Post on 07-Jun-2020
HOW TO USE CANVA TO CREATE PINTEREST PINS AND CUSTOM BOARD COVERS/ 2
HOW TO USE CANVA TO CREATE PINTEREST
PINS AND CUSTOM BOARD COVERS
According to Pinterest, the best performing pins have
three things in common: They’re beautiful, interesting,
and actionable. In that order.
Pinterest is a visual search engine channel, so every part of
your Pinterest author presence must incorporate attractive
images.
This includes your profile and every pin you create.
Each pin represents your author brand in the form of text and/
or an image linked to a keyword rich description and URL that
Pinterest users would be interested in.
Pin Creation Tools
Many authors worry about creating custom images to use as
pins on Pinterest, especially those who claim to have zero
artistic design skills – but we have some excellent free tools
available to help us.
I would recommend using Canva.com.
Canva has rapidly become the “go-to” free tool that authors
use to generate eBook covers, social media images and much
more – including free Pinterest pin templates.
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KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL PINTEREST
PINS
General Guidelines for Pinterest pin images:
• The ideal aspect ratio for a pin is 2:3 (at least 600px wide
x 900px high). The standard Canva pin template is around
735 pixels wide x 1102 pixels tall in dimensions.
• Don’t make images too long, or they’ll be cut off. 85% of
users search Pinterest on mobile, which means vertical
images have much higher impact. Pins are organized into
columns, so vertical Pins stand out more.
• Keep the message simple and try not to cram the pin
images with too much text or icons. Have just enough text
to describe the content the pin is linking to. Usually about
a half to a third of the pin should be text.
• Use high-resolution and high-quality images.
• Any images that you use should be royalty free and you
hold the copyright. Buy the perfect image from stock
photo sites such as Shutterstock, take your own
photographs or search free to use photo libraries such as
UnSplash.com and the free photo library on Canva.
• No more than two clear, easy to read and attractive fonts.
• Include your website name, retail site book page or
another URL that the pin links back to as source material.
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CREATE A TEMPLATE DESIGN FOR YOUR
PINTEREST PINS
Using a standard template for your Pinterest pins makes
pinning your new content much quicker and easier.
Once you have created a template pin, all you have to do is
update the text and the link when you want to design a new
Pinterest pin – and the overall styling will stay consistent and
on brand.
Having a standard pin design is one of the best ways of making
sure that your author brand is clearly visible to a Pinterest
user.
A selection of pins are also displayed on your author profile
banner, so having a consistent style creates a powerful visual
impact from the start.
USE PINTEREST PINS STRATEGICALLY TO
HELP BUILD YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM
Each pin should be created for a purpose.
Think about the goal you want this pin to achieve.
For example, is your aim to build your email list, improve
engagement and sharing, or building awareness about your
brand and your work?
• In most cases, the goal will be to link the pin back
to another site where you can promote your author
brand and your work, such as the URL of your book
page, website, blog post or opt-in/lead magnet.
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• If you are offering a freebie, make this clear in the
text of your pin.
• The letters have to be legible online by someone
browsing your profile.
• The style of your pin must align with your author
brand.
If you write hard psychological thrillers and your other
branding and book cover design is based around dark images
and high contrast letters – this is not the time to change over
to pastel pinks and decorative curly lettering with flowers and
cute pets.
If you are unclear about the best way of expressing your
author brand, research how other authors in your niche have
developed their Pinterest platform and see what they are
doing.
How are they designing their pins?
What kind of layout are they using?
Are they pinning the same pin to different boards?
Stay on brand and you will be fine.
The adaptability of Canva and the wide range of templates,
colours and free fonts the system offers, is one of the reasons
why Canva should be part of any author’s collection of tools
and technology.
HOW TO USE CANVA TO CREATE PINTEREST PINS AND CUSTOM BOARD COVERS/ 6
HOW TO USE CANVA – VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
CLICK HERE >> FOR A STEP BY STEP VIDEO
DEMONSTRATION <<
The video can also be seen at https://youtu.be/l_fdGn6uLaQ
HOW TO USE CANVA TO CREATE PINTEREST PINS AND CUSTOM BOARD COVERS/ 7
HOW TO HOW TO CREATE A PINTEREST PIN
USING CANVA – WORKED EXAMPLE #1
Go to Canva.com. and create a free account if you don’t
already have one.
Goal= Create a pin linking back to a blog post on your website.
When you click on Create a Design and select Pinterest
Graphic, Canva will present you with a blank pin to design,
with the ideal dimensions of 735 x 1102 pixels.
Canva will suggest lots of idea for Pinterest pin designs, so take
the time to experiment and have fun.
