Pinterest images are the odd one out.

A normal article featured image is usually wide. A social preview image is usually wider. A Google Discover image is usually 16:9. But a Pinterest Pin is vertical, visual, searchable, and designed for a feed where people are actively looking for ideas to save.

That means we should not treat Pinterest as just another crop of the featured image.

A good Pinterest Pin is its own article asset.

It can use stronger text. It can be more direct. It can look more like a mini poster, checklist, guide card, or visual promise. It still has to be clear, useful, and honest, but it does not need to follow the same rules as a WordPress featured image.

This article is part of our article-image cluster.

Start with the guide to featured image best practices for articles. For dimensions, see WordPress featured image size. For Google Discover, see Google Discover Images for Articles. For image SEO, see Image SEO for Developers. For speed, see Article Image Performance. For social cards, see Social Preview Images. For WordPress implementation, see WordPress Image Workflow.

This article focuses on Pinterest Pins.

Category Web Development

Tags Assets Design Growth SEO

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Pinterest is not just another social preview

A social preview image is usually designed for a shared link card.

A Pinterest Pin is different.

Pinterest describes Pins as visual bookmarks that people use to save content they love. People can search for Pins, save them, and click through to learn more. Pinterest guide to creating Pins

That means a Pin has to do more than decorate a link. It has to work as a searchable, saveable visual idea.

A normal article image might say:

This article looks professional.

A good Pinterest Pin should say:

This is useful.
Save this.
Click when you need it.

That makes Pinterest closer to visual search, planning, and discovery than normal social sharing.

The standard Pinterest Pin size

For normal Pinterest image Pins, the practical default is:

1000 × 1500 px
2:3 aspect ratio

Pinterest’s business specs recommend a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1000 × 1500 px. They also warn that Pins with an aspect ratio greater than 2:3 may get cut off in people’s feeds. Pinterest product specs

For our article-image workflow, that gives us this size map:

Asset type	Recommended size	Shape
WordPress featured image	1600 × 900 or 1280 × 720	16:9
Google Discover image	1600 × 900 or 1280 × 720	16:9
Social preview image	1200 × 630	~1.91:1
Pinterest Pin image	1000 × 1500	2:3
Square fallback	1200 × 1200	1:1

The important point:

Pinterest needs a vertical image. Do not just reuse the Open Graph image.

A 1200 × 630 social image can look good on LinkedIn or Facebook, but it wastes space on Pinterest. A 16:9 featured image may work as a fallback, but it is not the best Pinterest asset.

Why Pinterest Pins can use more text

In our normal featured image guidelines, we are careful with embedded text. A featured image needs to work in the article, in archive cards, in Google previews, and in different crops. Too much text can become a problem.

Pinterest is different.

A Pinterest Pin often benefits from text overlay because the image is competing in a fast-scrolling visual feed. A short text hook can explain what the Pin is about before someone reads the title or description.

Good Pinterest text overlay:

ARTICLE IMAGE CHECKLIST
Before You Publish

GOOGLE DISCOVER IMAGES
Size, Crop & Preview Rules

FAST FEATURED IMAGES
Better Quality, Less Weight

Weak Pinterest text overlay:

Featured Image Best Practices for Articles: Google, Social Media and WordPress

The full article title is too long for the image. It belongs in the Pin title or on the article page.

A good Pinterest image can use short, bold, useful text. It should not try to carry the entire article.

Text overlay rules for Pinterest

Pinterest text should be large, readable, and useful.

Good text overlay usually has:

One main hook
One short supporting line
Maybe one label or category
Enough contrast
Large type
Simple wording

Bad text overlay usually has:

Too many words
Tiny text
Too many fonts
Too many colors
Full article title
Keyword stuffing
Hard-to-read contrast
Text placed at the very edge

Pinterest’s advertising guidelines warn against fuzzy or grainy images, text that is too small or blurry to read, poor crops, and overly busy images packed with text overlay or too many font styles and colors. Pinterest advertising guidelines

That is a good design rule even for organic Pins.

A useful limit:

One headline.
One short subhead.
One small brand or category label.

That is usually enough.

Design the Pin as a vertical promise

Before designing the Pin, write the promise.

Ask:

What will someone get if they click this Pin?

Examples:

A checklist for publishing better article images.

A guide to Pinterest image size and text overlay rules.

A workflow for creating featured images and social cards in WordPress.

Then turn that promise into a short visual hook.

