3 ways add picture library to communication site – SharePoint Online

Add picture library to communication site – in modern SharePoint, we can create only two types of sites 1. Team Site and 2. Communication Site. In the modern communication or team site, we can not add all lists/libraries the way we used to add in the classic SharePoint site, because many templates are kept hidden due to some reason. In, the picture library is one among them – so, in this article, we’ll learn how to add a picture library to the communication or team site.

What is Picture Library in SharePoint Online?

A Picture Library in SharePoint Online is a specialized type of document library designed specifically for storing, organizing, and sharing images. It provides additional functionalities tailored for image files, making it easier to manage and work with pictures within your SharePoint environment.

Key Features of a Picture Library

1. Image Management:

   • Thumbnails and Previews: Automatically generates thumbnails and previews for images, making it easy to browse and identify pictures.
   • Metadata: Allows you to add metadata such as titles, descriptions, keywords, and custom properties to images for better organization and searchability.

2. Viewing and Display Options:

   • Slideshows: Supports slideshow presentations of images directly within the library.
   • Different Views: Provides various views such as thumbnail view, filmstrip view, and detailed list view to accommodate different needs.
   • Image Viewer: Built-in image viewer for viewing pictures in a larger format without leaving the library.

3. Integration with Office and Other Applications:

   • Office Integration: Easily insert images from the picture library into Office documents.
   • Embed Images: Allows embedding images into SharePoint pages, news posts, and other web parts.

4. Sharing and Collaboration:

   • Permissions: Supports granular permissions settings to control who can view, edit, or manage images.
   • Sharing Links: Generate sharing links to share images with external users or other members within your organization.
   • Versioning: Maintains version history for images, enabling you to track changes and revert to previous versions if needed.

5. Organization and Navigation:

   • Folders and Albums: Organize images into folders and albums for better categorization and easier navigation.
   • Search and Filters: Powerful search and filtering capabilities to quickly locate specific images based on metadata or other criteria.

How to Create a Picture Library

1. Navigate to Your SharePoint Site:

   • Go to the SharePoint site where you want to create the picture library.

2. Create the Picture Library:

   • Click on the settings gear icon in the top right corner and select “Site contents”.
   • Click on the “New” button and select “App”.
   • Search for “Picture Library” and select it.
   • Enter a name for your picture library and click “Create”.

3. Add Images:

   • Once the picture library is created, you can start uploading images by clicking the “Upload” button or dragging and dropping images into the library.

Use Cases

• Company Branding: Store and manage official branding images such as logos, marketing materials, and product photos.
• Event Photos: Organize and share photos from company events, meetings, and other activities.
• Project Documentation: Keep visual documentation of project progress, designs, and other graphical content.

Best Practices

• Organize with Metadata: Use metadata to tag and categorize images for easier search and retrieval.
• Optimize Images: Ensure images are optimized for web use to improve loading times and performance.
• Regular Maintenance: Periodically review and clean up the library to remove outdated or unused images.

The Picture Library in SharePoint Online is a robust tool for managing images, offering a range of features to help users efficiently store, organize, and share their visual content.

Add picture library to communication site – challenge in adding picture library in SharePoint Online

Before that let’s see practically, whether can we add a picture library from the out-of-the-box SharePoint communication site?

Go to the site contents page:

Notes:

• From the above “+ New” menu – we can see a very limited template, like – List, Page, Document library, App, and Subsite.

So, we cannot see the picture library option to create a picture library. Now, how can we create a picture library on the communication site?

The answer is, that there are three ways we can add or create a picture library in the SharePoint communication site.

• By activating site level feature – Team Collaboration Lists
• By adding the picture content type in the library
• By the PnP provisioning template

We will see the above – how does it work?

Activate site level feature – Team Collaboration Lists

To activate the site-level feature – Team Collaboration lists, we need to go to the below page:

globalsharepoint2019.sharepoint.com/sites/CommunicationSiteTest1/_layouts/15/ManageFeatures.aspx

Note:

• In the above URL, replace my site URL with your site.

Now go to the site contents -> Your Apps page.

We can see that the “Picture Libray” template has been added under the newest tab.

Add the picture content type in the library (add picture library to communication site)

Now we’ll see that now we can add a picture library template by adding the picture content type on the library setting page.

Here, I have taken the example of the default “Documents” library.

Go to the advanced settings page from the below page URL:

globalsharepoint2019.sharepoint.com/sites/CommunicationSiteTest1/_layouts/15/advsetng.aspx?List=%7BBBE37E7C%2D3884%2D44D9%2DB2DB%2DF242DB1D3C2A%7D

Select “Allow management of content types?” as yes and click on the OK button.

Click on the “Add from existing site content types” link as below:

From the “Add Content Types” page – add the “Picture” content type in the right side box then click on the OK button.

Click on the “Change new button order and default content type” link as below:

Change the New Button Order – make the “Document” content type invisible and make the “Position from the top” as 1 for the “Picture” content type, then click on the OK button.

