Links

Get the Pinterest plugin for your computer here:

https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/save-pins-with-the-pinterest-browser-button

Get the Pinterest smartphone and tablet app here:

https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/app-keeps-opening

Transcript

Intro

Pinterest is a great tool not only for finding historical reference images but also for organising your collection of source material.

In this lesson, I'll show you how Pinterest works and how you can use it to build up your library of reference images quickly.

Getting Started

Create a Profile

If you don't have a profile already start by creating one.

The Start Feed

Your starting page on Pinterest is your start feed.

The Start feed is a mix of pinned images from the users you follow and recommendations from Pinterest based on your interests. 

The more you use Pinterest, the better your start feed gets.

Finding Material

Search and Filtering

To get started let's search for some images.

Enter your keywords in the search bar.

On the results page, you can filter your search even more by selecting one or more tags.

Downloading Images

Select an item to get more info.

Then select the image to go to the source.

There you can sometimes get a hi-res file of the image and more info about the item displayed.

If you are not presented with a higher quality image at the source you can just go back and download the image directly from Pinterest.

More Like This

One of the best things about Pinterest is the 'More like this' feature.

Scroll down below the main image to get recommendations of images related to the one you've just selected.

This is a great way to discover new and relevant material.

Populating your start feed

Check Out Other Users Content

When you find a good image, check out the user who pinned it, by selecting the user icon.

On the user's profile, you can explore their pins and boards and check out if they have more pins you like.

Follow Boards and Users

If you like the content pinned by another user you can follow them to get all their new pins in your start feed.

You can either follow a specific board to limit the scope of what you'd like to see from them, or you can follow their profile to get to see everything they pin.

Populated Start Feed

Now when you go back to your start feed, you'll be presented with new pins from the users you follow. 

You'll even get recommendations from Pinterest based on the content of the users and boards you follow.

Building your collection

To get the most out of Pinterest, you should create your own boards and pins.

By doing this Pinterest can give you even better recommendations.

But this is also a great way to build up an easily manageable collection of your own quickly.

Creating a Board

Go to your profile by selecting your user icon.

From your profile page, you can explore and manage all the content you've pinned and your relations to other users.

Go to your boards by selecting the 'Boards' tap.

From here you can easily create new boards for your pins.

You can make a board private if you don't want anybody else to see your pins on the board.

Give your new board a name and hit 'Create' to get started.

Repinning to a Board

When you find an image on Pinterest, you'd like to pin to a board just select the board to save it.

Pinning From a Websites

You can even save images to a board from any website outside of Pinterest.

To do this just install the browser plugin on your computer or download the Pinterest app to your smartphone or tablet.

You'll find links to both below this video.

Get the computer plugin here:

https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/save-pins-with-the-pinterest-browser-button

Get the smartphone and tablet app here:

https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/app-keeps-opening

Creating Your Own Pins

You can even upload and pin your own photos to Pinterest.

Go to your profile page and select the 'Pins' tab.

Select 'Create new pin'.

From here you can upload your image, type in a description and even add a web address.