with Pinterest (as in most things) is to just get started.

The good news is that Pins live a long time on the Pinterest platform.

The bad news is that it can take a while to gain traction!

So, start with fast and easy. Pin this article and return later for the in-depth design tips that help your Pin go viral.

Already have a design tool? Jump to the design tips section.

Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may make a referral fee if you purchase. 

How to Design Pins Online, Fast!

Ready to jump in and create Pins? Start here.

You’ll learn 4 ways to make Pinterest Pins:

1. Directly on Pinterest.com (simplest but most limited).
2. With Snappa, an easy design tool that includes 350+ Pin templates.
3. With Tailwind Create that generates hundreds of designs at a click.
4. In Canva, with custom-designed templates you won’t see everyone else using.

Free Pinterest Pin Maker Right in Pinterest

Heads up: Pinterest’s tool is quite limited.

But it can help if you’re just getting started on Pinterest, and have NO familiarity with a design tool – and don’t want to learn one.

Because you need an image to start with, it will work best for:

• Recipe bloggers.
• Crafts bloggers.
• Travel bloggers.
• Ecommerce sites with product photos.

With the Pinterest Pin Editor, you can:

• Crop your photos to the proper shape (of the options offered, use 2:3 for best results).
• Add your logo (I recommend bottom center).
• Add a text overlay if you like (words on the image that explain your product or article).

For many people, just being able to get the right shape is huge. I know, because people ask me how to do this. All. The. Time!

Adding their logo is a bonus.

So it works for beginners.

Its simplicity will get you out of “what do I pick?” options and on to creating something.

Need more options? Jump to learn about better Pin design tools.

How to Make Pins on Pinterest

To access this feature, you must have a business account.

Head to the Pinterest website on your desktop or laptop computer, OR the iOS or Android app. Directions below show computer.

1 | Open your Pinterest business account.

2 | Click the plus sign + in the top-right corner and choose Create Pin.

3 | Add an image to create a Pin.

• Click the caret ^ to upload an image.
• Drag and drop an image into the grey box.

4 | Add a title, description, and destination URL.

Optional: Hover over the image and click the edit pencil:

• Crop: Drag and drop the red frame to crop your Pin or use the recommended 2:3 ratio. See image above.
• Add a logo: Click ★ and select your logo.
• Add color: Select a color fill or adjust for placement and margin.
• Add text: Click “A” and enter your text into the text box.

There are 20 typefaces available, in various weights, giving you a small amount of options. See all the variants of Raleway, below.

5 | Choose to publish your Pin immediately or schedule it for a later date. You can choose to schedule on the hour or half hour, up to 30 days in the future (see below).

6 | Click the dropdown next to “Select” and choose an existing Pinterest board to save your Pin to, or create a new one.

7 | Click Publish. It will post later if you chose to schedule.

Scheduled Pins can be accessed from your profile. You can choose to Delete or Publish Now, but you can’t edit a scheduled Pin.

Directly below is the Pin I created… it’s OK, but I had to make adjustments to the background image before uploading to the free Pinterest Pin maker since there are only 3 positions available for your type, with left or center alignment.

Just for comparison sake, I used the same image for a Pin I created in Photoshop – you can see that one just below the Pinterest-created one.

So, you won’t get an amazing Pin with Pinterest’s Pin Builder unless you start with an already amazing photo that just needs a logo and a couple words of text added.

Onward…

How to Create Pins for Pinterest with Snappa

Here’s a top Pinterest Pin creator for newbies: Snappa.

Why do I prefer it to Canva?

Snappa has over 350 Pinterest templates available in the Pro account, which costs $15 per month or $120 per year if paid annually.

OR, you can make 5 Pins a month with a free account and limited templates.

Their Pin templates have strong designs that will stand out on Pinterest. Remember, if you don’t catch their eyes, you can’t get their clicks.

Is Snappa better than Canva?