For example:

Article	Pin hook
Featured image best practices	Article Image Checklist
Image SEO for developers	Image SEO Basics
Google Discover images	Google Discover Image Rules
Article image performance	Fast Article Images
Social preview images	Social Cards That Work
WordPress image workflow	WordPress Image Workflow
Pinterest Pin images	Pinterest Pin Design Rules

The Pin does not need the whole title. It needs the clearest saveable idea.

Good Pinterest Pin layouts for articles

For article Pins, these layout types work well.

1. Guide card

A simple poster-style Pin.

PINTEREST PIN IMAGES
Size, Text & Design Rules

Good for broad guides and evergreen articles.

2. Checklist Pin

A useful-looking checklist.

PIN IMAGE CHECKLIST
Size
Text
Crop
Title
Description
Alt text

Good for practical articles.

3. Before/after Pin

A comparison layout.

Weak Pin
Tiny text, bad crop, generic image

Better Pin
Clear hook, vertical crop, useful promise

Good for design and workflow articles.

4. Step stack

A vertical list of steps.

1. Choose the promise
2. Design vertical
3. Add short text
4. Write Pin title
5. Test the link

Good for tutorial articles.

5. Problem/solution Pin

A clear pain point.

Pinterest image looks wrong?

Use a 2:3 Pin instead of a social crop.

Good for click-focused articles.

6. Mini cheat sheet

A compact reference.

Pinterest Pin
1000 × 1500
2:3
Large text
Clear promise
Useful title
Relevant description

Good for saves.

The best Pinterest Pins often feel saveable even before they feel clickable.

Use the right amount of branding

Pinterest Pins should look like they belong to the site, but the brand should not overpower the idea.

Good branding:

Small BadGames mark
Consistent colors
Consistent type style
Small domain or category label
Recognizable article-image system

Bad branding:

Huge logo
Image mostly about the website
No clear article promise
Same generic template for every Pin
Brand mark competing with the hook

A small brand cue is useful. A giant logo is usually not.

For article Pins, the topic should be the hero. The brand should help people recognize the source.

Use a safe Pin composition

For a 1000 × 1500 Pin, keep the important content away from the edges.

A practical safe area:

Canvas:
1000 × 1500 px

Safe content area:
roughly 840 × 1320 px

Suggested margin:
around 80 px on the left and right
around 90 px on the top and bottom

This is not an official Pinterest rule. It is a practical design guardrail.

Keep these inside the safe area:

Main hook
Subhead
Logo
Important UI
Important icons
Small labels
Callout boxes

The edges can contain:

Background
Texture
Shapes
Decorative glow
Blurred UI
Non-critical illustration

A Pinterest Pin has more vertical space than a social preview image. Use that space carefully. Do not cram everything into the top third.

Be careful with pure white or pure black backgrounds

Pinterest’s product specs note that Pinterest may apply a faint color layer to image Pins with white or near-white backgrounds, and to black or near-black backgrounds in dark mode, so the Pins stand out from the app background. Pinterest product specs

That does not mean white or black backgrounds are forbidden.

It means we should test the image visually and avoid designs that rely on extremely subtle edge contrast.

Practical rule:

Use clear contrast inside the Pin.
Do not rely on the feed background to define the image edge.

A border, panel, gradient, card background, or subtle frame can help.

Image format and file size

For standard image ads, Pinterest lists PNG and JPEG as supported file types, with a max file size of 20 MB on desktop and 32 MB in-app. Pinterest product specs

For our article Pins, the practical recommendation is:

Use JPEG or PNG.
Export at 1000 × 1500.
Keep the file much smaller than the maximum when possible.
Avoid heavy noise and unnecessary texture.
Check that text remains sharp.

A normal article Pin should not need to be several megabytes.

Use JPEG for:

photos
complex illustrations
gradient-heavy images
mixed visual compositions

Use PNG when:

sharp flat graphics need it
text rendering looks better
transparency is needed
JPEG artifacts are too visible

For most Pins, optimized JPEG is enough. For clean UI-style graphics with text, PNG may look sharper but can be heavier.

Test the result instead of choosing by habit.

Pin title and description matter

The image does a lot of work, but it is not the whole Pin.

Pinterest’s product specs say Pin titles can be up to 100 characters, and depending on device, the first 40 characters may show in feeds. Descriptions can be up to 800 characters, may not appear in the home or search feed, but are used by Pinterest’s algorithm to determine relevance. Pinterest product specs

That means the title should be short and clear.

