# Ship the portfolio you keep meaning to make Canonical: https://openfile.pro/blog/ship-the-portfolio-you-keep-meaning-to-make Most portfolios never go live because they wait to be ready. Here is a way to put yours up in a weekend, with a template and what you already have. - By UV, Framer Expert, Bengaluru - Published: 2026-10-12 - Updated: 2026-10-12 - Category: Playbooks - Reading time: 4 min Most people I know who make things have a portfolio they have been meaning to build for a year or more. Somewhere there is a folder with a half-finished layout, a list of projects to include and a note that says "redo the about bit". It never goes live, because it is never quite ready. The trouble is rarely skill. A blank page asks you to decide everything at once: the layout, the type, how a project should look, what the about section should say. Each decision is small. Together they are enough to put it off for another month. ## The short version - A plain portfolio that is live does more for you than a perfect one that never leaves a folder. - Start from what you have today: a few lines about you, three or four projects, a photo and a way to reach you. - Pick one of three portfolio templates: Ellery for a personal site, free; Lola for a small studio; Elias Vane for a photographer. - Give it one weekend, publish it, and improve it once it is out. ## Start from what you already have You do not need case studies to begin. A good personal site holds four things, and you probably have all of them today: - **A few lines about you.** What you do, what you are curious about, where you are. Three sentences is plenty. - **Three or four projects.** A name, one line on what it is, and a link. Not a write-up. - **A photo.** Any clear one where you look like yourself. - **A way to reach you.** An email address and the profiles you actually use. If you write, bring that too. A short note you have already shared somewhere counts. ## Let a template make the decisions This is the part a template takes off your hands. There are three portfolio templates on Openfile, each made for a different kind of work. Pick the one that sounds like you and stop deciding. ### Ellery, for a personal site [Ellery](https://openfile.pro/template/ellery) is one quiet page about you: a short intro beside your portrait, a six-line summary, your socials, then your projects and your writing side by side. Projects and posts live in the CMS, so adding one later is a new entry, not a new layout. Light and dark modes are built in, and the header carries a live clock and the temperature where you are. It is free: press Get it free on its page, leave your email address, and the remix link arrives. ### Lola, for a small studio [Lola](https://openfile.pro/template/lola) is for a design studio, or a freelancer who works like one. Each project gets a case study page on the CMS, with the brief, the idea and the outcome, and there is an about page with the team and an FAQ, a journal and a contact form. It is loud where it counts, one cherry red on paper and cream, and it starts at $49. ### Elias Vane, for a photographer [Elias Vane](https://openfile.pro/template/elias-vane) is for a landscape or travel photographer who works in series rather than single frames. Each series has its own page with a gallery of captioned photographs, and around them sit a services page with rates for commissions and prints, a journal and a contact form. It starts at $49. If you are not sure, start with Ellery. It is free, it asks for the least content, and you can move to a fuller site once you have more to show. ## A weekend, not a month Here is the order I would work in, so nothing gets done twice: - **Saturday morning.** Replace the name, the photo and the about text. Leave the intro until last if that is the part you are stuck on. - **Saturday afternoon.** Add your projects to the Projects collection. In Ellery each one is a name, a line and a link; in Lola and Elias Vane each has its own page, so start with your best three. - **Sunday.** Add two or three posts if you have them, swap the remaining sample details for your own, and look at the phone layout. - **Sunday evening.** Publish. [What to change first in a Framer template](https://openfile.pro/blog/what-to-change-first-in-a-framer-template) goes through that order in more detail, and [checking breakpoints before you publish](https://openfile.pro/blog/checking-breakpoints-before-you-publish) covers the last look at tablet and phone. ## Publish it before it feels finished A free Framer account publishes to a framer.website address, which is fine for a first version. Your own domain needs a paid Framer plan, and [what a Framer website costs](https://openfile.pro/blog/how-much-does-a-framer-website-cost) sets out the numbers. Then send the link to someone. A live page you can improve is worth more than a better one that stays in a folder, and once it is out, adding a project takes a few minutes. You will find yourself doing it. ## Questions people ask ### Do I need case studies for a portfolio? Not to start. A line on each project and a link to it tells a visitor what you have made. Write longer case studies later, for the two or three projects you most want to be hired for. ### Which of the three portfolio templates is free? Ellery. It comes with the free licence, which covers your own sites and client work: you leave your email address on its page and get the Framer remix link. Lola and Elias Vane are paid, with a Standard licence for one website and a Pro licence for unlimited websites. ### Can I put my portfolio on my own domain? Yes, with a paid Framer plan. On a free Framer account the site is published to a framer.website address, and you can connect your own domain whenever you are ready. ## Templates in this post - [Ellery](https://openfile.pro/template/ellery): Free - [Lola](https://openfile.pro/template/lola): From $49 - [Elias Vane](https://openfile.pro/template/elias-vane): From $49