Alternative Orientation lets you link a template with a different orientation to another template: one configured for portrait photos and one for landscape. When a photo is captured, Snappic automatically selects the template that best matches the orientation of that photo.

This feature is designed for roaming photography, where you're moving around with an external camera and switching between portrait and landscape shots. Without Alt. Orientation, every photo is placed into the same template regardless of its orientation, which can result in the image being cropped to fit the frame.

🚫 Limitation: Alt. Orientation works with stills only. It does not work with GIFs, bursts, or video.

Snappic determines which template to use based on the orientation of the photo frame inside the template, not the overall canvas dimensions of the template output.

This distinction matters because the final output of a template can be portrait even when the image frame inside it is landscape (for example, a three-strip layout, or a template with a landscape photo and branding below it). Snappic reads the orientation of the frame where the image sits, not the outer canvas.

This also means Alternative Orientation is camera-agnostic. It works with the built-in iOS camera, external DSLR or mirrorless cameras, GoPros, and any other capture source, because the selection is based on the captured image itself, not metadata read from the device at capture time.

💡 Tip: You do not need to configure anything specific to your camera. As long as your two templates have frames of opposite orientations, Snappic will select the right one automatically.

⚠️ Important: Alt. Orientation is available on all Snappic plans. You need at least two still templates — one with a portrait image frame and one with a landscape image frame — before completing this setup.

If only one still template is configured and a photo is captured in a different orientation to the image frame in that template, Snappic will fill the frame with the photo cropped to fit. No error is shown — the photo simply fills the frame as best it can.

Check that the two linked templates have image frames of genuinely opposite orientations. If both templates have the same frame orientation (e.g. both portrait), Snappic has no landscape template to switch to and will crop the photo to fit. Open each template in the template designer and confirm that one frame is portrait and the other is landscape.

Snappic reads the orientation of the image frame inside the template, not the outer canvas dimensions. A template with a portrait canvas can still have a landscape image frame inside it. Verify the frame orientation in the template designer for both linked templates to confirm they are set up as intended.

Yes. Alt. Orientation is camera-agnostic. It works with the built-in iOS camera, DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, GoPros, and any other capture source. The selection is based on the orientation of the captured photo, not device metadata.

No. Alt. Orientation is only supported for stills at this time.

If a linked template is deleted from your template library, the Alt. Orientation connection is removed. Go back to your primary template, click Alt. Orientation, and relink a replacement template.

Setting Up Still Templates

Using Snappic with an External Camera

Snappic Uploader App

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