Weak Pin title:

New Blog Post

Better Pin title:

Pinterest Pin Image Size and Design Rules

Weak description:

Pinterest, pins, image size, Pinterest marketing, blog images, social images, SEO

Better description:

Learn how to design Pinterest Pin images for articles using a 2:3 vertical format, readable text overlays, clear titles, useful descriptions and article-specific landing pages.

The description should help Pinterest understand the Pin, but it should still read like a human wrote it.

Use keywords naturally

Pinterest’s creator SEO guidance recommends using relevant keywords in titles, descriptions, image names, and descriptive alt text, while keeping them truly relevant and natural. Pinterest SEO best practices

That is a good rule for article Pins.

Use phrases people might search for:

Pinterest pin size
Pinterest image size
Pinterest pin design
Pinterest text overlay
Pinterest SEO
Pinterest pin checklist
article image workflow
social preview images

But do not turn the title or description into a keyword pile.

Better:

Pinterest Pin design guide for article publishers who want clear vertical images, readable text overlays and better saveable visuals.

Worse:

Pinterest pin design Pinterest image size Pinterest SEO Pinterest marketing Pinterest traffic Pinterest post Pinterest image Pinterest blog Pinterest guide

Natural relevance beats stuffing.

Add alt text to Pins

Pinterest supports alt text for Pins. Pinterest’s help documentation says the alt text field can be used to explain what people can see in the Pin, with a maximum of 500 characters. Pinterest alt text documentation

Good alt text:

Vertical Pinterest Pin image with the headline Pinterest Pin Images and supporting text about size, text overlays and design rules.

Weak alt text:

Pinterest SEO image social media pin graphic 1000x1500 blog traffic marketing

Alt text should describe the image. It should not be a hidden keyword dump.

For a Pin with important text, include the key visible text in the alt text.

Match the Pin to the landing page

A Pinterest Pin should lead to the page the reader expects.

If the Pin says:

Pinterest Pin Image Checklist

The article should actually include a checklist or clear practical guidance.

If the Pin says:

Free Template

The landing page should actually provide that template.

Pinterest’s advertising guidelines emphasize consistent experiences between the ad image, description, and landing page. Pinterest advertising guidelines

That is just as important for organic trust.

Do not overpromise in the image.

A click is only valuable if the page satisfies the promise.

Avoid fake interface elements

Pinterest’s advertising guidelines warn against artificial functionality, such as fake play buttons, download buttons, notification icons, search bars, or elements that mimic Pinterest features. Pinterest advertising guidelines

For article Pins, avoid:

fake play buttons
fake save buttons
fake download buttons
fake notification badges
fake Pinterest UI
fake search bars
fake app controls

If the Pin looks clickable in a way that the image itself cannot deliver, it can feel misleading.

Use real design cues, not fake functionality.

Use Rich Pins for article metadata

Pinterest supports Rich Pins, which show metadata from the linked page. Pinterest’s developer documentation says Rich Pins show metadata and commonly use Open Graph and Schema.org formats. Pinterest Rich Pins overview

For article Pins, Pinterest says Article Pins include a headline, author, and story description, and supports Open Graph and Schema.org markup. Pinterest Article Pins documentation

For article pages, the existing Open Graph metadata we already use for social previews helps here.

A basic article setup:

<meta property="og:title" content="Pinterest Pin Images for Articles: Size, Text Overlays and Design Rules">
<meta property="og:description" content="How to design vertical Pinterest Pin images for article promotion using 2:3 format, readable text overlays, useful titles, descriptions and alt text.">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/pinterest-pin-images-for-articles/">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/pinterest-pin-images-social.jpg">

For Pinterest, we should still upload or select the actual vertical Pin image. But clean article metadata helps Pinterest understand the destination page.

One article can have multiple Pins

Pinterest is a good place to test multiple visual angles for one article.

For a single article, we might create:

Pin 1:
Main guide angle

Pin 2:
Checklist angle

Pin 3:
Problem/solution angle

Example for this article:

Pin 1:
PINTEREST PIN IMAGES
Size, Text & Design Rules

Pin 2:
PIN IMAGE CHECKLIST
Before You Publish

Pin 3:
STOP USING SOCIAL CROPS
Use a 2:3 Pinterest Pin

All three can point to the same article, but each has a different promise.

This is useful because people save and click for different reasons. One person wants a checklist. Another wants a size rule. Another wants a design example.

Do not spam the same design repeatedly. Create genuinely different angles.

