Okay, so you’ve created a board or two on Pinterest to store and organize things you find. The next step, then, is to get out there and find content with which to fill up your boards! The actual pieces of content on Pinterest are referred to as “pins,” and they can be pictures, videos, animations, Internet links, and more.
There are three general ways to add pins to your boards on Pinterest:
- Add a pin directly from the board that you want to add it to, either by entering a web address or uploading a file from your own computer.
- Copy a pin that already exists on the Pinterest website.
- Create a pin from another website that supports creating Pinterest pins from its content.
How to add a pin from a board
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Go to www.pinterest.com in your web browser and log in.
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Click your name in the top-right corner to go to your personal page.
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Click on Boards to see your collection of boards, and then click on the board that you want to add a pin to (but NOT on the Edit button).
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Click Add a Pin and then choose whether you want to add it from The Web or Your Device (i.e. your computer).
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If you chose to add a pin from a web page on the Internet, the first step is to add its web address (for example, “https://techboomers.com/p/pinterest” is a web address). Click in the box highlighted in the screenshot below and type in the web page’s address (or just copy and paste it from the address bar once you’re on that specific page). Then click Next.
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Since Pinterest is a visual-based website, you will need to select a picture on the web page that you’re trying to pin, in order to represent that web page. Pinterest will automatically pull all image files that it can find off the page that you’re trying to pin; just move your mouse cursor over the one that you want to use to represent the web page, and click Pin It.
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Now, you’ll need to select which board you want to add this pin to, and maybe also give it a bit of a description so that people will know what you’ve found. Click the drop-down menu beside “Board” and select the name of the board that you want to add this pin to. If you have multiple boards and want to find one quickly, click in the box labelled “Find or Create a Board” and type in the name of the board that you’re looking for. You can also click the Create button to create a new board to add that pin to, right on the spot.
Once you’re done that, you can click in the box beside “Description” and type in a bit of information about the content of this pin (but this is totally optional). When you’re all set, click Pin It. Presto! Your pin is created and added to the board that you chose!
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If you choose to add a pin from something on your own computer, you will first need to select a picture to represent the pin. Click Choose Image to display a window that will let you browse your computer’s files. Find the picture that you want to use to represent this pin, click on it to select it, and then click Open.
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Now, like when you added a pin through a web page, you’ll need to select which board you want to add this pin to, and add a description so that people will know what you’ve found. When you’re all set, click Pin It. Congrats! You’ve created your very own pin, right from scratch!
How to copy a pin from somewhere else on Pinterest
An easy way to add pins to your Pinterest boards is to just add some that other people have already put on Pinterest! To do it:
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Go to www.pinterest.com in your web browser and log in (if you haven’t already).
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Find a pin on either your main page, or by searching for one, and click Pin It in the top-left corner.
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As with adding pins through other methods, you’ll need to select a board to add the pin to, and give it an optional description. When you’re done, click Pin It. It’s as easy as that!
How to create a pin from a website that features Pinterest support
There are certain websites where you will be able to create pins on Pinterest directly from their content. Just look for the Pin It button next to a recipe, news story, illustration, or anything else, and click it.
You can also turn videos on popular video-sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and TED.com into pins.
To turn a YouTube video into a pin, go to its page, click on Share, and then click the Pinterest logo.
For videos on Vimeo, the process is much the same, except the Share button is directly on the video.
For videos on Ted.com, go to the video’s page, move your mouse cursor over the “more” icon (
) next to “Share This Idea” and click Pinterest.
In any of these cases, you will be asked to log into Pinterest, if you aren’t already. From there, the process is the same as it is for adding other types of pins: pick a board to add the pin to, write a description, and then click Pin It. Done!
Those are the basics of adding different types of pins to your boards! To learn more, be sure to check out some of our upcoming tutorials on how to search for inspiring ideas, how to change your account settings, and how to delete pins and boards.
