Pinterest Aspect Ratio Calculator

What aspect ratio decides

Pinterest's feed is a vertical masonry grid, and every pin competes for vertical space. A 2:3 pin occupies fifty percent more height than a square one at the same width, and roughly three times the height of a landscape image. More height is more attention.

That is the entire mechanism. It is not an algorithm preference that might change — it is a consequence of the layout, which is why the 2:3 recommendation has been stable for years.

The ratios worth knowing

Ratio	Example	Verdict
2:3	1000 × 1500	Pinterest's recommendation. The safe default.
10:21	1000 × 2100	Long infographics. More space, truncation risk in some placements.
1:1	1000 × 1000	Works, but uses less vertical space than 2:3.
9:16	1080 × 1920	Video and vertical formats.
4:5	1000 × 1250	Slightly short of ideal. Fine, but 2:3 is better.
16:9	1920 × 1080	Landscape. Weakest possible shape on Pinterest.

How the calculator works

It reduces your width and height to their simplest ratio using the greatest common divisor, so 1000 × 1500 reads as 2:3 rather than 1000:1500. It then judges where that sits on the scale from landscape to over-long, and computes the exact height you would need at your current width to hit each Pinterest target.

That last part is the practically useful bit: if you have a 1200-pixel-wide image and want 2:3, the calculator tells you the height to crop to rather than leaving you to do the arithmetic.

Cropping without wrecking the composition

Going from landscape to 2:3 means discarding a lot of width. Two things help:

Check what is near the edges. Faces, logos and text close to a border are the first casualties of a centre crop.
Consider extending instead. For product or graphic pins, adding a coloured band above and below is often better than cropping — you gain the height without losing any of the image.

The image resizer handles the crop, scaling to fill and centring so nothing is distorted.

Why not just always use the longest ratio?

Because Pinterest truncates. Beyond roughly 1:2.1, several placements cut pins off, so the bottom of a very long infographic may never be seen. If you use a long format, put the key message and any call to action in the upper portion.

There is also a readability cost: a very long pin at feed-card width makes any text very small. What looks detailed on your monitor can be illegible on a phone.

Video is different

For video pins, 9:16 is the norm — the same shape as a phone screen held upright. Square video works too. Landscape video suffers the same disadvantage as landscape images, with the added problem that most Pinterest video is watched muted, so anything small on screen goes unread.

Check an actual file with the pin size checker, crop it with the image resizer, and see how it will look in a feed with the pin preview.

The ratios that matter on Pinterest

2:3 — the standard pin, typically 1000 × 1500. Fills a feed column, never cropped. The right default for almost everything.
1:2.1 — around 1000 × 2100, the tallest that displays in full. Suited to step-by-step graphics.
1:1 — square. Clean for product shots, but it takes less vertical space, so it competes for attention from a weaker position.
9:16 — full-screen vertical, mainly for video.
4:5 — an Instagram-native ratio. It works on Pinterest but wastes height compared with 2:3.

Anything wider than square is fighting the format. A 16:9 landscape image in a vertical feed is a thin strip that a scroll passes in a fraction of a second.

Why taller is not always better

Height buys attention up to a point and then costs you. Past roughly 1:2.1 the feed truncates the image with a "see more" affordance, which means the bottom of a long infographic is seen only by people who deliberately expand it — a small minority.

So a 1000 × 4000 pin is not four times as effective as a 1000 × 1000 one. It is a 1000 × 2100 pin with 1900 pixels of work nobody sees. If your content genuinely needs that length, put a complete summary in the top portion and treat the rest as a bonus for the people who expand it.

Getting from a camera ratio to a pin ratio

Most cameras and phones shoot 4:3 or 3:2, and neither is a pin. The conversion always means discarding pixels — the question is only which ones.

3:2 landscape (3000 × 2000) → to reach 2:3 you keep a vertical slice roughly 889 pixels wide. That is under a third of the frame, so the crop is a real creative decision.
4:3 portrait (3000 × 4000) → closer already. Cropping to 2:3 trims the sides modestly.
1:1 (2000 × 2000) → to 2:3 you crop the width to about 1333, losing a third.
16:9 (1920 × 1080) → a 2:3 crop keeps a 720-pixel-wide strip. Usually better to redesign than to crop.

The calculator does this arithmetic for any pair of numbers; the image resizer performs the crop.

Ratio and rendered size are different questions

A common confusion: 1000 × 1500 and 2000 × 3000 are the same shape. Pinterest displays them identically because it re-encodes for the feed. Doubling the pixel dimensions does not make a pin more prominent — only changing the ratio does that.

Which means uploading enormous files buys nothing but upload time. Get the ratio right and keep the width around 1000 pixels; that is the whole optimisation.

Mixed ratios across an account

There is no penalty for varying ratios, and some variety is natural — square product shots alongside 2:3 lifestyle pins. What is worth avoiding is inconsistency without reason: an account where every pin is a different shape looks unconsidered in a profile grid.

Pick 2:3 as your default, use square where the subject genuinely suits it, and reserve the taller ratio for content that earns the length.

Frequently asked questions

What aspect ratio is best for Pinterest?

2:3 — 1000 × 1500 pixels. It is Pinterest's recommendation and it occupies substantially more vertical feed space than square or landscape.

Can Pinterest pins be too long?

Yes. Beyond roughly 1:2.1 several placements truncate the pin, so keep the key message and call to action in the upper portion of long infographics.

Is square acceptable on Pinterest?

It works, but it uses a third less vertical space than 2:3 at the same width, which in a vertical feed means less attention.

What ratio should Pinterest video be?

9:16 vertical is the norm, matching a phone held upright. Square works; landscape suffers the same disadvantage as landscape images.

How do I convert a landscape photo to 2:3?

Either crop — checking nothing important sits near the edges — or extend the canvas with a coloured band above and below, which gains height without discarding any of the image.

What aspect ratio should a Pinterest pin be?

2:3 — typically 1000 × 1500. It fills a feed column without being cropped and is the right default for nearly every pin.

Can a Pinterest pin be too tall?

Yes. Past roughly 1:2.1 the feed truncates it behind a "see more", so the bottom of a very long graphic is seen only by the few people who expand it.

Is 1000 × 1500 better than 2000 × 3000?

They are the same shape and display identically — Pinterest re-encodes for the feed. The larger file just takes longer to upload.

Does Pinterest crop square images?

No, square displays fine. It simply occupies less vertical space than 2:3, so it has less time to stop a scroll.

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