Pinterest Pin workflow for articles

A practical workflow:

1. Choose the article.
2. Write the Pin promise.
3. Choose the Pin angle.
4. Design a 1000 × 1500 image.
5. Use short, readable text overlay.
6. Add a small brand mark or domain cue.
7. Export as JPEG or PNG.
8. Upload the Pin.
9. Write a clear Pin title.
10. Write a natural description.
11. Add useful alt text.
12. Link to the correct article URL.
13. Save to the most relevant board.
14. Test how the Pin looks at small size.

For important articles, create more than one Pin angle.

A practical Pinterest Pin template

For BadGames-style article Pins, a useful template could be:

Canvas:
1000 × 1500

Top label:
WEB DEVELOPMENT
WORDPRESS
SEO
ARTICLE IMAGES

Main headline:
3–6 words

Support line:
Short benefit or topic

Visual:
Browser card, image card, diagram, editor panel, checklist, or UI fragment

Footer:
badgames.com or small BadGames mark

Example:

WEB DEVELOPMENT

PINTEREST PIN IMAGES

Size, text overlays
and design rules

[vertical visual card / checklist / crop diagram]

badgames.com

This fits the article cluster without making the Pin look like a normal site hero image.

Good Pin examples for this article cluster

Featured image pillar article

ARTICLE IMAGE CHECKLIST
Featured images that work everywhere

WordPress featured image size

WORDPRESS IMAGE SIZE
Why 1200 × 630 is not always enough

Google Discover images

GOOGLE DISCOVER IMAGES
Size, crop and preview rules

Image SEO for developers

IMAGE SEO
Alt text, filenames and metadata

Article image performance

FAST ARTICLE IMAGES
Better quality, less weight

Social preview images

SOCIAL PREVIEW IMAGES
Open Graph, LinkedIn, Facebook and X

WordPress image workflow

WORDPRESS IMAGE WORKFLOW
Featured images, social cards and fallbacks

Pinterest Pins

PINTEREST PIN IMAGES
Vertical design rules for articles

These are not full article titles. They are Pin hooks.

That is the point.

Pinterest Pin checklist

Before publishing a Pin, check:

Is the Pin 1000 × 1500 px?
Is it a 2:3 vertical image?
Does the Pin clearly match the article?
Does it have one strong visual promise?
Is the main text large enough to read?
Is there too much text?
Are there too many fonts or colors?
Is the main subject inside the safe area?
Is the brand mark small but visible?
Does the image still work at thumbnail size?
Is the file JPEG or PNG?
Is the file reasonably compressed?
Is the title clear and under 100 characters?
Does the important part of the title appear early?
Is the description useful and natural?
Does the description include relevant keywords without stuffing?
Is alt text added?
Does the destination URL match the Pin promise?
Does the article have useful Open Graph or Schema metadata?
Is the Pin saved to the right board?

This checklist catches most Pinterest image mistakes.

Common Pinterest Pin mistakes

Reusing the Open Graph image

A 1200 × 630 social image is too wide for Pinterest. Create a vertical Pin.

Reusing the featured image without redesigning it

A 16:9 featured image may be a good source, but the Pinterest Pin should be rebuilt for 2:3.

Putting the entire article title in the image

Use a short hook instead. The full title can go in the Pin title.

Making the text too small

If people cannot read the text while scrolling, the Pin fails.

Making the image too busy

More elements do not make the Pin more useful. Clear beats crowded.

Forgetting the description

Descriptions may not always show in feeds, but Pinterest says they are used for relevance. Write them properly.

Forgetting alt text

Pinterest supports alt text. Use it to describe what people can see in the Pin.

Linking to a mismatched page

The Pin promise and article page should match. Do not overpromise.

Using fake buttons

Avoid fake play, save, download or interface elements that make the image feel misleading.

Official references

For more detail, these are the main resources worth reading:

• Pinterest product specs
• Pinterest creative best practices
• Pinterest fundamentals
• Pinterest SEO best practices
• Pinterest alt text documentation
• Pinterest guide to creating Pins
• Pinterest advertising guidelines
• Pinterest Rich Pins overview
• Pinterest Article Pins documentation

Final thought

Pinterest Pins are not normal article images.

They are vertical, searchable, saveable article teasers.

A good Pinterest Pin should be:

Vertical.
Specific.
Readable.
Useful.
Saveable.
Matched to the article.
Supported by a clear title.
Supported by a natural description.
Accessible with alt text.
Designed for Pinterest, not recycled from another format.

The featured image can stay clean. The Open Graph image can work as a social card. The Pinterest Pin can be more direct, more vertical, and more text-led.

That is why Pinterest deserves its own asset in the article image workflow.

Not a random crop.

A proper Pin.

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