1. Snappa’s templates aren’t seen repeatedly on Pinterest, like Canva’s.
2. Pay once for unlimited free photos, not $1 per use like many on Canva.

If you already know and love Canva, no problem! You can also buy unique, customized templates, which we’ll discuss further down this article.

How to Make Pins on Snappa.com

1 | Set up your free account at Snappa.com.

2 | Choose the Pinterest Pin graphic. It’s already the optimal 2:3 shape.

3 | Pick a Pin template design. I picked the donuts!

4 | Upload or select a background photo. It all starts with the background!

You can search for an appropriate image using any keyword.

For this example, I just kept the original.

5 | Add any desired photo effects.

You can choose to add a color overlay to tone down your photo. Select any color you like! I used lilac here.

Other options that can help text placed over your photo to stand out:

• Darken (for light text overlay).
• Brightness (add more for dark text overlay).
• Blur (takes the focus off the photo and onto your type).

You can adjust the saturation, hue, and contrast of the photo if you like, as well.

Since we have text over a color block here, I reset the photo to normal since these tweaks weren’t needed.

6 | The third tab is where you can add or edit any of the text.

Use the dropdown to select the font.

The next line lets you adjust the size and style:

• Bold
• Italic
• Bold italic
• Underline
• Strikethrough

The next line lets you choose the alignment (left, center, or right) and any color you like.

Below that, Letter Spacing lets you space out or squish together the letters in the words.

Line Height adjusts the space between the lines of copy.

You can add a shadow! This is an awesome feature the helps your type stand out from the background.

Lastly, you can make the text semi-transparent.

7 | Under the graphics tab, you can add icons and graphics if you like.

Use the search bar to find just what you want. I added this cute emoji face.

8 | Also under the graphics tab, you can upload your logo, and save it for future use too.

Or, you can upload photos to place over your background or in a collage. Any photo that’s not your background image would be uploaded here.

Then on the top right, you’ll see where to download your creation!

Web optimized is what you want if you’ll place it on your website.

The others will give you a larger file size, which is fine if you plan to upload directly to Pinterest or Tailwind. But these high resolution files will slow your website load times, so don’t use them there.

And that’s it! Now you have a beautiful, branded Pin.

Use the Save button at top right to save this in your Snappa account so you can edit it later.

Click here to try SNAPPA design tool FREE.

Make and Schedule Pins with Tailwind Create

Tailwind is best known for its Pinterest scheduling features. But they also offer Tailwind Create.

What is Tailwind Create?

Confused by templates? Never know which to pick?

Ditch ’em!

Tailwind Create lets you design pins effortlessly, using best practices from Pinterest.

Ready to promote your latest blog post or product on Pinterest? No worries about picking a template – Tailwind Create generates numerous designs at the click of a button.

Use your own photos or free ones provided by Tailwind.

They’ve even got fonts!

Tailwind Create makes designer-quality Pins quickly and helps you optimize all of your Pinterest marketing faster than ever before.

You can pop your new Pins into their scheduler so easily! It really saves you time.

As a Marketing Partner, Tailwind is in constant communication with Pinterest, so they’ve always got the latest info on what you should and shouldn’t do to succeed on Pinterest.

Because successful pinning isn’t just about pretty Pins!

How to use Tailwind Create

Here’s how it works in a quick video. Then below, we’ll run through each of the steps as text plus screenshots.

Set your brand preferences

This is a one time job – unless you change your branding!

Add your brand name and logos.

Then choose your fonts and colors.

Tailwind can then automatically add these to your Pin designs – but you can also edit these after you’ve made Pins, if you like.

Start creating Pins

Now you can get started with Pin creation.

Add your destination link and Pin title.

Got photos? Upload 3 or more. Or select some from the free stock photos available. Just search for what you need!

That’s it! Now Tailwind will create a whole selection of Pins for you to choose from. Literally in seconds!

Shown is just a small sampling of Pins created.

Personalizing the Pins

But that’s not all. You can also edit these Pins to make them just as you want.

