Galleries

Gallery view is the best way to display databases with visual components, like mood boards, office directories, virtual recipe boxes, and more.

How galleries work

Galleries display images as cards — they can be JPGs, PNGs, or GIFs.

Each card is its own Notion page that can be opened and edited. You have several options for which images appear in your gallery:

  • Page cover image: Gallery will display the cover images for each page in the gallery.
  • Page content preview: Gallery will display the first image in the body of each page in the gallery. If there is no image, you can see a preview of the page content.
  • Files property: Gallery will display image files uploaded in the files property.

Here's how to select which of these you want:

  • Click Properties at the top of your gallery
  • Click the Card preview dropdown.
  • Select Page cover, Page content, or the name of your file property (i.e. Resume):
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Create a gallery

There are several ways to add a gallery to Notion. Here are your options:

Full-page gallery

  • Create a new page in your workspace.
  • Click on Gallery in the grayscale menu provided.
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  • If you want to create a full-page gallery inside another page:
    • On a new line, type /gallery full and press enter.
    • Now when you go back to your original page, you'll see this gallery nested inside it.

In-line gallery

You can add an in-line gallery to a page alongside other types of content, like text.

  • On a new line, type /gallery and hit enter.
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Note: Expand in-line galleries to full-page by clicking ⤢ at the top right. Hover over the top of your gallery to see its option menus. Click ••• to see the Properties, Filter, and Sort options.

Gallery view in a database

You can add a gallery to an existing database to view its data in that format.

  • Click + Add a view or the name of the current view at the top left of your database.
  • Select Gallery from the dropdown menu, and give it a name in the text box.
  • Click Create and your brand new gallery will pop up.
  • You can still toggle back to other views using that same left dropdown.
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Open a card as a page

Every card in your Notion gallery is its own page, which can be opened and edited.

  • Just click anywhere on a card to open it in preview mode.
  • Click ⤢ Open as page at the top left to make it full-page.
  • You'll see all your properties organized at the top.
    • Click on the property name to edit it or its type.
    • Click in the property field to edit its content.
    • Reorder properties by hovering and using the ⋮⋮ to drag and drop them up or down.
  • You can also add a new property to your gallery from the page by clicking + Add a property.
  • Under properties, there's space for comments that will be attributed to you.
  • The body of the page can be edited just like any other Notion page. Add whatever content blocks you want, including in-line databases.
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Customize page

When you open any page, you have the ability to change how it looks in a few ways that go beyond typography and text size.

  • Click ••• at the top right of any open project page, then Customize page.
  • You'll see a menu to edit the appearance of Backlinks and Comments, as well as Properties.
    • For backlinks, choose to show them expanded in the body of your page or in a popover.
    • For comments, choose to show them expanded or off in the page body.
    • For properties, rearrange them using the ⋮⋮ icon, and choose whether to always show them, always hide them, or only show them when in use.
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Note: Backlinks show you what other pages this page is linked to across your workspace. More on backlinks here →

Add a new card

There are several ways to add a new card to your gallery.

  • Click the + New button in the empty card at the bottom of your gallery to add a new image frame right there.
  • Click the blue New button at the top right of your gallery to create a new card at the bottom of your gallery and automatically open it in preview mode.

Card options

Click the ••• icon that appears at the top right of each card on hover (or right click anywhere on the card) to bring up this menu of options:

  • Delete: Deletes the card from your gallery.
  • Duplicate: Creates an exact copy of the card next to it.
  • Copy link: Copies an anchor link to that specific card to your clipboard.
  • Rename: Lets you rename the card's page without opening it.
  • Move to: Lets you move the card to another workspace or page (where it will show up as a sub-page).
  • Edit property: Brings up a menu with all your gallery's properties. Click the one you want and then click the new value for it.
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Tip: You can apply these actions to multiple cards at once. Just select all the cards you want to modify and right click. Helpful for editing properties in bulk.
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Customize your gallery

Edit your gallery so it does the job you need it to do. There are several ways to change its organization and appearance to fit the task at hand.