Create a picture library using the PnP provisioning template

Creating a picture library using the PnP provisioning template is the simplest way than the previous two approaches which does not need any feature activation or configuration. However, it needs PnP PowerShell installed on your machine.

List creation PnP Template:

“<?xml version=”1.0”?>
<pnp:Provisioning xmlns:pnp=”schemas.dev.office.com/PnP/2018/07/ProvisioningSchema”>
<pnp:Preferences Generator=”OfficeDevPnP.Core, Version=3.7.1903.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=5e633289e95c321a” />
<pnp:Templates ID=”CONTAINER-TEMPLATE-C1181F206BE84C09AAAC4B3CB21FBE32″>
<pnp:ProvisioningTemplate ID=”TEMPLATE-C1181F206BE84C09AAAC4B3CB21FBE32″ Version=”1″ Scope=”Web”>
<pnp:Lists>
<pnp:ListInstance Title=”TestPictureLibrary29022020″ TemplateType=”109″ Url=”/TestPictureLibrary29022020″ EnableFolderCreation=”false”>
<pnp:ContentTypeBindings>
<pnp:ContentTypeBinding ContentTypeID=”0x01″ Default=”true” />
<pnp:ContentTypeBinding ContentTypeID=”0x0120″ />
</pnp:ContentTypeBindings>
<pnp:Views>
<View Name=”AllItems” DefaultView=”TRUE” Type=”HTML” DisplayName=”All Items” Level=”1″ BaseViewID=”1″ ContentTypeID=”0x”>
<Query>
<OrderBy>
<FieldRef Name=”ID” />
</OrderBy>
</Query>
<ViewFields>
<FieldRef Name=”PictureType” />
<FieldRef Name=”PictureTime” />
<FieldRef Name=”Remarks” />
</ViewFields>
<RowLimit Paged=”TRUE”>30</RowLimit>
</View>
</pnp:Views>
<pnp:Fields>
<Field ID=”{1212a012-1012-4cd9-900b-411f01f2b112}” DisplayName=”Picture Type” Name=”PictureType” Type=”Text”/>
<Field ID=”{3450c003-7607-46de-8345-6c64cd2a3345}” DisplayName=”Picture Time” Name=”PictureTime” Type=”Text”/>
<Field ID=”{70ef44ad-091f-4955-a957-b0fb9b42833b}” DisplayName=”Remarks” Name=”Remarks” Type=”Text”/>
</pnp:Fields>

</pnp:ListInstance>
</pnp:Lists>
</pnp:ProvisioningTemplate>
</pnp:Templates>
</pnp:Provisioning>”

Add List/Libray to SharePoint Online using PnP Script: add picture library to communication site

CLS
$userName = "Global-sharepoint2019@globalsharepoint2019.onmicrosoft.com"
$passWord = "YourSPOPassword"
$encPassWord = convertto-securestring -String $passWord -AsPlainText -Force
$cred = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist $userName, $encPassWord
 
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "globalsharepoint2019.sharepoint.com/sites/CommunicationSiteTest1" -Credentials $cred
 
Apply-PnPProvisioningTemplate -Path "C:\PnP Provisioning Template\Create List\CreateListTemplate.xml"
 
Write-host "Successfully a list has been created in SharePoint online."

Verify that Picture Libray got created using the PnP Provisioning template:

Summary: add picture library to communication site

Thus, in this article we have learned the below:

• How to create a picture library in the modern SharePoint online communication site.
• How to create a picture library in the modern SharePoint Online team site.
• How to create a picture library in the modern Sharepoint online site using the PnP Provisioning template.
• How to deal with when the Picture Libray template is missing the site modern communication site.

See Also: add picture library to communication site

• Image Map in SharePoint Online: Use ANY Image to provide Dynamic Information with Links
• Learn Image Maps in HTML and SharePoint Online step by step
• SharePoint generation or version history from the year 2000 to 2020
• Office 365: Getting started with SharePoint PnP PowerShell – installation
• In 2 steps convert a classic SharePoint page to modern using PnP
• Office 365: Retrieve hub sites and associated sites using PnP Powershell
• Create a modern team site using PnP PowerShell in SharePoint
• In 4 steps access SharePoint online data using postman tool
• SharePoint admin center: Learn SharePoint online administration in an hour – step by step
• SharePoint REST API: GET vs POST vs PUT vs DELETE vs PATCH
• Office 365: Understanding the hub site in SharePoint online
• Create SharePoint online list using PnP provisioning template
• List Template IDs In SharePoint Online/SharePoint 2019/2016/2013/2010/2007
• Introduction to SharePoint information architecture

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About Post Author

MA Microsoft Techy

I am an Enterprise Architect with 20+ years of experience in Microsoft technologies, specializing in Power Platform, Microsoft 365, governance, AI-driven solutions, and enterprise automation. I share my technical expertise with the community through my blog and YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MicrosoftTechy

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