Before you upload product images
Uploado is a powerful tool, capable of making changes to many product images at the click of a button. You are always in control by defining the SKUs or barcodes that Uploado acts on. We recommend that you first learn how to use Uploado with our 100 free uploads, on draft products.
Use Uploado with caution, at your own risk. We are not resposible for any changes to your store’s product images.
If you have any questions before use, please contact us. We welcome all queries and suggestions.
How to use Uploado
- Assign SKUs or barcodes to your products.
- In your Google Drive, or your Uploado FTP account, organise your product images that match product SKUs or barcodes.
- Start Uploado. If using Google Drive, grant access to it.
- Let Uploado scan products in your store, and product images from your Google Drive (or Uploado FTP account).
- Select the folder containing the product images you want to modify.
- Select the appropriate Upload mode. Upload, replace or delete product images of matching products.
Matching products with Image Filenames
Uploado matches SKUs (or barcodes) with image filenames, eg. the SKU MAT-123 will be matched with MAT-123.jpg
Position of image can be specified. eg.
- the image SG-123=1.jpg will be uploaded to position 1
- the image SG-123=2.jpg will be uploaded to position 2
See below for other SKU and variant scenarios.
Reverse order of uploads
Uploado will upload images to the correct position. This can be verified in the images’ order in the product’s media panel.
However, some Shopify themes display these images in a different order. We have reported this bug to Shopify in July 2022. Depending on your store’s theme, this bug might not manifest itself. When uploading using image positioning, this bug might be circumvented by reversing the order of image uploads. When selecting the product images folder, check the Reverse order of uploads option.
SKUs (or barcodes) to match
If left empty, Uploado will attempt to match SKUs or barcodes in your store, with the images in the selected folder.
Otherwise, enter a list of SKUs or barcodes, (comma or space separated), that are to be matched with the images in the selected folder. Any SKU or barcode not in that list will be ignored.
SKUs (or barcodes) regular expressions
Use regular expressions (regex) to filter your SKUs or barcodes before matching them to your images in the selected folder. Contact us if you need help generating the regex for your specific needs.
We recommend:
Upload modes
Upload product images
The fastest way to upload product images.
This is the best mode for a product that does not have any product images. If there are any existing images for this product, the existing images will not be deleted. Instead Shopify will move existing images to the next available position.
eg. if there was an existing image in position 1, and this mode is used to upload another position 1, you will have the new image in position 1, and the image that was previously in position 1 now be in position 2.
Repeated use of this mode will result in duplicate images, as Uploado does not overwrite product image files unless specifically directed to, using other modes.
Upload missing product images
Uploado will check that an identical product image is not in the designated image position.
This is the best mode to add new, additional product images to a product that had existing product images. For best results, all product images should be easily visually distinguishable.
Replace product images by position
Overwrite an existing product images at the designated positions, using replacement product images.
eg. Use this mode to replace the position 1 image of a product.
Use this mode with caution.
Delete product images (by SKUs or barcode)
Delete all images designated by matching product images with SKUs (or barcodes).
Use this mode with caution.
Delete duplicate product images (by SKUs or barcode)
Delete all duplicate images designated by matching product images SKUs (or barcodes).
Use this mode with caution.
Example SKU and variant scenarios
Example 1. Single SKU (no variants), 1 product image
Example Product: Yoga Mat
SKU: MAT-123
Name your product image:
- MAT-123.jpg
Example 2. Single SKU (no variants), multiple product images
- Specify the position in which you want the product images to be in. The position 1 image will be used in your store’s catalog.
- Image positions will be the order in which the images appear in the Admin Products page.
- Append “=”, followed by position number to the image name.
- If position number is omitted, eg SG-123_1.jpg, SG-123_2.jpg, …, position order will be in the ascending sorted order of images as they appear in Google Drive.
Example Product: Sunglasses
- 3 product images
- SKU: SG-123
Name your 3 product images:
- SG-123=1.jpg
- SG-123=2.jpg
- SG=123=3.jpg
Example 3. Product has multiple variants, each variant has its own image
- Ensure each SKU variant is unique eg. SKU + variant name.
Example Product: Fitness Tracker
- Each of 3 variants has its own image
- 3 variant SKUs:
- TR-BLACK
- TR-BLUE
- TR-GREEN
Name your product variant images:
- TR-BLACK.jpg
- TR-BLUE.jpg
- TR-GREEN.jpg
Setting up your files and folders
Files and folders in Google Drive
- Folders containing product images must be at the top level of My Drive
- No duplicate files in the same folder, or duplicate folders at the same level.
- Images must be less than 20 megapixels. This is a Shopify requirement.
- Only PNG, JPG, WEBP and GIF are supported. GIF files may not upload successfully if the compression is not set to the type that Shopify requires. This may help if you are having technical difficulties with GIF files.
- Filename extensions are optional, and are ignored. eg. AB-12.jpg and AB-12.png will both match the SKU: AB-12, causing a duplicate file error.
- If changes are made to files or folders, while Uploado is running, you must re-scan your Google Drive.
Uploading multiple images to the same SKU
- To upload multiple images to a SKU: eg. AB-12, append “=”, followed by position number, ie. AB-12=1.png, AB-12=2.jpg, AB-12=3.gif
- The first position specified must be position 1
- Position numbers must be consecutive and must not be skipped. (eg. NOT AB-12=1.png, AB-12=3.png, …)
Setting up your Google Drive
Using Uploado on multiple shops
- Different Google Drive accounts should be used for each store. ie. Do not use the same Google Drive account for multiple stores.
- Different browser accounts/profiles should be used for each store. ie. Do not use the same browser account/profile on multiple stores.
Using folders that are shared with you
- A folder that is shared with you will initially be in Shared with me, not My Drive
- Create a shortcut by dragging the shared folder from Shared with me, to the top level of My Drive, so that Uploado can read from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
See our FAQ for other questions about Google Drive or billing.