Pinterest is an image site before it is anything else. Video arrived late and remains a minority of what people actually use it for; the overwhelming majority of pins are still photographs, illustrations, diagrams and screenshots collected onto boards by people planning something.
That planning use is what makes the picture quality matter. A pin is not consumed and forgotten like a post in a feed — it is returned to when the kitchen is being renovated, the dress is being made, the room is being painted. People come back to a board months later with a practical question in mind.
Which is exactly when the shrunken feed copy becomes a problem. Pinterest serves a size that suits the grid layout, and saving that is how people end up with a reference image too small to read the detail they pinned it for in the first place.
Why the size Pinterest shows you is not the size it holds
Every image uploaded is re-encoded into several sizes so the grid can load quickly on any screen. The one you see is chosen for the layout rather than for you, and it is frequently a fraction of the stored resolution.
A right-click and save takes whatever the browser loaded, which is that layout copy. It looks fine in a browser and falls apart the moment you zoom in, print it, or hand it to somebody as a reference.
For a recipe card, a sewing pattern, a diagram or a paint colour chart, that difference is the whole value of the pin. Detail you cannot read is not a reference.
Saving a pin at full resolution
-
1
Open the pin properly
Click into the pin so it has its own page rather than sitting in the grid. The address in the browser will then point at that individual pin.
-
2
Copy the pin address
Take it from the browser bar, or use the share control for the short pin.it form. Both work.
-
3
Give the pin link above
Paste it into the field at the top of this page, which begins reading it immediately.
-
4
Take the largest listed
The sizes Pinterest holds appear with their dimensions. Take the biggest — there is no way to add detail afterwards.
What Pinterest actually stores
Knowing the ladder of sizes explains both the problem and the fix.
| Version | Typical width | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Grid thumbnail | 236 pixels | Browsing, nothing else |
| Feed size | 474 pixels | Looking at on a phone |
| Pin page size | 736 pixels | Most ordinary uses |
| Largest stored | The uploaded width | Printing and real reference |
| The source website | Often larger again | Worth following the pin through |
The bottom row is worth remembering. A great many pins link back to a blog or shop that holds a better copy than Pinterest ever received, so following the pin to its source is sometimes the best move of all.
Pinterest image questions
Why is my saved pin so small?
Because a right-click takes the layout copy the browser loaded rather than the largest version Pinterest holds. Opening the pin and taking the biggest listed size fixes it.
How large can a pin be?
As large as whatever was uploaded. Pinterest keeps the original width in most cases, and the source website sometimes has better again.
Can I save a whole board?
No. Each pin needs its own address, since a board is a list rather than a single item.
Do pin.it short links work?
Yes, along with full pinterest.com pin addresses.
Can I download from a secret board?
No. Those belong to the account that made them.
Why do some pins have no good version?
Because a small image was uploaded in the first place. Nothing can recover detail that was never there.
Will the person who pinned it know?
No. Pinterest sends no notification for saving an image.
Where does the image save on Pinterest?
Downloads on Android, the Files app on an iPhone, the usual folder on a computer.
Should I follow the pin to its source?
Often yes. The original blog or shop frequently holds a larger copy than Pinterest received, plus the context the pin stripped away.
Is saving pins acceptable?
Collecting reference for your own project is precisely what the site is built for. A great many pins are photographers' and makers' work, so using one commercially, or reposting it as yours, is a different question entirely.