How to prepare photos for your site
Updated 09.11.2026 5 min read
You don't need to compress or resize photos specially for the site — Gallera does that on its own. But a few export settings will give you sharp photos with accurate colors.
What you can upload
- Formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, and also GIF.
- File size: up to 15 MB.
- Not supported: HEIC (the format iPhones save photos in), RAW, TIFF and SVG. Export such photos to JPG.
You can upload a photo in any photo field of the “Content” tab: click “Upload photo” or “Replace”, or drag a file into the field. Every uploaded photo goes to the site's media library, and you can use it in another block without uploading it again.
What Gallera does with photos on its own
- Converts them to WebP — a modern web format — at 95% quality.
- Resizes them to 2560 px on the long edge and makes two more copies — 1280 and 640 px. The browser picks the right one by itself: a phone gets a smaller copy, a large screen gets the full one. Smaller photos aren't enlarged.
- Rotates photos using EXIF data — a shot from a phone or camera will stand the way you took it.
- Removes EXIF and XMP metadata: GPS coordinates, camera model, capture date, author details. That way nobody can tell from a photo where you photographed your clients.
- Loads photos as visitors scroll: photos below the first screen load when the visitor scrolls to them, while the banner photo loads right away.
There's nothing to set up — this happens to every photo.
The original isn't kept: only the WebP copies stay on the site. Keep your originals.
How to export photos
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Format | JPEG | Suits photos, and the file stays small |
| Size | 2560 px on the long edge | Gallera will reduce anything larger anyway, and a bigger file takes longer to upload |
| Quality | 90% | Gallera recompresses photos to WebP itself; heavy compression beforehand only adds artifacts |
| Color space | sRGB | The web standard; in Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB colors may look dull in the browser |
| File name | olena-ivan-wedding-lviv.jpg |
The name shows in the media library and in the photo's address on the site |
- At least 1500 px. A smaller photo will look blurry on a large screen, especially in a banner or full screen. For a banner, the full 2560 px is better.
- File names — Latin letters, words separated by hyphens, instead of
IMG_4821.jpg. That makes photos easy to find by searching the media library, and gives Google one more hint about what's in the photo. See Photos and search. - A watermark is up to you. Author details in EXIF aren't kept on the site, so if you want to sign your photos, use a visible mark.
Exporting from Lightroom Classic
- Select the photos and choose File → Export (⇧⌘E / Ctrl+Shift+E).
- Export Location — choose the folder to save the photos to.
- File Naming — turn on Rename To and choose Custom Name - Sequence, then type the shoot name in Custom Text, for example
olena-ivan-wedding-lviv. - File Settings: Image Format — JPEG, Quality — 90, Color Space — sRGB.
- Image Sizing: turn on Resize to Fit, choose Long Edge and enter 2560 pixels. Turn on Don't Enlarge so smaller photos aren't enlarged.
- Output Sharpening: Sharpen For — Screen, Amount — Standard.
- So you don't have to set all this every time, click Add at the bottom left and save the settings as a preset, for example “Gallera Site”.
In other apps — Capture One, Photoshop — use the same settings: JPEG, 2560 px on the long edge, 90% quality, sRGB.
Photos from a phone
iPhone photos are often saved in HEIC — the site won't accept it. Save or export such photos to JPG, for example with Lightroom. You don't need to rotate photos by hand: Gallera turns them the right way itself.
How to upload many photos
- In the “Content” tab of any block with photos, click “Media library”, or in a gallery — “Add several from the library”.
- Click “Upload” and select several files at once, or drag them into the media library window.
- Wait for it to finish: the button shows how many are done, for example “Uploading 3 of 12…”.
If some files didn't upload, the media library shows “Not uploaded: N of M” and the reason. Fix those files and upload them again — the rest are already in the media library.
How to add photos to a gallery — see Gallery.
If a photo won't upload
“The photo is too large — 15 MB max.” Export the photo at 2560 px on the long edge and 90% quality — such a file usually weighs 1–4 MB.
“Only JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF photos are supported.” Most often it's an iPhone HEIC, a TIFF or a RAW file. Export the photo to JPG.
The photo looks blurry on the site. The uploaded photo is too small — Gallera doesn't enlarge photos. Upload a version of at least 1500 px, and 2560 px for a banner.
Colors on the site look duller than in Lightroom. Export the photo in sRGB and upload it again.
How the site crops photos to fit a block — see Cropping, aspect ratio and focus point.