Pinterest is the one major surface where the honest advice is to spend your effort on stills, not video. It behaves like a visual search engine rather than a feed: Pins surface on search intent, they keep working for months, and the format Pinterest itself recommends is a 2:3 vertical image. That makes it the cheapest platform to produce for, because good images cost single-digit credits.
TL;DR
- Pinterest's own recommended Pin format is 2:3, or 1000 x 1500 pixels (Pinterest creative best practices)
- File types: PNG or JPEG. Max 20 MB on desktop tools, 32 MB in-app
- Titles up to 100 characters, and the first 40 are the ones likely to show. Descriptions up to 500
- Stills beat video here for cost and for how the surface works. A 6-credit image is the unit
- A month of 60 Pins: about 360 credits, roughly $3.60
The verified specs
From Pinterest's creative best practices, quoted directly:
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | "We recommend using a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1000 x 1500 pixels" |
| File types | "PNG or .JPEG" |
| File size | "Max of 20 MB for desktop tools, 32 MB for in-app tools" |
| Title | "Up to 100 characters. The first 40 are most likely to appear" |
| Description | "Up to 500 characters" |
Pinterest does mention video ad formats (standard video, max-width video) but that page does not publish duration, resolution or file-size specs for them, so check the current ad specs in Pinterest's own ads documentation before producing video. We are not going to make those numbers up.
Why stills win on this surface
Pins have a long tail. A Pin that matches search intent keeps returning traffic for months, which changes the economics completely: an image that costs 6 credits and works for a year is a different investment from a clip that gets one day in a feed.
The format is a poster. 2:3 vertical with a clear subject and readable text is a poster, and posters are exactly what image models are good at.
Text in the image matters here more than on most surfaces, because a Pin frequently has to explain itself before anyone clicks. That makes this the one place worth paying for a model that renders type correctly.
Volume is cheap. Sixty Pins a month is a serious Pinterest presence and costs under four dollars in credits.
What it costs
Canon 8frame prices, a credit is $0.01 at pack rate:
| Task | Route | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Pin image | Seedream 5 | 6 |
| Pin with correct text inside the image | Nano Banana Pro | 21 |
| Cheapest volume Pin | Imagen 4 Fast | 4 |
| Sharper Seedream tier | Seedream 5 Pro | 7 |
| Clean the background off a product photo | background removal | 12 |
| Upscale to print resolution | image upscale | 13 |
| Short motion Pin, 5s | Wan 3.0 480p | 24 |
| Motion Pin with audio, 8s | Veo 3.1 Lite | 54 |
A realistic month: 50 Seedream 5 Pins (300) plus 10 Nano Banana Pro Pins where the text has to be right (210) comes to 510 credits, about $5.10. Half a Starter plan.
The design rules for a 2:3 Pin
- One idea, stated in the image. A Pin competes in a grid of other Pins, not in a feed where context arrives with it.
- Text in the upper third or lower third, never centred over the focal point.
- Check it at 236 pixels wide, which is roughly how Pins appear in a desktop grid column. Most Pins are designed at full size and lose their text at real size.
- Brand mark small and consistent. Recognition across a board matters more than size on any single Pin.
- Real product photos for products. Same rule as everywhere: generated food, generated products and generated interiors set expectations the thing itself cannot meet. Generate the surround, photograph the item.
Where generated imagery genuinely fits on Pinterest
Concept and aspiration Pins. Mood, style direction, palette, seasonal themes. Clearly illustrative and nobody is misled.
Recipe and how-to graphics where the illustration is decorative and the instructions carry the value.
Text-led Pins. Quote cards, tip lists, checklists. Nano Banana Pro at 21 credits is the tool when the type must be exact.
Templates you reuse. Board one Pin layout properly, then every subsequent Pin is a fill-in rather than a design job. That is where the real time saving lives, not in the generation.
Where it does not fit: anything where a viewer will buy the specific thing shown. Photograph that.
FAQ
What size should a Pinterest Pin be? Pinterest recommends 2:3, or 1000 x 1500 pixels.
Does Pinterest allow AI-generated images? Generated imagery is broadly allowed. Misrepresenting a product you sell is the line, and that is a general advertising rule rather than an AI one.
Should I post video on Pinterest? Test it, but weight your effort toward stills. The surface is search-driven and image-first, and stills cost a fraction of video.
How many Pins should I post? More than feels reasonable, because Pins have a long tail and cost 6 credits. Consistency of layout matters more than volume of ideas.
Board one Pin layout, then fill it in sixty times. The 8frame canvas is free and unlimited, and generation is paid from $19/month.