Link images to variations
Learn how to enhance your variations by linking images.Linking images to variations is an advanced feature that can enhance your listings.
When an image is linked to a variation, the image will display whenever that variation option is selected. Imagine you’re shopping for a shirt and you select the color Red, the image of the red shirt appears. You select the color Black the image of the black shirt appears.
That’s how linked images work. This page will show you how to do that.
Getting started
There are two column sets in the template that we need to consider when linking images to variations. That is the variation options and the linked images. Below are some examples.
The variation options:
| option1_name | option1_value | option2_name | option2_value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color | Red | Size | Small |
| Color | Blue | Size | Small |
| Color | Yellow | Size | Small |
| Color | Black | Size | Small |
The linked images:
| linked_image_url | linked_image_position | linked_image_for_option |
|---|---|---|
| https://…/red.png | Color | |
| https://…/blue.png | Color | |
| https://…/yellow.png | Color | |
| https://…/black.png | Color |
Creating the link
To create the link you need the linked_image_url and the linked_image_for_option. The combination links that variation option to that URL.
| option1_name | option1_value | linked_image_url | linked_image_for_option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color | Red | https://…/red.png | Color |
| Color | Blue | https://…/blue.png | Color |
| Color | Yellow | https://…/yellow.png | Color |
| Color | Black | https://…/black.png | Color |
This example links an image for each color variation.
NOTE: The linked image for option is the name, not the value. Since you already provided the value earlier in the template, Shop Uploader can just reference it within the same row.
Considerations
Only one option can be linked to images. If you want to link images to Colors, you can only link images to Colors. This limitation is per-listing.
| Red | → | https://.../red.png |
| Small | ❌ | |
| Medium | ❌ |
Only one option can be linked to images.
An option value can only be linked to one image:
- Red can only link to
https://.../red.png - Red cannot link to
https://.../red.png,https://.../blue.png,https://.../black.png
| Red | → | https://.../red.png |
| Blue | → | https://.../blue.png |
Options can only link to one image.
Multiple option values can be linked to one image:
- Small can be linked to
https://.../size-chart.png - Small, Medium, and Large can all be linked to
https://.../size-chart.png
| Small | → | https://.../size-chart.png |
| Medium | ↗ | |
| Large | ↗ |
Multiple options can link to the same image.
The URL for the image that will be linked to the variation. In the example above, the URLs for the images Red, Blue, Yellow, Black are provided.
Linked image position
The linked image position is optional. Shop Uploader parses and inserts linked images first, then inserts the numbered images (image_1, image_2, etc.).
If you want your linked image positions to be 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.. Just leave the linked_image_position column blank.
If you want to put your linked images after the numbered images, you can instead use a relative position such as 7, 8, 9, 10. This will put your linked images at the end of the image set.
To intersplice the images at various positions like 2, 6, 9, 10, use those position numbers in the linked_image_position and your numbered images will be adjusted accordingly.