Pinterest Collages Guide 2026 — How to Make, Save, and Download Collages

Collages started life as Shuffles, a standalone app Pinterest launched in 2022 for teenagers who wanted to cut objects out of pins and layer them into moodboards. The format was popular enough that Pinterest folded it into the main app. In 2026, "Collages" is a first-class pin type with its own creation tool, its own feed placement, and a growing share of the fashion and interiors content on the platform.

This guide explains how the tool works, how to make a collage that looks intentional rather than cluttered, and how to get a finished collage, or the cutouts inside it, out of Pinterest and onto your device.

What a Pinterest Collage Is

A collage is a pin composed of cutouts: objects automatically extracted from other pins with the background removed, arranged on a 2:3 canvas. Tap a cutout in a published collage and Pinterest shows you the pin it came from, which is what makes collages shoppable and what makes them different from a flat image made in Canva.

Pinterest's help centre documents the basics under creating collages, but the feature has moved quickly. What follows reflects the 2026 app.

How to Make a Collage

Open the Pinterest app and tap the + button.
Tap Collage.
Pinterest opens a blank canvas and a search bar. Search for anything, or open one of your boards.
Tap a pin. Pinterest detects the main object and offers a cutout with the background removed. If it picks the wrong object, tap Select different area and trace the one you want.
Tap Add to place the cutout on the canvas.
Repeat. Pinch to resize, drag to move, twist with two fingers to rotate. Use the layer controls at the bottom to bring a cutout forward or send it back.
Optionally add a background (solid colour, gradient, or an image), text, or an animation effect on individual cutouts.
Tap Next, add a title and description, choose a board, and Publish.

Collages are currently a mobile-first feature. The desktop site displays collages and lets you edit titles, but creation is limited to the app in most regions.

Making Cutouts From Your Own Photos

You're not limited to pins. On the cutout screen, tap the camera or gallery icon to import a photo from your phone. Pinterest runs the same object detection on it. This is how people build outfit collages from their own wardrobe or room collages from their own furniture.

Photos you import become pins on your account (in a hidden board Pinterest manages) so the cutout can link back to something. They aren't published unless you publish the collage.

Tips for Collages That Look Good

Three to seven cutouts. More than that and the canvas reads as noise. Pinterest's most-saved collages are sparse.
Vary scale. One large hero cutout and several smaller supporting ones gives the eye a place to start.
Match lighting. Cutouts from studio product shots and cutouts from dim phone photos look wrong together. Filter by "white background" when searching for product pins.
Use the shadow toggle sparingly. The automatic drop shadow helps cutouts sit on a plain background but looks strange on a photographic one.
Leave the bottom 15% clear. The pin title overlaps it in the feed.

Our image size guide covers the canvas dimensions and safe zones in more detail.

Saving a Collage You Made

Once published, a collage is a pin. You can save it to a board like any other, and you can export it as an image or video:

Open your collage.
Tap the three dots menu.
Tap Download. Pinterest renders the collage (as an MP4 if any cutouts are animated, otherwise as an image) and saves it to your camera roll.

The export is the composed canvas only. It doesn't include the individual cutouts as separate files.

Downloading Someone Else's Collage

Collages other people publish are pins with a normal pin URL. Copy the link (share icon → Copy link) and paste it into PinLoad. Static collages download as an image; animated ones download as MP4. The steps are the same as for any pin, covered in our image guide and video guide.

What you get is the flattened composition. If you want the individual objects, read on.

Getting the Individual Cutouts

Two approaches:

Inside Pinterest: open any collage, tap a cutout, and Pinterest shows the source pin. Tap Save to add that source pin to your board, or tap Use cutout to bring the same cutout into your own new collage. This is the intended way to remix.

Outside Pinterest: the source pin is a normal pin. Copy its link and download it through PinLoad to get the original image, then remove the background yourself. Apple Photos (long-press the subject and choose Copy Subject), Google Photos, and most editors can do this with one tap in 2026.

Note that cutouts inside a collage aren't downloadable as transparent PNGs from Pinterest directly. The transparency exists only within the collage editor.

Collages and Copyright

A collage is a derivative work built from other people's images. Inside Pinterest that's the whole point: every cutout links to its source, and Pinterest's terms of service grant the licence that makes remixing on-platform possible. Exporting a collage and using it elsewhere, especially commercially, is a different matter. The original creators of each cutout still own their images.

If you're making collages for a brand, use your own product photos or licensed stock. Our copyright and fair-use guide explains where the lines are.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Shuffles still a separate app?

Pinterest has been retiring it in favour of the built-in Collage tool. Collages made in Shuffles were migrated to their creators' Pinterest accounts. If you still have the app installed, it may redirect you to Pinterest.

Can I make a collage on desktop?

Viewing and basic editing, yes. Creating from scratch is app-only in most regions as of mid-2026.

Why is the cutout jagged?

Object detection works best on subjects with clear edges against a plain background. Hair, fur, glass, and busy backgrounds produce rough cutouts. Try the manual Select different area tool, or pick a cleaner source pin.

Can I add my own music to an animated collage?

Only from Pinterest's licensed library, for the same reasons as video pins. See the video posting guide.

Do collages get more reach than regular pins?

Pinterest has been placing collages prominently in the home feed and in a dedicated Collages tab, so in practice they get favourable distribution. Whether that lasts depends on how the format matures.

Can I download a collage as a transparent PNG?

No. Exports are flattened, with the background included.