On the side menu, you can add a subheadline, change fonts, or change the color palette.

You can use brand colors, pull colors from the images, or even choose some preset selections.

There’s an option to remove the branding entirely if you’d like to test this.

Editing the individual Pin

If you’re really a stickler, you can individually edit the Pin to fine-tune things.

Select the Pin and use the ‘edit’ option to access the Advanced Editor. This is more like you’d see in Canva.

Here you can change all the things. You can:

• Change the image.
• Change the font.
• Add a drop shadow.
• Make the text bigger or smaller.
• Remove elements from the Pin.
• Change colors.

Once you have finished fine-tuning the Pin, either download it or save and go back.

Sending Pins to the scheduler

Because this design tool is inside Tailwind, it’s easy to send the Pins right to the scheduler.

Once you’ve selected the Pins you want, just click the ‘go schedule’ green button in the bottom corner.

This will take you and the Pins to the drafts section. You can then schedule them as you usually do.

Never used it before? Tailwind provides easy tutorials for scheduling .

How do I get Tailwind Create?

If you’re not already a Tailwind user, sign up for a free Tailwind account (no credit card required!).

Once you’ve joined Tailwind, you’ll find Tailwind Create right in your dashboard.

And the best news – on your FREE Tailwind account, you can create AND schedule 20 Pins for free each month, forever!

Upgrade to create and publish more Pins and posts, OR stay on the new free plan forever.

You’ve gotta try it! Sign up and start creating Pins right now.

Best Pinterest Pin Templates

One of the big problems with using templates from Canva is that everyone is using them.

Ever been on Pinterest and see a Pin design that you recognized from Canva?

We’ve been there – and we don’t want that to be our Pin!

The solution is to grab some of the best Pinterest Pin templates to spice up your Pin creation.

Templates make it easy to add variety to your fresh Pins, and to stand out on Pinterest with a unique look.

Pinteresting Strategies templates

A great source of proven templates is Pinteresting Strategies.

Try a free sample of Carly’s monthly template subscription! You’ll get 7 Pins for Canva, and 5 for PicMonkey.

Each of these designs is based on Pins she’s used for her business. They’ve got the proven track record you’re after.

They’re easy to work with, whether you prefer Canva or PicMonkey.

You’ll also get a training video for each tool!

Grab Carly’s FREE Pin templates here. You can see a sampling below.

Simple Pin Media templates

Simple Pin Media is known as one of the top Pinterest management companies out there.

Pinterest management not in your budget? No worries!

Take advantage of their expertise by purchasing their Pin templates.

These templates are optimized based on the hundreds of accounts they’ve managed. So you know what you create with these templates will be effective and based on current best practices.

Because they’re Canva templates, they are also super easy to use!

Check out the Canva templates here.

You can see a sampling of Simple Pin’s templates below.

Creative Market templates

Need more options, or prefer to use Photoshop?

Creative Market has hundreds of choices for Canva, plus Photoshop options.

Check out the Creative Market Pin templates here.

How to add a third party template to Canva

Once you buy templates, how do you get them into Canva?

In most cases, it’s a simple process.

Some people share a link for the template. Others send a PDF with the links in it.

Once you hit the link, the screen opens and there’s the turquoise button saying ‘use template.’

This opens the template in Canva.

But STOP! Don’t edit this template!

Instead, go to ‘all your designs’ and find the new template.

Then hit the three dots in the corner and select ‘make a copy’.

You can then use this copy if you want. But your original is still there if you need it.

Make the Best Pins with These Design Tips

Ready to learn more so you can make Pins that are truly unique?

Templates are a wonderful shortcut, but once you change them up, you can make a mess if you don’t follow some basic design principles.

There are several goals you want to achieve with your Pinterest images:

• Stand out in the Smart Feed
• Attract your target customer
• Be easily understood
• Grab clicks to your website

Pinning for business isn’t just about looking good, or even about getting repins! It’s about getting your target audience to visit your site, where you can start (or further) a relationship with them.