Edit properties

In galleries, properties add important context to the images displayed. You can add as many properties as you want. Here's how:

  • Add a new card to your gallery, and in the page that opens, choose + Add a property.
  • Or click Properties at the top of your gallery, then + Add a property.
  • Give your property a name and select its type from the Property Type menu. Learn more about properties here →
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  • To delete or duplicate a property, just click on the ⋮⋮ icon to its left in the Properties menu and those options will pop up.

Change image displayed

You have several options for which images appear in your gallery:

  • Page cover image: Gallery will display the cover images selected on each page.
  • Page content preview: Gallery will display the first image in the body of each page in the gallery. If there is no image, it will show a preview of the content on the page.
  • Files property: Gallery will display image files uploaded in a file property.

Here's how to select which of these you want:

  • Click Properties at the top of your gallery
  • Click the Card preview dropdown.
  • Select Page cover, Page content, or the name of your file property (i.e. Resume):
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Fit, stretch & reposition images

There are a few ways your images can show up in your gallery:

  • To see your whole images inside their card frames, go to Properties and then switch on Fit image. You'll see them change size accordingly.
  • To crop your images so they fill your card frames, switch off Fit image. This is the default.
  • To change the part of your image shown on a card, hover over any card and click Reposition. Then drag your image accordingly and click Save position.
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Rearrange cards

To reorder the cards in your gallery, just click and hold, then drag left, right, up, or down.

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Card size

You can choose your images to display as small, medium, or large.

  • Go to Properties at the top right of your gallery.
  • Click on the Card size dropdown and select the size you want.
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Display, hide & order properties

You can choose which properties you want displayed underneath your images in your gallery. In the directory example, you can show or hide the location and title tags.

  • Click Properties and then click the switches next to the properties in your database to hide or show them.
  • Rearrange the order they display on your gallery cards by using the ⋮⋮ icon to drag them up or down in the Properties menu.
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Tip: You can also hide the name of any card in your gallery, allowing you to show the image as a standalone element. In the Properties menu, switch off Name. Helpful for simple and elegant mood boards and photo collections.

Filter your gallery

View only the cards that fit certain criteria, depending on what you need.

  • Click Filter at the top right of your gallery.
  • Choose which property you want to filter by from the dropdown.
  • Choose the condition you want to use, i.e. Contains, Does not contain, etc.
  • Define the value of the property you want to see, i.e. a specific tag.
  • You can add multiple filters at once this way too!
  • Remove filters by clicking the X icon next to them in the Filter menu.
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Sort your gallery

Have your images appear in a specific order by sorting their properties in Ascending or Descending order.

  • Click Sort at the top right of your gallery.
  • Choose the property you want to sort by and then choose Ascending or Descending. You'll see your gallery rearrange in real-time.
  • You can add multiple sorts to your gallery, with sorting criteria taking precedence based on their order in the Sort menu. (You can use the ⋮⋮ to drag and drop them up or down.)
  • Remove sorts by clicking the X icon next to them in the Sort menu.
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Search your gallery

You can search for specific content in your gallery.

  • Click Search at the top right and type the word(s) you're looking for in card titles or property values.
  • You'll see your gallery change in real-time to only show the cards that fit that criteria.

Link to your gallery

You can copy an anchor link to this specific view of your gallery so you can share it elsewhere.

  • Click the ••• icon at the top right of your gallery.
  • Click Copy link to view and the URL will copy to your clipboard so you can share it.

Gallery use cases

Here are some use cases for galleries from our team and the Notion community:

FAQs

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How can I turn a full-page database into an in-line database?
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Is there a way to skip the modal view when I create a new page, and always Open as Page by default?
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How can I include an emoji in a tag, like a multi-select option called 🔥Urgent?
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How can I tell if there are comments made inside gallery cards?

Related guides

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