Pinterest occupies a unique position among social platforms. Users arrive with intent — they are planning a project, researching a purchase, gathering ideas, or looking for inspiration on a specific topic. They are not passively scrolling through updates from people they know. They are actively searching for something.
This changes almost everything about how content needs to be designed for the platform. A static image that performs on Instagram because it is visually striking may sit completely unnoticed on Pinterest if it does not communicate a clear subject and payoff. Pinterest is a visual search engine as much as it is a social network, and content that performs well here answers a question before the viewer has to ask it.
This guide covers every Pinterest format with exact specifications, plus practical design advice for each.
Standard Pin — The Foundation
The Standard Pin is the primary content format on Pinterest. It appears in the home feed, in search results, and on profile boards.
Image:
- Dimensions: 1000 × 1500 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 2:3
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Video:
- Dimensions: 1000 × 1500 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 2:3
- File type: MP4, MOV, or M4V
- File size: Up to 32MB
- Encoding: H.264 or H.265
The 2:3 ratio is the recommended standard for good reason: it occupies the maximum vertical space in the feed while staying within the ratio Pinterest renders without cropping. Pins taller than 2:3 — such as long infographics at 1:2.1 or longer — will be cropped to 2:3 in the feed view, with a “See more” indicator that requires an additional tap.
This cropping behaviour has a practical consequence for design. If you are creating a tall pin with content that spans the full length, the most important information needs to be in the top two-thirds of the image — specifically within the 1000 × 1500 crop zone — because that is what a viewer sees without tapping.
Square Pin
- Dimensions: 1000 × 1000 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:1
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Square pins occupy less vertical space in the feed than 2:3 pins, which means they compete against more content simultaneously and tend to get less visual prominence. That said, square format works well for product photography where the subject is naturally symmetrical, or for branded content where the 1:1 grid treatment is part of the visual identity.
Long Pin
- Dimensions: 1000 × 2100 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:2.1
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Long pins work well for step-by-step tutorials, recipes with multiple stages, or educational infographics that benefit from a vertical reading flow. As noted above, these will be cropped to 2:3 in feed previews — design the top portion to function as a compelling standalone hook, and use the extended length for additional detail that rewards the user who taps to see the full image.
Idea Pins
Idea Pins are Pinterest’s full-screen, multi-page format — similar in concept to Instagram Stories, but with a different audience intent. Idea Pins are designed for educational and inspirational content that teaches a viewer how to do something.
Image Idea Pins:
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Video Idea Pins:
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: MP4, MOV, or M4V
- File size: Up to 32MB
- Encoding: H.264 or H.265
Unlike standard pins, Idea Pins do not link out to an external URL. They are native content designed to be consumed entirely within Pinterest. This makes them better suited for brand awareness and community building than for direct traffic generation.
The 9:16 full-screen format creates a familiar vertical video experience, but the Pinterest audience expects something more instructional than entertainment. Step-by-step content, before-and-after sequences, and educational breakdowns perform consistently well here.
Ad Formats
Single Image Ad
Pinterest’s Single Image Ad uses the same specifications as the Standard Pin — the ad format is designed to blend into the organic feed naturally.
- Dimensions: 1000 × 1500 pixels (2:3) recommended; 1000 × 1000 pixels (1:1) also supported
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Because the format matches organic content, Pinterest ads tend to feel less intrusive than ads on other platforms. The trade-off is that ads need to be visually strong enough to earn attention on their own merits — the platform’s users are accustomed to high-quality imagery and will ignore anything that looks generic or low-effort.
Carousel Ad
- Dimensions per card: 1000 × 1500 pixels (2:3) or 1000 × 1000 pixels (1:1)
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB per card
- Cards: 2 to 5 per carousel
Each card must maintain the same aspect ratio throughout the carousel — you cannot mix 2:3 and 1:1 cards in the same unit. This constraint encourages compositional consistency, which tends to produce better-performing carousels anyway.
