Portfolio layout settings

Public portfolio pages read layout, hero, spacing, metadata, and click behavior from two layers: site defaults and per-portfolio overrides. This page covers the Public page card on the standard presentation track — not lightbox styling, photo detail toggles, commerce, or Motion templates. Start with Public portfolio pages if you have not enabled a public URL yet. For animated galleries, use Portfolio motion settings instead of these layout controls. Then continue to Photo detail pages and Portfolio lightbox settings for what happens when a visitor clicks an image.

Prerequisites

Public portfolio pages — collection with Public gallery on

Site defaults: Dashboard → Settings → Portfolio

Per-portfolio overrides: Dashboard → Portfolio → collection → Manage portfolio → Settings tab → Public page card

Two places to configure

Layer	Where	Effect
Site defaults	Settings → Portfolio	Default for new portfolios and any field left as Inherit site default
Per-portfolio overrides	Portfolio → [collection] → Public page	Override one layout without changing site-wide defaults

Use Reset to site defaults on a portfolio to clear overrides.

Layout picker

Pick one layout from three groups:

1. Grid galleries — masonry, square grid, justified rows
2. Immersive browsing — split pane, book spread, stage carousel
3. Chronological — timeline, journal

Switching into Immersive browsing sets click behavior to Stage only automatically (you can change it afterward). Switching back to grids restores Open lightbox if you had stage-only before.

Only controls for the active family are shown — for example, Columns does not appear for split pane. Timeline settings (group by / inner layout) appear only when Timeline is selected, not for Journal.

Thumbnail size = density (immersive browsing only)

Thumbnail size (Compact / Comfortable / Large) does not change grid columns on masonry. It applies to split pane, book spread, and stage carousel only.

On split pane (desktop side-by-side), it sets how many thumbs fit per page of the rail:

Size	Thumbs per page (desktop rail)
Compact	20 (4 columns × 5 rows)
Comfortable	15 (3 × 5)
Large	12 (3 × 4)

On phones, the rail sits below the stage with fewer rows; portrait tablets use a wider multi-column strip sized to the screen.

Use Compact for dense proofing; Large for bigger, easier-to-tap thumbs.

Grid gallery settings

• Columns (2–6) — masonry and square grid only; justified packs rows automatically
• Spacing — Seamless / Compact / Relaxed
• Tile aspect ratio — square grid only
• Metadata display — Inline below / Hover overlay / Hidden
• Click behavior — Open lightbox / Go to photo page

Immersive browsing settings

• Thumbnail size — Compact / Comfortable / Large (density)
• Spacing — gap between thumbs
• Metadata placement — On stage / Minimal on rail / Hidden (book spread always uses the reading pane for captions)
• Click behavior — Stage only / Open lightbox / Go to photo page

Timeline settings

Shown only when the active layout is Timeline:

• Click behavior — Open lightbox / Go to photo page (same control as Journal under Chronological)
• Group by — EXIF date or Upload date
• Inner layout — masonry, square grid, or justified inside each timeline section
• Plus grid-style columns, spacing, and metadata for those inner grids

Journal layout

Journal is under Chronological. Set Click behavior on the same Public page / site Portfolio controls as other chronological layouts (Open lightbox or Go to photo page). There are no extra grouping controls — the page uses each media item’s caption (heading; falls back to title) and description (body). Set those fields in Media; portfolio-level caption/description overrides apply when present.

• Photos follow Click behavior (lightbox or photo detail page).
• Videos play inline in the journal row (aspect ratio preserved; height capped so tall portrait clips stay readable).
• Rows alternate sides as visitors scroll (copy | image, then image | copy).

Best for travel diaries, project notes, and collections where each frame needs readable story text beside it — not for dense proofing grids.

Suggested combinations

These are recipes you build by picking layout plus settings — the dashboard does not ship named one-click style bundles:

Goal	Layout	Also set
Classic proofing grid	Square grid + lightbox	Compact spacing; hover metadata
Print marketing grid	Square grid + photo page	Inline metadata; enable page view
Client cinematic review	Split pane	Comfortable thumbs; stage only
Story plus captions	Book spread	Long descriptions in Media
Travel archive	Timeline	EXIF grouping; masonry inner layout
Visual diary / long captions	Journal	Caption + description filled on each media item

Implementation steps

1. Open Settings → Portfolio and pick a default layout group and layout for new collections.
2. Set family-appropriate defaults (columns, spacing, thumbnail size) while each control is visible.
3. Open a Portfolio collection → Manage portfolio → Settings tab → Public page.
4. Override only the fields that should differ from site defaults; leave others as Inherit site default.
5. Save and preview the public URL.
6. Configure Photo detail pages and Portfolio lightbox settings when click behavior should open overlays or full pages.

What your visitors see

The public portfolio page reflects the merged site default plus override values: layout family, hero, spacing, metadata placement, and click paths into lightbox or photo detail when enabled.

Verifying your setup

• Site defaults under Settings → Portfolio match your usual workflow.
• Per-portfolio overrides appear only where intended; Reset to site defaults clears them.
• Split pane thumb density matches Compact, Comfortable, or Large on desktop preview.
• Click behavior opens lightbox, photo page, or stage-only browsing as configured.