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These templates are arranged by themes and you can scroll
down using the grey bar until you find one you like and that
matches your niche which you can customise.
In most cases the pin will have a coloured background or
background image and a text box layered on top of that
background.
Let’s select this wedding theme
pin as an example.
The image is made up of 4
layers.
*A solid background colour in
lilac pink [ colour filter
selection in top left].
*A colour photograph of
flowers and decorations.
*A sandy coloured banner with
two text boxes.
*A simple line of text box at
the bottom of the pin with the
name of the URL that this pin is
linking back to.
With these four elements you can be as creative as you like
and design a pin template which is in perfect alignment with
your author branding, book cover designs and social media
profiles online.
It is very easy to create your own template pin so let’s start
from scratch.
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THE BACKGROUND COLOUR.
Click on the blank pin then go to the left sidebar and
select Background.
Canva gives you a huge range of background colours and
designs.
I would usually go for a solid colour such as an aqua
shade.
In the top left there is a Colour Filter box which displays
the shade that you have selected.
Click on the + box to bring up the complete hex code
range of colours.
The clever thing with Canva is that you can match the
colour of any element of your pin to the exact same shade
used in your website or social media platform graphics
using the hex code.
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Once you select the colour then Canva will save it as a
favourite.
THE IMAGE
In most cases, you want to add a background image to
the design.
Canva has a wide range of free photos that you can find
the elements tab in the sidebar.
If you want to use your own graphics, then go to the
Uploads tab in the sidebar and upload the image onto
Canva.
I tend to use photos that I have purchased from stock
photo sites such as Shutterstock and IStock together with
free to use photos from Canva and sites such as
Unsplash.com.
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For example. Let’s use the graphic of a keyboard and
accessories that I have already uploaded onto Canva.
Click on the image, then use the guidelines Canva gives you to
centre and align the design on the pin.
You can drag the corners of the image to resize it or crop it to
fit your design.
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THE SOLID COLOUR SHAPE
Go to the Elements tab in the sidebar and then Shapes.
You are looking for a white filled rectangle or square
shape.
The black shapes are outlines only.
The white fill indicates that you can change the colour of
this shape to any shade you want to use.
How do you use Solid Shapes?
As coloured backgrounds for your text.
Use the gridlines to align the shape centrally, move it around
and resize then change the colour if you wish using the Colour
filter in the top left.
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Any problems – click on the Position tab on the top right to
move the colour block shape in front of the image or behind
the image.
For example. I’m going for a dark blue solid colour, so that the
text will be highlighted if I select white or yellow letters.
I have aligned the shape so that it fits in with the image – and
still leaves a small background border so that the pin is clear to
read on the system.
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THE TEXT
Now it’s time to add a Text Box layer onto the blue colour
shape. Click on Text in the sidebar, then Add a Text Box.
The text box has handles on each side you can drag out to
adjust the position of the text inside the box.
You can also drag the box to any position on the pin.
There are two things you need to do now:
• Select the font you want to use for the text.
• Select the size of the font.
• Select the colour of the font.
As you type the name and size of the font will appear in the
upper left bar.
The text box is added as a layer on top of the colour shape and
each element is separate.
At this stage you can move the colour block and text around
the pin, change the colours, or even go back and change the
image until you are happy with the core custom design.
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In this simple example I changed the colour of the font to
white, and used a clean font like Lato, 48 point, all in capitals.
I now need one more line of text to complete the template –
my web address. This is usually at the bottom of the pin.
So, go back to Text in the sidebar and then Add a text box.
In this worked example I decided to
add another solid colour bar just to
make the web address even more
prominent and this time went for
the pink colour in the lilacs.
This time the font was Arimo, 42
point, all lower case.
Note: The solid shape and the text
box are independent, so if you
move the text, you will also have to
move the shape behind it.
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When you are happy with the design:
*Click the title bar at the top and
change the title to “Pin Template” or
similar.
*Download the image as a PNG onto
your computer. You can select the
Jpeg option, but PNG is usually better
quality for web display.
Your design will automatically be saved in Canva.
I would recommend having a folder on your computer which is
specifically for images and pins.
You are now ready to create a new pin on Pinterest with this
image.
TO CREATE A NEW PIN FROM YOUR
TEMPLATE
Each design in Canva is called a page.
Simply click on “Copy page” to make a copy of the pin inside
that folder in Canva. You can now change the text and possibly
the image, then download
your new pin.
Once you have the
standard pin, you can
experiment and have fun
with your template, then
use the same basic design
for all of your pins.
