As a lot of people do, I love having my blog posts pinned or repinned on Pinterest. Not only does it make me feel great that someone is loving my work, but it also helps to promote our brand and business across a whole new platform. As a blog writer and a Pinterest lover, I’ve learned that the key to getting my work pinned is making sure my images are optimized for Pinterest. An optimized image can draw a user in, entice them to pin my content and, if I’m super lucky, even read my post. Now, what’s the trick to creating the most pin-worthy, optimized images?
Below are 7 tips I’ve learned to create images that Pinterest users will definitely love to pin:
1. Choose Visually Appealing Imagery
The number one thing you can do is use images, videos or infographics that are visually interesting, beautiful, or aesthetically appealing. Pinterest is a place to come to get inspired, so a great looking image will be valuable to a user and will encourage pinning. The most pin-worthy pins use professional-looking photography and smart design. When creating imagery, make sure to use your own original content and/or purchase stock imagery to avoid any copyright issues. Beautiful and original content will always draw users in, enticing them to pin or repin your work.
2. Build Images at an Optimal Size for Pinterest
It is important to build your images based around Pinterest’s image size restrictions. Pinterest scales images to two different sizes:
- The thumbnail pins in the Pinterest feed are displayed at 192px wide with a variable height proportionate to the original image. If the pin is smaller than 192px wide, it will remain its original size and will display on Pinterest with gray bars on either side to fill the additional space. Pins can be no smaller than 81 x 81px.
- A larger, zoomed-in version of the image is also used on the pin detail page and has a width of 600px, again with variable height. If the image is smaller than 600px, the photo will be stretched to fill the space, which could cause for some unfortunate looking images.
To get optimum looking pins, it is best to use a width of 600px and avoid having tiny, stretched or pixelated images. You can create images at any length you would like. Some people choose to use long images to give their pin more presence on the page. However, if your image is too long, people might not want to take the time to scroll all the way back up to repin your content.
3. Use Text on Your Images to Describe Your Content
Using text on images to describe your content makes your images extremely pin-friendly. Your text serves as a reminder to Pinners—when someone sees your pin, they will immediately know what your pin is about. They won’t have to rely on the description. This way, users will always understand what you pin is, even if your text description is changed or deleted.
Use text on your images to describe what your content is about
4. Make Text Easy to Read
When creating text based images or adding text over a photo, you should make sure the text will be large enough to be legible in Pinterest’s thumbnail format. The text can get quite tiny, so testing the appearance of your images is key.
If your type is legible on the “Create Pin” window, it will look good across the Pinterest image feed.
There are two things you can try depending on your skill level. First, before you save your graphic, temporarily scale it so the width is 192px. If you can still read it, you’re all set to save your image. Second, If you have already created your image, try pinning the image from your preview area before you publish it to your blog or site. If it looks good in the description box, it will look good on the site. If things are hard to read, try enlarging the font or increasing the font weight.
West Elm uses branding to show they are holding the “Pin it to win it” contest
5. Brand Your Images
When something is your own work, it is a good idea to brand your content by adding a logo or url to your Image. This lets users know where the work came from and serves as a way to get more exposure of your brand. People also might be fans of a specific brand, so seeing a logo can engage a user even further. Users will know instantly who created the image and where they can find it online. A great example of this is West Elm’s Sweepstakes Pin. They use their logo at the top of the pin, so users know exactly who is running the contest.
6. Link Your Pin to Something Great
Whether it’s informative, instructive, fun, entertaining or helpful, your pin should always link to something great. Many Pinterest users pin images to learn more, see related items, or just to reference linked content. When someone clicks on an image they generally want to see more great material or learn more about what has been pinned. People get discouraged by a pin that doesn’t have a back-link or takes them to somewhere unrelated to the image. If the URL is missing, you can add it under the edit menu for the pin. Also consider adding the URL in the description area. By providing a link to the pin’s original source, your pin is automatically more valued and more pin-worthy.
7. Create Thoughtful File Names for Your Content
Create a thoughtful file name for your image. This will appear as your description when someone pins your content.
Label the images you publish on your site with information about what is contained in your pin. When someone goes to pin your image, this information will appear in the description of your pin. It is a good habit to spend the time to include your business, blog name, web URL and/or blog title within the image name. Descriptions shouldn’t be too long, aim for 200-300 character length to entice users to pin. This description will appear as keywords below your image and make your pins easily searchable.
Put the Tips in Action
It’s time to start making the most out of your imagery. If you follow these tricks of the trade, Pinterest users won’t be able to stop themselves from pinning your content! Have more tips for optimizing your images for Pinterest? I’d love to hear them.
And as always, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, and of course, Zoom Creates.
For more pinteresting tips on Pinterest, check out my related post:
How to Increase Your Pinterest Followers: 20 Pinteresting Tips
Sometimes calligraphy brushes in Illustrator just don’t cut it. As much as you may try, a brush style in Illustrator just can’t mimic the flowing hand drawn style we crave. In the past, Illustrator was very limiting in creating flourish elements. To get shapes the way you want, you had to rely on your skill with the pen tool and the Bézier curve. With Illustrator CS5 in our hands, we now have the ability to manipulate line weight at different points on a line, making a job that would have been very time consuming, a breeze.
1. To mimic the hand drawn calligraphic style, I’d suggest starting on paper. Erasers are definitely your friends. Grab references of calligraphy styles you enjoy. Play with flourishes at the ends of words and with how words interact with eachother. Draw out your words. Don’t worry about the line weight at this stage, we’ll be adding this in the next steps.
3. Open your clean sketch in illustrator and starting tracing. Using the pen tool, trace over all of your lines. I’d suggest trying to keep the number of points to a minimum, but if your having trouble getting smooth lines, I’d try using the smooth tool.
While perusing 
