How to implement 360 viewer

To implement a 360 sphere viewer on Squarespace, follow these steps below to create and use animated sprites.

Preparing the Images

  1. Create Sprites: Prepare the individual images for your animation and combine them into a single spritesheet.

  2. Insert Image: Use the Image block to add the viewer to your page.

  3. Attach Spriteify URLs: Attach link to Image block in order to activate the view

Spriteify URLs

A Spriteify URL is a special link with reserved parameters that configure how the viewer plays a spritesheet animation. URL parameters begin with a question mark (?). The parameters are joined using an ampersand (&) and follow the format parameter=value.

Supported parameters

Parameter Required/Optional Description Values Default Value
spriteify Required Turns the image into a spritesheet animation. true/false or 1/0 1
width Optional Specifies the width of the sprite. Any valid pixel value Image block width
height Optional Specifies the height of the sprite. Any valid pixel value Image block height
frames Required Specifies the total number of frames in the merged sprite image. Any positive integer N/A
framesX Required Specifies the number of columns in the merged sprite. Any positive integer N/A
responsive Optional Determines whether the viewer dimensions change when resizing. true/false or 1/0 1
animate Optional Determines whether the viewer auto-rotates on load. true/false or 1/0 1
loop Optional Determines whether the viewer loops when animate is true. true/false or 1/0 0
sense Optional Specifies the direction of the animation. 1 or -1 N/A

Example URL

For example, given a spritesheet with 40 frames and 6 frames per row, the URL might look like this:

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/660f72446b381f5933e3f1c9/48950111-b977-4fff-bf15-9c4611af8091/Heart-40-Frames-min.jpg?spriteify=true&frames=40&framesX=6&responsive=true&animate=true&loop=false

Before ?: The Image URL

  • https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/660f72446b381f5933e3f1c9/48950111-b977-4fff-bf15-9c4611af8091/Heart-40-Frames-min.jpg

    This part of the URL points to the actual image file. It is a direct link to the image hosted on Squarespace's CDN (Content Delivery Network).

?: The URL Parameter Separator

  • The question mark (?) indicates the beginning of the URL parameters. These parameters are used to configure how the image should be processed or displayed.

URL Parameters and Their Values

  1. spriteify=true: This required parameter activates the spritesheet animation feature. Setting it to true enables the image to be treated as a spritesheet.

  2. frames=40: Specifies the total number of frames in the merged sprite image. In this case, there are 40 frames.

  3. framesX=6: Indicates the number of columns in the merged sprite image. This means there are 6 frames per row in the spritesheet.

  4. responsive=true: Determines whether the viewer dimensions change when resizing. Setting it to true makes the viewer responsive to different screen sizes.

  5. animate=true: Specifies whether the viewer should auto-rotate the spritesheet on load. Setting it to true means the animation will start automatically when the viewer loads.

  6. loop=false: Determines whether the viewer should loop the animation when animate is set to true. Setting it to false ensures that the animation play just once.

Image Spriteify URL params

Detail Instructions

  1. Insert Image Block: Add the image block to your page.

  2. Add Sprite Image: Upload the first sprite image.

  3. Upload Spritesheet to Asset Library and get its URL to create the spriteify URLs

  4. Attach Link: Click on "Attach link" and use the spriteify URLs.

  5. Save the Page: Save your changes.

10 STEPS

1. Edit your page and insert an Image block

Step 1 image

2. Click Image

Step 2 image

3. Click Add an Image

Step 3 image

4. Click Upload File

Step 4 image

5. Click Attach Link

Step 5 image

6. Paste the Spriteify URL

Step 6 image

7. Save the Image changes

Step 7 image

8. Click Save

Step 8 image

9. Click Exit

Step 9 image

10. That's it. You're done.

Step 10 image

Here's an interactive tutorial

** Best experienced in Full Screen (click the icon in the top right corner before you begin) **



Next step

Takeaway

  • Image Width Limitation: Since Squarespace limits image width to 2500px, create a maximum of 2-column spritesheets to ensure the highest quality.

  • Use this online tool to merge the spritesheet.

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