Your product photos, all in one ZIP.
Images aren't uploaded one at a time: they're loaded in bulk. The whole job comes down to one rule — the folder is named exactly like the product code — and one compressed file. This guide shows the exact structure, which photos pay off and which don't, and how to build the ZIP on Windows and Mac.
The rule: the folder is named after the code
When we import the images, the only thing linking them to products is the folder name. If the folder is called RM-001-S, every photo inside is assigned to the product whose code is RM-001-S. That's it. The files inside can keep whatever name the camera gave them.
The structure, step by step
- Create a main folder. It can be called
products,photosor your company name. It's just the wrapper. - Inside it, one folder per product. Each one is named with that product's code/SKU, spelled exactly as in the spreadsheet.
- Inside each folder, all its photos. Front, back, detail, the closed pack, whatever you have. No special naming.
- Open the main folder, select everything inside it and compress that. One ZIP with everything, not one per product. Compressing the contents rather than the folder avoids the most common mistake: “products” being read as if it were a code.
The simple case: one photo per product
If you have a single image per item, no folders are needed. Name each file with the product code —RM-001.jpg, BZ-114.jpg— and compress them all together, selecting the files rather than the folder they sit in.
Both methods can be mixed in the same ZIP —folders for products with several photos, loose files for the ones with only one— as long as you compress the contents and not a folder wrapped around them.
Products with variants: colors and sizes
When a product has options —colors, sizes, pack types—, each variant carries its own code (the Code column in the Options tab, or the CODIGO column on the variant rows of the spreadsheet). That code decides where each photo goes, and everything lives inside the same product folder:
- A file named exactly like a variant code (not counting the extension) is assigned to that variant: it’s the photo the buyer sees when they pick that color.
- Every other file goes to the product’s general gallery: model shots, details, the pack, lifestyle photos.
Example: a T-shirt in three colors
Size and color together: the same photo for several variants
If the red T-shirt comes in S, M and L, each size is a separate variant with its own code: RM-100-RED-S, RM-100-RED-M, RM-100-RED-L. The photo is the same for all three, but each variant has its own photo, so the file goes in once per code: copy the red photo three times and rename each copy with one size’s code.
Rules worth knowing
- One photo per variant. If you add two files with the same variant code, only one is kept. Extra shots of that color (detail, back) go to the gallery under any other name.
- The gallery is sorted by file name. The first one is the product’s cover in the catalog. Numbering the files —
01-front,02-back— is how you choose the order. - No dots in the variant code. The file name is read up to the first dot:
RM.100.RED.jpgwould be read asRMand never reach the variant. Hyphens and underscores are fine. - No subfolders inside the product folder. No
RM-100/red/photo.jpg: all of the product’s photos sit loose in its folder. - Videos don’t go in the ZIP. They’re uploaded from the product’s Images tab, as an MP4 file or by pasting the YouTube link.
Which photos pay off and which don't
In wholesale the photo doesn't sell on its own, but it decides: buyers compare catalogs and the one that looks better wins the first look. You don't need a photo studio, you need consistency.
| What | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Format | jpg, png, webp | iPhone HEIC files and design files (psd, ai) can't be imported. |
| Size | From 1000 × 1000 px | That's what lets the product page zoom without looking pixelated. |
| Aspect ratio | Square, always the same | A catalog with mixed ratios looks messy in the grid. |
| Background | White or light and even | It makes the product stand out and works the same in Google and Meta feeds. |
| Framing | Product centered, with breathing room | It allows cropping to different sizes without cutting the product. |
| First photo | The product alone, no context | It's the one shown in the grid and in ads. Context shots come after. |
| Pack photo | Add it as second or third | In wholesale it answers the most common question: what do I get when I order a pack. |
Building the ZIP on Windows and Mac
On Windows
- Open the main folder and select everything inside with Ctrl + A. Then right-click the selection.
- Choose Compress to ZIP file. On Windows 10 the path is Send to › Compressed (zipped) folder.
- A ZIP appears in the same folder, named after one of the files. Rename it (for example
photos.zip): that's the one to send.
On Mac
- Open the main folder and select everything inside with Cmd + A.
- Right-click (or control + click) the selection and choose Compress.
Archive.zipappears in the same folder. Rename it (for examplephotos.zip) and that's the one to send.
products-1.zip, products-2.zip.
How to send it
Email doesn't work for this: almost every provider rejects large attachments. The three ways that do work:
- Google Drive: upload the ZIP, share the link with view access for anyone with the link, and send that link.
- WeTransfer or similar: no account needed and the link arrives on its own. Good for one-off sends.
- To your commercial advisor: if you prefer, they'll give you a shared folder and you upload everything there, no middleman.
Send the product spreadsheet along with the ZIP. Both are imported together, so the team can cross-check codes and tell you if any product ended up without a photo.
The mistakes that break the upload
- HEIC photos, straight from the iPhone.They can't be imported. On iPhone: Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible, and new photos come out as jpg.
- WhatsApp screenshots.WhatsApp compresses images on send: they arrive small and blurry, and the quality can't be recovered. Find the original file.
- Photos with the supplier's watermark.They advertise someone else inside your catalog, and in several industries they're a third party's material. A phone photo of your own is better.
- Folders named after the product instead of the code.They aren't assigned to anything: the importer only matches by code. Folders that don't match any code in the catalog are silently skipped.
- Compressing the main folder with loose files inside.If the ZIP holds “products/RM-001.jpg”, the importer reads “products” as the code and skips everything. Compress what's inside, not the folder.
- Variants without a code, or with a code different from the file name.If the file name isn't exactly the variant code, the photo ends up in the general gallery and the variant has no image. Check capitals, hyphens and spaces.
- Re-uploading the same ZIP to fix a photo.Files already imported are skipped: the second upload replaces nothing. To change a photo, delete it from the product and upload the new one under a different file name.
- One ZIP per product.Four hundred compressed files have to be opened one by one. Everything goes in a single ZIP, or a few numbered ones.
- A Drive link without permissions.The biggest time-waster: the link arrives, nobody can open it and the back-and-forth costs two days. Check it by opening it in an incognito window.
Images migrate too
If your products are already on Tiendanube, WooCommerce, Shopify or another platform, the photos come along with them and there's no ZIP to build. It all migrates together, in a day.