How To Download Images from Pinterest

Pinterest is a massive social network yet it seems to grab fewer headlines than any other. Will over 250 million monthly users and billions of images hosted, it’s prime real estate for inspiration and ideas. It’s also somewhere to show your own creativity if you’re that way inclined. While you can view what you like on the network, downloading and keeping images is not made that obvious. This tutorial will show you a few ways to download images from Pinterest.

I have a love hate relationship with Pinterest. I love the variety, the richness of some of the content and the ability to follow a thread across the world just through images. However I don’t like the merry-go-round of not being able to land on a host website or the inability to find a product link if you find something you might like to buy. One image links to an album which links to another, and another and so on.

Download images from Pinterest

If you like collecting images, Pinterest never made it easy to find out how to download them. It is understandable as if you can save the images, you won’t go back to Pinterest to view them again. But as always, there are options and I’m going to list a few of them here.

Save Image As…

Save Image As… is the Windows right click dialog to save what you see. Some Pinterest images allow this feature to work while others don’t. As long as the author allows you to copy the images, right click the image page and select Save Image As… Give it a name and save it in an image format.

Save Pinterest images with Safari

If you’re a Mac user, your options are similar to Windows. Open Pinterest in Safari and either Control click or right click on an image and select Save Image As… Select a format, name the image and save it wherever it is that you save images. You also have the added option of Save Image to Desktop or Add Image to Photos for editing or organization.

Download Pinterest images on iPhone

iPhone users can quickly download images from Pinterest using the app itself. Open the app and navigate to the image. Select the three dot menu icon at the top of the page and select Download. Agree to allow Pinterest access to your Photos and you can download as much as you like.

Download Pinterest images on Android

Downloading Pinterest images on Android is much the same. Open the image you want to save, select the three dot menu icon in the top left, select Download image and save it somewhere. Like Apple, if you haven’t done it before, Pinterest will request permission to access photos and media. Allow it and the download will complete.

Image Downloader Chrome extension

The Image Downloader Chrome extension is a neat little app that allows you to copy images from just about anywhere online. Navigate to an image page on Pinterest, select the Image Downloader in the toolbar and select the image you want. Enter ‘media cache’ into the filter box and select Download when the image is highlighted. Set your format and options and save.

You can use this extension to batch download as well as download individual images. It’s a very useful little app.

Image Downloader Firefox addon

There is an Image Downloader Firefox addon too. It works the same as in Chrome as it was written by the same guy. The process is also the same. Install the addon, navigate to an image page on Pinterest, click the icon, select the filter if you want and select Download. You can select individual images or download all on a page.

About downloading images from Pinterest

While most people treat images uploaded to the internet as fair game, not everyone does. There are lots of creatives who upload their work to Pinterest who (rightly) want paying for their work. The Pinterest terms of service goes to great lengths to protect itself but not such great lengths to protect uploaders.

If you upload or download images to the social network, it is your responsibility to check for copyright and terms. Lots of people say on their pages that you either can, or cannot download their images. It’s a legal minefield that Pinterest doesn’t help that much with.

If you’re on the other side of the equation and think people are illegally pinning your work, there is a mechanism that can help. The Pinterest copyright complaint page has a section where you can file a complaint to have the images removed.

If you do use any of the techniques to download images from Pinterest, check for copyright or restrictions first. While I haven’t heard of anyone being prosecuted for copyright infringement on Pinterest, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened or couldn’t happen to you. Be careful out there!