Product images

Product images let your customers know what your products look like. You can upload as many images per product, as you like. It is also possible to embed images (and videos) into product descriptions to provide even more details to your customers.

You can set the image size and orientation of product thumbnails in your store with the help of several preset design options in your store admin in the Design section. Quality product images are a key driver of store engagement and sales. Upload at least a few images that show your product in detail from different angles. 

Gallery image sizes

You can upload product images of any size up to 20 MB. If you add large and heavy product images, they are automatically compressed, so your products load fast and fit well on both desktop and mobile.

We recommend using JPG, PNG and GIF images in RGB color mode for your products.

Hi-res PNG images with a transparent background may load slowly on category pages or on the storefront page.

Product images look best in a gallery when images appear to be the same size: use a consistent aspect ratio (height-to-width ratio) and orientation for all the product images that you add in a product gallery. This way images display better side by side because they all display the same size.

difference of the images in the gallery

Show the various perspectives of the product such as front, side, underneath, close-up, etc., so customers can see what they are buying in detail.

You can showcase your product in motion using GIFs or adding a 360° product view (with the help of an app).

Adding a product image

You can add an unlimited number of images to every product in your store. We recommend using JPG, PNG and GIF images in RGB color mode for your products.

When you add multiple images to a product, the first uploaded image is considered the main — it shows as a product thumbnail on a category page and that's the first image shown on the product page. To change the main image, drag a different image to the first place. You can also sort the other images by dragging them. Customers will see images in this order in the storefront.

To add images to a product:

  1. From your store admin, go to Catalog → Products and choose a product to see its details page.
  2. In the Images section, either drag and drop images from your computer or click + Upload Images:

Upload Images

  1. Click Save, once your images are uploaded.

Once images have been added, customers can see them in your store. To change gallery layout appearance go to Design → Image Gallery thumbnails (for Instant Site users: go to Website → Edit Site → Featured Products → Design tab)

Show additional product images from the gallery when customers hover the mouse pointer over a Product Card. From your store admin, go to Design → Product Card details and layout → Scroll down to Additional product image and enable the option.

Adding an image to a product description

You can add an image to the product description to better showcase your product.

To add images to the product description:

  1. From your store admin, go to Catalog → Products and choose a product to see its details page.
  2. In the Description section, either drag and drop images from your computer or click Insert Image:

Insert Image

  1. Click Save, once your images are uploaded.

Adding an image to a product option/variation

If you sell products with options (such as color or size), you might want to add different images to different product options. You can do it by using product variations. You can add only one image to each variation. If you want to show more images of a variation, just add them to the main product gallery (or in a description).

To add an image to product variation:

  1. From your store admin, go to Catalog → Products.
  2. Click on the product you want to edit.
  3. Open the Options tab, then click Variations.
  4. Click + New variation.
  5. In the popup select the option you want to add an image to:

select the option

  1. Click Change under the current image.
  2. Select the image on your computer, then upload the image.
  3. Click OK.

That’s it! The image is added for the option. If you have several options, repeat the steps above for all of them.

Adding alt texts to product images

Alternative text allows you to describe images for search engines and visually impaired users. It also displays if the image fails to load. This way, alt texts help users decide on a purchase and improve your site ranking, making it easier to find your products via images online.

By default, a product name is used as alt text for each product image. You can provide your own text instead.

To add alt text to a product image:

  1. From your store admin, go to Catalog → Products.
  2. Click on the product you want to edit.
  3. Hover over the image.
  4. Click Actions → Edit Alt Text:
    alt texts for images1.png
  5. Enter your alt text. For example, “Full-length dark-haired girl wearing a long blue denim skirt and a white top.”
  6. (optional) Enter alt texts for other product images.
  7. Click Save.

That’s it. You’ve added alternative text to a product image.

Similarly, you can add individual alt texts to product variation images. If a variation image is the same as the main product image, its alt text automatically matches the main image's alt text.

Adding product images in bulk

You can easily add or update product images in bulk using the Bulk Product Editor tool.

In case you need to add only the main product images, you can do that for all products at once via CSV import.

If you need to upload additional product images and feel more comfortable when working with a ZIP file, then you can use the Bulk Gallery Upload app.

Protecting your images

The most common image protection technique is to place a visual copyright watermark on the image. By adding your logo or a mark on top of your images you can deter people from copying them. And if they do, it’s free publicity for you!

visual copyright watermark

There are plenty of online services that you can use for watermarking your images, e.g.:

If you are acquainted with Adobe Photoshop, you can use it to watermark your images as explained in the guide.

Hiding product images

When you add a product to your catalog and do not upload any image for it, your online store automatically shows a gradient image as the product’s thumbnail in grid:

Product_images

You may want to remove or hide product thumbnail images from the product list for its more compact look. In this case you can show just product names without images:

Product_images

To hide product images from product grid:

  1. From your store admin, go to Design.
  2. Scroll to Product Card details and layout.
  3. For the Main product image setting select Do not show.

The changes will be autosaved.

It is also possible to hide category images from the storefront.
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