Marketplace photography
How to photograph products for Pinterest
· 4 min read
Shoot product photos in a vertical frame, close to a 2:3 ratio around 1000 by 1500 pixels, since Pinterest's feed favors tall pins and crops wide ones. Keep the product large and well lit in the upper two thirds of the frame, use a plain or lightly styled background, and export as JPG, PNG or WebP well under 10MB so the pin loads fast at thumbnail size.
Do this in RorlAIProduct: Clean studio backdrop for anything boxed or bottled.Why Pinterest sizing is different from a shop listing
A marketplace listing photo gets viewed one at a time, usually square or close to it, next to a price and a buy button. A Pinterest pin gets viewed at thumbnail size in a scrolling grid, competing with dozens of other pins for a half second of attention before someone decides whether to tap. Pinterest behaves like a visual search engine rather than a social feed, and its layout rewards a tall frame because a taller pin simply occupies more of that scroll.
Sizing guides have disagreed on exact numbers for years, but as of 2026 most current ones converge on the same practical shape: a vertical pin close to a 2:3 ratio, with a square option that trades feed presence for simplicity.
A sizing table for Pinterest pins
| Format | Common size | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Standard product pin | 1000 x 1500 px | 2:3, the one most guides recommend |
| Square pin | 1000 x 1000 px | 1:1, simpler but takes less feed space |
| Idea Pin or story-style | 1080 x 1920 px | 9:16 |
| Tallest before the feed crops | around 1000 x 2100 px | roughly 1:2.1 |
File size limits vary by source and have been loosened over time, with figures ranging from a 10MB guideline up to a 20 or even 32MB hard cap depending on where you upload from. Treat 10MB as the target rather than the ceiling. A smaller file loads faster in a feed people are scrolling quickly, and nothing about a product pin needs camera-native resolution.
Shooting for the format, not resizing after
A few habits save you from fixing the photo after it is already shot:
- Keep the product itself in the upper two thirds of the frame. Pinterest's feed preview sometimes crops the bottom of a tall pin before someone taps it open
- Leave real margin above and below the product rather than filling the whole frame edge to edge, so a crop does not cut through it
- Use a plain or lightly styled background. A busy background competes with the product at thumbnail size, where detail disappears first
- Avoid dense text overlays. A short label works; a paragraph of text shrinks to nothing at feed size
- 1Shoot a clean reference photo firstSquare or a plain vertical crop both work as a starting point, as long as the product is evenly lit and true to color.
- 2Extend rather than stretch to reach 2:3Stretching a square photo to fit a taller frame distorts the product. If your base shot is square, generate the extra background above or below it instead of warping the pixels you already have.
- 3Export a dedicated Pinterest sizeDon't reuse your marketplace listing crop as-is. A photo cropped tight for a square thumbnail usually has no room left to extend into 2:3 without cutting the product.
- 4Make more than one pin per productA flat shot, an on-model shot, and a close detail shot of the same item give you several pins instead of one, which matters more on Pinterest than getting a single photo perfect.
What doesn't change from your regular listing photos
Color accuracy still matters as much as it does on a marketplace listing. Pinterest users save pins and shop from them later, sometimes days or weeks after first seeing one, so a product that looks different in the photo than it does on arrival is still a return. The same rule about not overlaying a logo, price, or promo code applies here as it does on most ad-supported platforms, even where it is not strictly enforced.
Common questions
- Should I use square or vertical pins for products?
- Vertical, close to a 2:3 ratio, is the format most current sizing guides recommend because it occupies more space in Pinterest's scrolling feed. Square pins still work and are simpler to produce consistently, so use them when a collection needs one uniform shape across many products.
- Does my Pinterest pin have to match my store listing photo exactly?
- No. The product itself has to be accurate and true to color, but the crop and background can differ from your marketplace listing. A pin built specifically for a tall feed usually performs better than a square listing photo squeezed to fit.
- What file size should I aim for?
- Sources differ on the exact cap, with figures from 10MB up to 20 or 32MB depending on upload method. Aim to keep the file well under 10MB regardless, since a smaller file loads faster in a feed people are scrolling through quickly.
- Does the background matter if Pinterest shows pins so small?
- Yes, in the opposite direction you might expect. A busy or patterned background is exactly what disappears into noise at thumbnail size, while a plain or simple background keeps the product readable even when the pin is small.