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HOW TO USE CANVA – WORKED EXAMPLE #2
USE TRANSPARENT COLOUR LAYERS AND MULTIPLE TEXT
BOXES TO CREATE DEPTH AND INTEREST
This pin has five elements
1. The stock photo image of the computer and accessories.
2. A solid bottom shape of very pale pink to match the base
colour of the image – this extends the image and makes it
appear as though it was one piece of art work.
3. A narrow solid block shape for the bottom of the pin in
dark pink where I can place the URL of my web address.
4. A solid double ribbon line in red.
5. A second square solid block shape in pink. The key thing
to note here is that I have changed the transparency of
this block using the transparency slider tool so that the
underlying image can still be seen. Click on the pin to see
these additional tools.
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Top Tip. I want to use several different sizes of the same
font in the main text.
You can only use one size and font in each text box in
Canva. So, this pin needed 3 separate text boxes. 10
BRILLIANT. Lato 64 in Black. PINTEREST. Lato 80 in
Red. Marketing Strategies for Authors. Lato 78 lower
case in Black.
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For the URL link text in the dark pink bottom solid bar shape
I have used Poppins Light 32 lower case in white as a visual
contrast.
The URL hyperlink will be in the pin description when you
create the new pin.
.
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HOW TO USE CANVA – WORKED EXAMPLE #3
DESIGN A CUSTOM BOARD COVER TO MATCH
YOUR AUTHOR BRAND
Board covers are pins will be displayed full-size for each board.
Part of your author branding is how you organize your Pinterest
boards with consistent branding.
I am looking for something super simple, attractive, colourful
and easy to read. The text has to “pop” against the white page
background so that it clear.
Then save that design to use as a template branding for all
your board covers.
Size.
The recommended size for a Pinterest pin is 735 pixels by 1102
pixels on Canva.
But what you will find is that the cover image of the pin
displayed on the Pinterest board is actually square.
So, a normal sized pin would be too long, and the image and
text would be cut off.
The best way to get around this is to create a custom
image size. Square 600 x 600 pixels
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HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM BOARD COVER
ON CANVA.
Go to Canva.com. and create a free account if you don’t
already have one.
Then go to the top right and click on Custom Dimensions.
Type in 600 x 600 and select pixels [px]. Then click Create
new design.
You will then be presented with a blank canvas to work with.
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Click the title bar at the top and change the title to
“Pinterest Board Cover” or similar.
Here is the template board cover template that I created for
my new Kindle Publishing board using Canva.
There are three things you need to include in a board cover.
COLOUR.
If possible, the colours you select for your board cover should
match your author brand if you already have a website and
social media platform.
Canva will give you a full range of background colours, shapes
and transparency options. If you know the hex code for your
website design, you can match it perfectly.
In my example, I used a dark navy background cover then
added my own image which I uploaded to Canva.
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STYLE. THE BOARD COVER – LIKE ALL OF THE PINS –
SHOULD REFLECT YOUR BRAND.
It could be business-like and monochrome, or fun and witty
with bright icons or graphic images that you have uploaded
onto Canva. Book covers can work if the text is clear, but you
may need to crop the image to make it fit.
In my example, I selected a bright floral image which I liked
and reflected my brand. This particular image of lilacs came
from Juja Han on Unsplash.
THE BOARD TITLE FONT DESIGN AND SIZE.
The text box on your design has to be clear and easy to read
and larger than the size you would use on a pin.
This is not the place for elaborate fonts and decoration.
The purpose of the board cover is to tell the Pinterest user
what the pins on this board are all about in a few words.
The description of your board cover will give them more
information and include keywords and keyword phrases which
you can imagine someone typing into the search bar on
Pinterest. If you can incorporate a keyword into your text – all
the better. Pinterest reads the text on your pins.
In my example, I did struggle to find the perfect font but finally
went for a simple, non-serif font which was clean and easy to
read against the background colour.
When you are happy with the design, download a PNG of the
image to your computer.
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HOW TO USE THE CANVA IMAGE AS A BOARD
COVER
Then create a new pin in Pinterest using this image as the pin
image.
Give this pin the same title and description as you used when
you created the board. But this time add some additional
keywords or phrases to make it super easy for someone to find
this pin and therefore your board, if they were typing a search
phrase into the Pinterest search bar.
In this case, I want the reader to go directly to the Amazon
book page.
Then save the pin to your board.
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TO USE THIS PIN AS A BOARD COVER
Go to the board and click Edit (or open up the board and click
the pencil button).
Click Change Cover and scroll across and select the new board
cover pin that you have saved.
Click Save Changes to save the cover, then Save Changes to
save the board.
You now have a board with at least one pin and a branded
board cover.
A consistent board cover design adds to your author branding
and platform.
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For more information about how to use Canva, including
detailed tutorials and design inspiration – go to
https://support.canva.com/
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NINA HARRINGTON. COM