Idea Ad
- Image dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16)
- Video dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16)
- File type: BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP (image); MP4, MOV, M4V (video)
- File size: Up to 100MB web / 2GB mobile (image); up to 100MB web / 2GB mobile (video)
- Encoding: H.264 or H.265
- Video duration: Maximum 5 minutes
Idea Ads are the paid version of Idea Pins — full-screen, multi-page, native-feeling content with a brand label. They are particularly effective for product demonstrations, tutorials related to your product category, and lifestyle content that shows the product in context.
Showcase Ad
- Dimensions: 1000 × 1500 pixels (2:3) or 1000 × 1000 pixels (1:1)
- File type: BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP (image); MP4, MOV, M4V (video)
- File size: Up to 32MB
- Video duration: 3–60 seconds
- Encoding: H.264 or H.265
- Structure: 1 title card plus up to 4 additional cards
Showcase Ads are a multi-card format where each card can link to a different destination. This makes them useful for advertising multiple product categories, collections, or use cases within a single ad unit. The title card functions as the lead creative and should be designed to communicate the overall theme while making each subsequent card feel like a logical exploration of that theme.
Quiz Ad
- Dimensions: 1000 × 1500 pixels (2:3)
- File type: BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP
- File size: Up to 32MB
- Structure: 1 title card plus up to 3 result cards
Quiz Ads are an interactive format where users answer a question and receive a personalised result. They are used for product discovery and recommendation-style advertising. Each result card can link to a different product or collection page, making them effective for brands with diverse catalogues.
Profile and Board Assets
Profile Photo
- Dimensions: 165 × 165 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Pinterest profile photos display at small sizes throughout the platform. Use a simple, recognisable image — a clear headshot for personal accounts, a clean logo mark for brand accounts. Avoid complexity that disappears at small sizes.
Profile Cover Photo
- Dimensions: 800 × 450 pixels (minimum)
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Higher resolution is better — 800 × 450 is the minimum, not the recommended size. The cover photo appears at the top of your Pinterest profile and can be an image, a Canva design, or a Pin selected from your boards.
Board Cover
- Dimensions: 600 × 600 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:1
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 20MB
Board covers are small and viewed primarily as thumbnails on your profile page. Use a single, bold image that immediately communicates the theme of the board. Text on board covers is rarely readable and usually not worth including.
What Makes Pinterest Content Perform Differently
Pinterest is a planning platform. Its users are looking for ideas they intend to act on — not immediately, but eventually. This changes the content design calculus in several specific ways.
Clarity of subject outweighs visual complexity. A pin that immediately communicates what it is about — “Chocolate layer cake recipe” or “Minimalist living room ideas” — performs better than a visually striking pin that requires decoding. People save what they plan to use, and they save it quickly while browsing. If the purpose of the content is not clear within a second, the moment passes.
Vertical format is the native language. Pinterest was built around the tall pin. Square and landscape content technically works, but it occupies less feed space and tends to receive less engagement. If you are designing content specifically for Pinterest, start with 2:3 and design to fill the format.
Text overlays add utility, not decoration. A recipe pin with the dish title overlaid in readable type will consistently outperform the same image without text. This is counterintuitive for designers used to clean photography, but Pinterest users are saving content for future reference — the text overlay makes the pin self-explanatory when they find it again months later in a board.
Long content pays off. On Instagram, a carousel has a limited number of swipes before users leave. On Pinterest, long infographic pins are regularly saved and re-saved across thousands of boards because they pack a large amount of useful information into a single scrollable image. If your content category suits a tutorial or reference format, the long pin is one of the most effective formats on the platform.
Final Thoughts
Pinterest rewards content that is genuinely useful to people who are planning something. The specifications here — 2:3 for standard pins, 9:16 for Idea Pins, 1080 × 1920 for full-screen formats — are the technical foundation, but the creative strategy behind the work matters as much as the dimensions.
Design for someone who is searching for exactly what you offer, and create something clear enough that they save it without having to think twice. That is the core creative logic of the platform, and the specs exist to serve it.