MakeWebGallery 6.5 User Guide

Quick Start

Open the Files tab and choose an input folder, or select photos in Apple Photos and use the MakeWebGallery share extension.
Choose an output format: Strict HTML 3.2, iPhoto style, or CSS/Javascript.
Use Layout, Thumbnails, Large Image, and Text to shape the pages.
Click Preview to see the first generated page, or keep the live preview pane open while you adjust settings.
Click Generate, Upload All, or Upload HTML only.

The Files tab is where each gallery begins.

Live preview beside layout settings — The live preview updates as layout settings change.

Files And Output Formats

The Files tab controls where images come from, where generated files go, and which HTML style MakeWebGallery writes.

Input folder scans a Finder folder for supported pictures and videos.
To folder writes the gallery to a local folder on your Mac.
To FTP server uploads the generated gallery directly to a web host.
Strict HTML 3.2 makes old-school, highly compatible pages.
iPhoto style recreates the feel of the classic iPhoto web export.
CSS/Javascript creates modern HTML5 pages with stylesheet-based layout.

Files tab with preview — Use the preview toggle in the upper-right of the panel to show or hide the live web-page preview.

Thumbnail Grid Layout

The Layout tab decides how many thumbnails are shown per page and how each thumbnail sits in the grid.

Rows per page lets you choose the number of thumbnail rows and computes how many pages are needed.
Number of pages lets you choose the page count and computes the rows needed for that many pages.
Columns is the exact number of thumbnail columns in the generated gallery.
Thumbnails fixed size displays each thumbnail at the requested pixel size inside the selected number of columns.
Show individual links adds Page 1, Page 2, and similar links to thumbnail pages.
Vertical alignment controls top, center, or bottom alignment when thumbnails have different shapes. This is honored in Strict HTML 3.2, iPhoto style, and CSS/Javascript output.
Sort order controls how files are arranged before pages are built.

Fixed thumbnail size no longer changes the requested column count. For example, five columns and 100 px thumbnails means five columns with small centered thumbnails, not as many thumbnails as can fit.

Layout tab fixed thumbnail settings — Fixed-size thumbnails preserve spacing and column count.

Thumbnail Captions

The Thumbnails tab controls the text shown near each thumbnail on index pages.

Thumbnail file names can use MakeWebGallery's assigned names, such as img1.jpg, or names derived from the original source filenames. When original names are used, MakeWebGallery sanitizes names for web use and avoids duplicates.
Title can appear above, below, or not at all. MakeWebGallery uses embedded title metadata when available, otherwise the filename.
Comments can show Finder comments or description metadata when available.
Camera Creation Date/Time shows the EXIF camera date and time, when the file contains that metadata. It uses the same text size as Comments.
Creation Date shows the image creation date line.
Location displays GPS coordinates when present.
Count shows each image's number in the gallery.
Size controls adjust caption text size for titles, comments, and metadata lines.

Thumbnail caption settings without preview.

Thumbnail caption settings with preview — With preview visible, caption changes are easy to see.

Large Image Pages

Each thumbnail can link to a larger image page. The Large Image tab controls image size, metadata, maps, and navigation on those pages.

Large image max size limits the long edge of generated large images.
Large image file names can use MakeWebGallery's assigned names or names derived from the original source filenames, independently from the thumbnail file naming choice.
Large Image Caption can include title, comments, EXIF camera creation date/time, creation date, location, camera info, image count, maps, and EXIF tables.
Altitude shown in chooses feet or meters for GPS altitude.
Display map data in chooses decimal coordinates or degrees/minutes/seconds.
Show next and previous thumbnails adds thumbnail navigation on large-image pages.

Large image settings — Large-image page controls.

Large image settings with preview — Preview stays available while changing metadata settings.

Text, Colors, And Page Copy

The Text tab sets the words and colors that make the gallery yours.

Background, Text, Unvisited Links, Visited Links choose the page's general colors.
Index page title becomes the main title on thumbnail pages. Its color swatch controls the title color in every output format.
Text on each thumbnail page adds an intro paragraph. Its color swatch controls that paragraph independently from the general text color.
Hint Text is useful for instructions such as “Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image.” It can appear on the left, centered, or on the right, and it has its own color swatch.
Text at the bottom of every page is a good place for credits, copyright, or generation notes. Its separate color swatch defaults to 50% gray.

The four text-specific color swatches affect generated pages in Strict HTML 3.2, iPhoto style, and CSS/Javascript output. The main Text color remains the default color for other page text.

Text tab with preview — See how titles and footer text look before generating.

FTP Publishing

MakeWebGallery can upload directly to an FTP server. The server sheet stores the host, port, username, password, path, and exported folder name.

Passive mode is usually correct for standard FTP hosting.
Use SFTP is available when your server supports SSH file transfer.
Show Session displays connection results and upload logs.
Upload All uploads all generated files.
Upload HTML only is useful after editing text or layout when image files are already uploaded.

Server settings with host, credentials, path, and export folder.

Server session log — The session log shows success and failure details.

Example Output

This is a real MakeWebGallery output page in Safari: a five-column, classic HTML gallery of Emily the cat, published at lionslair.com. It shows the plain-web result the app is built to create: regular image files, regular HTML pages, and thumbnails that open detail pages.

Generated Emily cat gallery in Safari — A generated MakeWebGallery output page, not a mockup.

Apple Photos Share Extension

MakeWebGallery includes a Photos share extension so you can build a gallery from selected images in Apple Photos without first exporting them to Finder.

Select photos in Apple Photos.
Choose the Share button, then choose MakeWebGallery. If it is hidden, open the More menu and enable it.
Wait while Photos prepares the selected images for sharing.
Use the MakeWebGallery extension window to choose output settings and generate the gallery.

Recent releases fix a loading issue where Photos could finish preparing images but the extension would fail to show its UI because image providers were being treated as URL-only providers.

When you share from Photos, metadata such as titles, dates, GPS location, and camera information can be used in captions. Finder comments are normally not available because Photos does not pass Finder resource-fork comments through the share extension.

Troubleshooting

The preview does not match my columns

Use the latest version. Fixed-size thumbnails now honor the requested column count in the live preview and in all three output generators.

FTP says “Username or Password error”

Check the username, password, and whether the server wants FTP, passive FTP, or SFTP. Use Show Session to copy the exact result.

The Photos extension does not appear

Open Photos, choose Share, then More, and make sure MakeWebGallery is enabled. If it still does not appear, reinstall the latest MakeWebGallery build.