Using the Aperture theme lightbox gallery
How to insert a gallery block, configure lightbox options, add captions, and optimise images for the full-screen lightbox in the Aperture theme.
The Aperture theme's lightbox is the central feature of every portfolio post. It opens when a visitor clicks any image in a gallery block and fills the entire viewport, with previous and next buttons to move through the set. This article covers inserting galleries, adding captions, and getting the most out of the lightbox UX.
Inserting a gallery block
In the post editor, type / on a new line to open the slash menu and choose Gallery. An upload zone appears — drag and drop image files directly from your desktop or click to browse. Images upload to Cloudflare R2, and WebP and AVIF variants are generated automatically. You can upload multiple files at once; they appear in the order uploaded and can be reordered by drag-and-drop within the gallery block.
Adding captions
Click any image in the gallery block in the editor to reveal a caption text input below it. Captions render in two places: beneath the thumbnail in the grid view, and as an overlay at the bottom of the full-screen lightbox. Keep captions concise — under 100 characters — so they do not obscure the image on mobile screens.
Lightbox navigation
- Previous and next buttons (‹ and ›) on either side of the image advance through the set
- Escape closes the lightbox; clicking the dark backdrop outside the image also closes it
- On the published page, gallery images are keyboard-focusable — Enter or Space opens the lightbox
Image sizing for the lightbox
The lightbox renders images at up to 92% of the viewport width and 80% of its height, so large originals display close to full screen on desktop monitors. Upload the highest-resolution originals you have: a higher-resolution upload simply means a sharper full-screen image.
VeloCMS generates responsive image variants for every upload at 640, 1280, and 1920 pixels wide, in both WebP and AVIF. You only need to upload the full-resolution original.
Performance notes
Gallery images are lazy-loaded by the browser — each image downloads only as the visitor scrolls it into view — and the responsive WebP and AVIF variants keep file sizes small on every device.