While there’s more to the best pins than how they look, this part of the article will focus only on creating pinnable images with viral potential.

The way to create awesome pins that drive traffic is through:

• Color
• Photos
• Text overlay
• Design

Best Colors for Standout Pinterest Pins

Which colors stand out most on Pinterest? Bright, warm tones!

• Warm-toned images of red, orange, and brown got twice the repins of cool blues.

You may already have business colors that you wish to include in your Pinterest images – and that’s fine.

However – I can tell you that for a couple years, I went crazy with purple pins. And they did well.

But when I started moving towards using purple as an accent, with a lot of warm tones – they did crazy well!

So I’ve moved towards simpler pins of mostly yellow with purple type (and some red 😉 ). I’m really happy with this move. I even like my brand colors better now! So cheerful 🙂

It’s not critical that you stick to warm tones, but worth considering.

I recommend trying bright, light, and clear colors.

• Images with medium lightness are repinned 20 times more than dark, dramatic images.
• Medium light images are repinned 8 times more than images that are mostly white.
• Images that have 50% saturation get 10 times more repins than very desaturated images.

If you can, use tints of your brand color that have medium lightness and saturation.

But always test to see what works for your audience. Not every niche is suited to light, bright colors.

Infographic via Curalate.

Which Photos Should You Use on Pinterest Pins?

First off, know that photos aren’t a must on your pins.

Of course, if you’re selling a product, you’ll want a professional photo of it for your pin – and lifestyle photos (where the product is seen in a real-life scene instead of on a bland background) will do best on Pinterest.

Your photos should help people understand how your brand fits into their lives. Use real-life settings and models to show your offerings in action. For example, if you sell apparel or accessories, feature your products on a model. Lifestyle images are often more effective for grabbing attention than plain product shots.

Showing your product in use or in a real-life setting can help drive traffic.

If you’re a blogger or service business, though, a well designed graphic of colors and text can work well too.

Pinterest tells us,

Pinterest is a visual platform, so you’ll want to use images that stand out and say something about what you have to offer. Use high-resolution, high-quality images. Steer clear of low-quality images or images that are too busy.

Once upon a time, so-so images had a chance at getting “repinned,” but users now are bombarded with visual content. In any event, I doubt you want a ho-hum photo associated with your website and brand.

Which photos stand out? Think color, contrast, and shape. The Pinterest feed is mostly white, so pictures that have bright or strong color and a lot of contrast will stand out.

You can capitalize on this by using photos that have a white background. See that red dress? How could you miss it! It makes a bold shape of its own that catches your eye.

As a graphic designer, I’d been using this technique without even realizing it. The Pinterest picture at right was one of my most-repinned graphics, back in my early Pinterest days.

Now you know my secret!

Photos without faces usually do better on Pinterest. Users seem to prefer imagining themselves in your outfit / location / situation to seeing a model. As always, test with your audience.

• Less than 20% of images on Pinterest include faces.
• Brand images without faces receive 23% more repins than those with faces.

Keep images upbeat and relevant to your audience. Ages ago, I had a yoga website. I was using a stressed-looking lady, or a guy with back pain – but these don’t get shared by people following the category “Yoga.” I learned to restrict my photo selections to relaxing yoga poses.

Evaluate if your Pinterest traffic warrants limiting photo selection like this.

Free photos: If you use free images, be sure to credit the artist per the source’s requirements. If you use free, CC0 photos are best because they don’t require attribution. Don’t ever, ever use photos you find on Google (or elsewhere) without permission.

Here’s everything you need to know about free photo sites.

If time is more precious than a few bucks, here are my favorite sites for professional, royalty-free images. Forget about wasting time poring over hundreds of not-quite-right free photos and find top-notch royalty free photos easily here:

Dreamstime – Buy a pack of credits for as low as $16. This is the one I use because I don’t need to purchase a lot of photos. Click here to check it out.

