How to Add Rotated Text Labels to Gallery Slideshows in Squarespace

What You'll Create

Vertically rotated text labels that appear alongside your gallery slideshow images—either on the left or right edge. The text stays centered vertically regardless of image height, creating that sophisticated editorial look you see on high-end photography and portfolio sites.

The Problem It Solves

Squarespace galleries don't have an option for decorative sidebar text. You can add captions below images, but there's no way to add those elegant vertical text accents that editorial layouts use. Designers often see this effect on award-winning sites but assume it requires complex custom development.

Perfect For

Portfolio galleries, Photography showcases, Editorial layouts, Branding presentations, Creative agency homepages

What Makes This Different

This technique adds rotated text labels to the sides of your gallery images—text you can customize without editing any code after the initial setup. Just change the text content in one place. The text stays perfectly centered regardless of image height, and you can position it on either the left or right edge. Works with both 7.0 Index Galleries and 7.1 Gallery Slideshows, with separate code provided for each platform version.

Details

• Section Type: Fluid & Classic

• Code Type: CSS

• Prerequisites: Index Gallery set to Slideshow (7.0) or Gallery Section with Fullscreen Slideshow (7.1)

• Toolkit Title: Rotated Text for Index Gallery

Learn This Technique

This is one of 150+ code techniques taught inside Standout Squarespace, where you get:

• The complete, copy-paste code

• Video walkthrough explaining how it works

• The principles behind the technique so you can customize it

• Access to our private community for support