Make no mistake, a clickable pin is a pin that’s beautiful.
And a clicked pin is the one that will traffic.
Also, Pinterest is an inspiration-based platform where somebody is likely to click on your pin just because it looks attractive.
So to drive traffic and make sales, you better make those pins beautiful.
So how do you create beautiful pins?
You can use a platform like Canva or PicMonkey to create beautiful pins.
The most popular platform is Canva, mostly because it’s free to use.
Of course, there are some premium features of Canva, which if you choose to use, you will be charged accordingly.
But rest assured that the free features of Canva are sufficient for you to create beautiful pins.
Steps in Creating A Pin In Canva
Let’s follow the step by step way to creating a beautiful pin. That is even if you are a total beginner.
If you a beginner, go to Canva.com and create your account.
This account is what you will use to create all your beautiful pins.
Once you account is active, let’s go on
Step 1. Choose a design template
Canva comes with templates adapted for all the social networks.
You will get templates for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and more.
The right template ensures that you got the proper image dimensions that are supported and optimal for the given network.
So the first step is to choose the right template.
For example, if you are making a Pinterest pin, you will go to “Home” button on the left hand side of the screen, and select the Pinterest graphic on the right screen, as your template.
Once you click on the template, it will appear as a blank shape in the centre of the screen.
Note that the template won’t appear coloured.
It is an empty slate on which you are going to add images and text to build your pin.
However if you have your own pin designs that you have previously stored in Canva, they wont appear as blank templates if you click on them.
Rather they will serve as images upon which you can build future pins.
Step 2. Add an image
The image will be anything that will form the background of your pin.
Accordingly, the image rests on the design template you had earlier chosen.
You can add one or as many images as you wish. This will depend on your creativity as well as the space on the template.
You can add images from the “Templates” or “Photos” buttons on the left hand side of the screen.
You can search for a relevant image by using a relevant keyword.
For example, if I want an image with a computer, I will type “computer” in the search field.
Once an image I like comes up, I click on it, and it will immediately occupy the design template I have already chosen.
How To Add Effects To Images
You can manipulate the effect of the image by clicking directly on the image.
You will then see appearing directly overhead the image some tabs. These tabs are “Adjust, Filter, Crop, Flip, and Effects”.
By pressing on any of these tabs, you will get additional functions by which to add effects to your image.
For example, in the above image, pressing on “Adjust” has brought up additional functions for contrast, saturation, blur, and so on.
Step 3. Add an overlay
An overlay is any shape that you can impose over the image.
The purpose of an element is to add an effect over the image you earlier added.
The second purpose of the element is to provide a slate on which to write your pin text.
Keep this in mind as we go further into the design of our pin.
You can add as many layover elements that you wish.
Simply go to “Elements”, select the shape that you want, and click on it.
You will immediately see that element imposed over your template on the right .
You can choose the colour that you want your overlay to adopt.
You do this by clicking on the coloured box just on the top left corner of the design template.
Click on the colour that you want, or click on the multicolored box in the top left corner of the template.
After doing that, choose your desired colour out of a range of other colours on the bottom bar.
Vary the intensity of the colour by moving the circular dot in any direction you want.
How To Vary The Transparency of Your Overlay
You can determine the transparency of the overlay by first clicking on the overlay then going to the transparency box just on the top right hand corner of the template.
This box is shown as a checked box of small black and white squares.
Once you have clicked on the square, you will be presented with a horizontal bar with a circle in the centre.
Move the circle in any horizontal direction to determine the transparency that you want.
Adjusting the transparency will allow the image you added to the template earlier to come through the overlay, or to be partly obscured, to the degree that you want.
You can drag the edges of the overlay element to determine the extent of the overlay so as to cover part or the whole background image.
Step 4. Add text to your pin
Besides the image, your pin needs to communicate.
You will achieve this by adding text above your overlay.
The text will capture the purpose and call to action of the pin.
For example, your text may be “5 Super Ways To Make $ Online”
You will add the text by clicking on “Text” in the left menu.
A variety of fonts will pop up.
The text that you select will appear on the pin. You can then substitute that text with your own words..
It is also recommended that you also add your brand or blog name to the pin. This will make your blog familiar with many pinners and help build a well known brand name.
As a case in point, my pins always carry “Affiliate Marketing Simplified” at the base of the pin.
A Hack To Increase The Number of Fancy Fonts
Here is a hack: When you first use Canva, you will realize that the fonts will be pretty much limited.
That means you will be restricted to boring fonts
A hack around this limitation is to just type and search for the font type that you want in the searchbox.
If you dont know the font type by name, you can just click on “Text” in the left menu.
Then as you scroll down the screen that has appeared on the right, you will come across the category “Font Combinations”.
Scroll down that category. When you see a combination with a font that you like, click on it.
That font combination will appear on the pin, and you can edit the words as you want.
This trick also does another thing.
It adds the particular fonts to your font gallery such that next time the font is readily available for you to use!
Adding Extra Effects To Pins
You can also add extra effects that you think may increase the beauty or effect of the pin.
Such may include emojis, colours, shapes, or any other element of your choice.
Step 5. Name and download the image
If you are using Canva, there is a section shown where you can add your desired pin name.
Do this by clicking “File” on the top left corner of the screen.
Replace the words that appear at the very top with your desired file name.
Click the Enter button, click save, and then click the download icon in the top right corner, select the image type and quality you want, and the image will start downloading.
There you have it! Your first pin!
It’s as simple as that.
It is recommended that you download your image either as PNG or JPG, as these are the two commonly used formats.
Wrapping Up
Creating pins for Pinterest is an easy job when you know how.
Using Canva you can effortlessly make beautiful pins for your Pinterest campaigns.
I hope this tutorial will help you in creating your first beautiful pin.
Let’s talk below. Is there any software that is beginner-friendly that you use apart from Canva?
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