Pinter was born at Alassio, Liguria, to Hungarian father and Italian mother.
His name was spelled Pintér Ferenc in Hungarian and pronounced [ˈpinteːr ˈfɛrɛnts]: he signed most of his works with the Hungarian name order; however in Italy he was known as Ferenc Pintér with the accent over the second e often dropped to avoid confusion.
Orphaned, Pinter tried to enter the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, but he was not admitted for his divergence with the communist ideas of the time.
There, in Milan, he was commissioned for a series of advertisement illustrations and posters until, in 1960, he entered the Mondadori publisher with which he collaborated for 32 years.
Pinter realized numerous covers for Mondadori books and magazines, such as Segretissimo (a spy stories series, 14 covers), as well as Maigret and Agatha Christie translations and for Oscar Mondadori (the most sold Italian pocket series).