How to Create Website Thumbnails for a Portfolio on Squarespace in India

On Squarespace 7.1, portfolio thumbnails come from each project’s featured image. Add a project, set its title and featured image, publish it, then choose how the portfolio page displays projects. Preview the page on desktop and mobile: responsive image containers can crop the same source image differently. The documented workflow is the same in India; the official guidance reviewed does not specify India-specific thumbnail settings or image requirements.

1. Check your Squarespace version and page type

These steps are for Squarespace 7.1 portfolio pages. In Squarespace 7.0, portfolios commonly use index pages, and their appearance depends on the site’s template, so the 7.1 controls may not apply. Check the site version before following the steps. See Squarespace’s guidance on portfolio pages and full-bleed images.

2. Create a project and add its featured image

On a computer, open the Squarespace Pages panel and select the portfolio page. Create a project or choose a blank project.
Open the project’s General settings. Enter the project title and add a featured image. This image represents the project on the portfolio landing page.
Save the settings, then edit the project itself to add its content. A project can contain page sections, image blocks, gallery sections, and auto layouts.
Publish the project when it is ready. New projects are drafts by default, so they will not appear to visitors until published.

The project page and its portfolio thumbnail have separate jobs: the featured image represents the project in the portfolio, while the project content provides the detail after someone opens it.

3. Choose how portfolio thumbnails appear

Edit the portfolio page’s section styles to choose a layout. The documented portfolio styles include grid and hover layouts.

Style	What visitors see	Useful when
Grid: Simple	Featured images with project titles below them	You want a straightforward, scannable visual index
Grid: Overlay	Project titles layered over the featured images	You want the title attached directly to each image
Hover	Project titles as links, with featured images revealed on hover	You prefer a title-led layout; check how it works for visitors on touch screens

Grid settings include 2, 3, or 4 columns, aspect ratio, width, height, spacing, text alignment and placement, and hover treatment. At the same section width, adding columns makes each thumbnail narrower; choose a count that leaves the work legible. Hover layouts emphasize titles and reveal the images on hover, while grid layouts keep the thumbnails visible.

4. Prevent awkward crops on desktop and mobile

Squarespace adapts images to screen size and may crop them to fit their containers. A crop that looks right on a desktop grid can cut off a subject or important detail on a narrow screen. Squarespace explains this behavior in its cropping troubleshooting guide and image resizing guidance.

Choose a grid aspect ratio that suits the kind of work shown across the portfolio.
Preview the page at desktop and mobile widths. Check every project image, not only the first row.
Where the editor offers image crop or focal-point controls, adjust them so the important subject remains visible.
If the source file itself needs different dimensions or framing, edit it with image-editing software on your device, then upload the revised file.
Recheck the page after changing the layout, aspect ratio, or source image. Those choices affect how the image fits the available container.

There is no single thumbnail dimension established by the reviewed official guidance as the right size for every portfolio. Start with a clear source image, then use the page’s aspect-ratio and responsive previews to judge the result.

5. Edit from a computer and verify the published page

Use a computer for creating portfolio pages, editing projects, and styling the portfolio. The portfolio guidance says those tasks cannot be done in the Squarespace app. Some page settings are also limited in the app, and some SEO and social settings require a computer; see Squarespace page settings.

Confirm the project is published, not left as a draft.
Confirm its featured image and title are set in project settings.
Check the portfolio landing page on both a wide and narrow screen.
Open a project from the landing page to make sure the link leads to the intended content.

Or skip the browser setup

If you need a screenshot of a portfolio page for review or documentation, ScreenshotNeo can capture a page with one API request. Its clean-shot flow accepts cookie or consent banners like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Only clean shots are billed: bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and the response identifies the page verdict and billing status in headers. An MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients. The free plan includes 1,000 shots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. Every feature is on every plan. See ScreenshotNeo and its API documentation.

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://your-site.example/portfolio -o portfolio.webp

Replace the example URL with your published portfolio URL and set your API key. The one-call response is an image; ScreenshotNeo can also return PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. Options include full-page capture with lazy images loaded, element capture by CSS selector, viewport and device presets, dark mode, custom CSS or JavaScript, waits, custom headers and cookies, caching, and more. See the ScreenshotNeo docs for request options and response headers.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	What to do
A project is missing from the portfolio	It is still a draft, or the portfolio page is not the one being viewed	Publish the project and check that you are viewing the correct portfolio page.
The wrong image appears as the thumbnail	The featured image is unset or an unintended image was selected	Open the project’s General settings, select the intended featured image, and save.
The subject is cut off	The image container’s aspect ratio or responsive crop does not suit the source image	Try a different grid aspect ratio, adjust the crop or focal point if available, and inspect mobile and desktop previews.
The 7.1 instructions do not match the editor	The site may use 7.0, where index-page behavior depends on the template	Identify the site version and follow the controls available for that version and template.
You cannot create or edit the portfolio project in the app	Portfolio page creation and project editing are not supported there per the portfolio guidance	Use Squarespace on a computer for those tasks and for portfolio styling.

Performance, reliability, and cost considerations

Thumbnail layout: Column count changes the space available to each grid item. More columns make each item narrower at the same section width, so consider legibility and cropping together.
Image source: If a crop cannot preserve the subject, revise the source image and upload it again instead of relying only on a different screen preview.
Preview before sharing: Check the published portfolio at mobile and desktop widths after edits. The official documentation describes responsive cropping but does not establish a universal ideal aspect ratio or image dimension.
Country-specific guidance: The reviewed official help pages do not provide India-specific thumbnail requirements, pricing, or settings. Use the controls available in your account; do not assume a special India workflow.
Screenshot capture: For automated portfolio screenshots, ScreenshotNeo’s stated billing rules exclude bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits. Its plans range from 1,000 free monthly shots to paid tiers; yearly billing gives two months free. See current details on the ScreenshotNeo site.

FAQ

Can I use text instead of thumbnail images?

Yes. Squarespace portfolio hover layouts present project titles as links and reveal featured images on hover; grid layouts are the option when you want images visible as a collection.

Does the portfolio image replace the images inside a project?

No. The featured image represents the project in the portfolio. The project itself has its own content and sections.

Is there a separate thumbnail workflow for India?

The official guidance reviewed documents the Squarespace editor workflow generally and does not describe a country-specific thumbnail process for India.