Adobe Stock Photos – Where the pros go. My client has a subscription and we use it regularly because we need a lot of top-quality photos. Click here to check it out.

If you’re making photo collages, use 4 photos or fewer. You can either use PicMonkey Long Pin templates, or Canva.

In Canva, start with the template for the Pinterest-sized graphic (735 pixels wide by 1,102 pixels tall), then add a grid, and pull in images.

Pins that focus on a single product lead to more closeups and saves.

Typography for Font-astic Pinterest Pins

A text overlay on your image can help give context and meaning to your Pin.

Text overlays designed for clicks lead people to action. Highlight elements of the Pin that aren’t obvious from the image to help someone see that your brand or product offering is a good fit for them.

Inspire action by including lists and tips in a text overlay or your Pin description. Or, try “teasing” tips or advice in your Pin, then complete the story when a Pinner clicks through to your landing page.

Be clear. Inspire action. But how?

If your Pins aren’t getting all the attention and clicks you’d like, I recommend this inexpensive resource that will help you write click-worthy titles!

These title tricks work because they tap into human nature.

Check out Pinterest Title Traffic Hacks eBook & video training.

It’s critically important to keep your fonts clean, large, and readable. Remember that 80% of users are on mobile. That means it’s highly likely that people are seeing your pin at about ONE inch wide!

Fontastic tips:

• Choose one to three simple typefaces.
• Consider the font personality if you don’t already have brand fonts.
• Use just a few words that entice people to click.
• Make sure important words are easily readable.
• Place text over a clean background.
• Test the legibility of your images before you publish by checking them at mini-size.

Design the Best Pinterest Pins

There are many easy design tools for non-designers that include pre-sized Pinterest templates.

If you’re already using a design tool that doesn’t have preset sizes, all you need to know is the optimal Pin size is 600 to 1,000 pixels wide, and 1.5 to 2.1 times as tall as it is wide.

For example: 1,000 pixels wide x 1,500 pixels tall, up to 1,000 wide x 2,100 tall.

Pinterest tells us that the 2:3 proportion actually gets the best engagement. You can test this with your own audience, though.

Since the introduction of hashtags on Pinterest, they’ve even said square Pins are acceptable. I’m sure they’re trying to accommodate crossposting from Instagram. They’ve even included square as an option in their own design tool, which I described above.

Here’s the latest from Pinterest in 2023:

Use high-quality, vertical images that will stand out in people’s feeds. We recommend a 2:3 aspect ratio (ex: 1000 x 1500 pixels). source

Here are my latest tips on Pinterest image sizes.

If you need an easy design tool, the ones that have the most pre-designed templates for making “branded” Pins are Canva and Snappa. You can read more about these tools earlier on this page.

One trick you can learn from their templates is to place your text on a color shape over your photo background. You can edit the words, fonts, photos, and colors to suit your brand.

Be sure to pick a template with few words and legible fonts. The templates vary in their suitability for a standout Pin.

Here are some Snappa templates that have my stamp of approval.

Click here to try SNAPPA design tool FREE.

Add a watermark to all your images. Add a subtle logo, brand name, or your URL to the bottom of your Pins.

Pinterest says,

Tasteful branding conveys credibility and helps people understand what your brand is about. Don’t overdo your branding!

Build brand equity, credibility and legitimacy by adding a logo watermark to your Pins. A small watermark can help guide people to your brand easily and unobtrusively.

All the design tools I mentioned allow you to upload a PNG logo that you can superimpose on any images you create.

If you just need to add a logo to a photo, read this post about adding watermarks.

How to Make Pinterest Pins Conclusion

We covered 3 easy ways to make Pinterest Pins:

• On Pinterest.com.
• With Snappa.
• With Tailwind Create (Join Tailwind here).
• With Canva, Photoshop, or PicMonkey using customized Pin templates.

Then we covered the basics of your Pinterest visuals:

• Color
• Photos
• Text overlay
• Design

Would your friends and followers love to know how to make Pins for Pinterest? Please share!