Adding Product Images to Many Items at Once

Building out an online store means getting a photo onto hundreds of items. Doing that one item at a time (open the item, upload a file, save, go back, repeat) is slow enough that most stores stall partway through. There are two faster routes:

Drag a whole folder of image files into VMX in one go. The files land in the Unassigned list on the Attachments page, and you assign each one to its item afterward. Best when you have the image files, such as a folder of photos from a supplier or a shoot of your own.
Import a spreadsheet with image-URL columns. VMX downloads each image and attaches it to the item on that row. Best when your supplier gives you a link per product, or when you can build a list of web addresses in Excel.

Both routes share the same hard part, and it is not the uploading: knowing which item number each image belongs to. Read "Match each image file to an item number first" below before you start either method.

For attaching a single file to a single item, or for non-image attachments like invoices and spec sheets, see Adding a New Attachment.

Which bulk image method to use

Both methods end in the same place — an Item Image attachment on the item — but they start from different material:

You have	Use
A folder of image files on your computer	Drag the files onto the Attachments page (below), then assign each to its item
A spreadsheet or vendor list with a web address for each product photo	Add Picture 1 / Picture 2 columns to an inventory import (below)
Many photos of one single item	Open that item and drop all of them onto its page (see "Attach several photos to one item at once")

The spreadsheet method is the only one that assigns images to items automatically. With the drag-and-drop method the upload is fast, but the assigning is still one file at a time.

Match each image file to an item number first

Whichever bulk method you use, the work that actually takes time is deciding which inventory item each image belongs to. Supplier files are usually named for the product ("AcerPalmatum_Bloodgood.jpg"), and VMX needs the item's PLU. Sort that out before you upload anything:

Go to Inventory and click the Search tab.
Open the Filter dropdown and check No Picture. The results now show only items that have no image attached — your work list.
Open the Columns dropdown and check Has Image so you can see at a glance which items are covered as you go.
Narrow the list with the department, sub-department, vendor, or brand selectors so you're working one group at a time rather than the whole catalog.
Click the Export Excel icon in the row of icons at the top right of the search page — it's the last download arrow, and hovering it shows Export Excel (the arrow beside it is Download CSV, which is a different file). The export contains exactly the items in your search results, including the PLU column, so you have item numbers next to item names.

With that spreadsheet open beside your image folder, add a column noting which file goes with which PLU. That list is what makes both bulk methods fast: for the spreadsheet import it becomes the import file itself, and for drag-and-drop it tells you what to type when assigning each upload.

If your files are already named for the item number (many suppliers will do this on request — ask for images named by your SKU), you can skip this step entirely.

Upload many product images at once by dragging them into VMX

Dropping a batch of image files onto any VMX page that accepts attachments uploads them all. Dropped on the Attachments page — which isn't tied to any one item — they arrive Unassigned, ready to be assigned to items afterward.

In the top menu, click More and choose Attachments. This is the Recent Attachments page.
In a separate window, open the folder containing your image files and select them all.
Drag the selection over the VMX page. The screen dims and shows Drop... — release the files there.
The Uploading Files window lists every file with its own progress bar, uploading them one after another. Each finished file is marked Completed; a failed one shows the reason (for example Network error).
When it finishes, the summary reads (for example) "48 files uploaded successfully". Click Close.

Notes on the upload itself:

You can also click + Attachment on the Attachments page and multi-select files in the file picker instead of dragging. The Attach a File window notes 100 max. files per upload — keep batches at or below that.
Very large files trigger a confirmation first — VMX warns when a single file is over 50 MB or the batch totals more than 100 MB, and asks "Continue with upload?". Photos straight off a camera are large; resizing them to something web-sized before uploading makes the batch far quicker.
Every uploaded file now appears in the Unassigned table on the Attachments page, listed by # (its attachment number), Upload Date, Name, Type, Attached To, and Note.

Nothing is attached to an item yet, and nothing reaches your website yet. Assign them next.

Assign an unassigned image to an inventory item

After a bulk upload, each image sits in the Unassigned list on the Attachments page (More > Attachments) until you tell VMX which item it belongs to. Assigning is one file at a time, so work down the list:

On the Recent Attachments page, find the file in the Unassigned table. Each column has a Filter... box — type part of the file name to jump straight to it.
Click the file name (or the pencil icon next to it) to open its attachment page, headed Attachment # and its number. The image itself is previewed on the right so you can confirm you have the right file.
Set Type to Item Image. For a JPEG or PNG that isn't attached to anything yet, VMX pre-selects Item Image for you — confirm it rather than assuming it's saved, because the type is only recorded when you save the page. (The other item types are Item Sign and Item Misc — only Item Image is treated as a product photo.)
In the row below, set the dropdown to Item # and type the item's PLU — or start typing the item's name and pick it from the suggestions.
Optionally fill in Caption (sent to your website with the image) and Sort (see the next section).
Leave Show on web checked if this photo should appear on your online store.
Click Save and Back to save and return to where you came from, or Save to stay on the page.

The file now disappears from Unassigned and shows in Recently Added/Assigned with the item in the Attached To column. It also appears on the item's Attachments tab as Item Image (filename) — see Item Attachments.

A file only leaves the Unassigned list once it has both a Type and something to attach it to (for a product photo, an Item #). Doing one without the other keeps it on the list: a file with an Item # but no Type still shows as Unassigned, and so does a file with a Type and no Item #.

Import product images from a spreadsheet of URLs

The inventory import can fetch images off the web and attach them for you: put a web address in a Picture 1 or Picture 2 column and VMX downloads that image and attaches it to the item on that row as an Item Image. This is the only way to attach images to many different items in a single action.

Two image columns are supported per import: Picture 1 and Picture 2. Spell the headings exactly that way. There is no Picture 3 — to add a third photo, run a second import with that URL in Picture 1.

Export the items you're working on: go to Inventory, click the Import/Export tab, and use the Export Inventory Data panel. (Or export a filtered search directly with the Export Excel icon on the Search tab — see "Match each image file to an item number first" above.)
In the exported file, add a column headed Picture 1 to the right of the last column, and a Picture 2 column beside it if you have second photos. These columns are not part of the standard export — you add them yourself.
Fill in a full, public web address for each image, starting with http:// or https:// — for example https://example.com/images/product.jpg. Leave the cell blank for any item you're not adding an image to; blank cells are skipped.
Leave the Time Stamp and PLU columns untouched, and keep every row the same width as the header.
Back on the Import/Export tab, choose your file in the Import Inventory Data panel and upload it with Actually save the changes left unchecked. Each image shows in the preview as + Image followed by the address — nothing is downloaded yet.
When the preview looks right, upload again with Actually save the changes checked. Now each address is fetched and attached.

The address must point straight at the image file. A share link that opens a preview page instead of the picture itself (common with cloud-storage "share" links) is not a direct image link, and attaching it produces a broken image. If a download fails — the address is wrong, private, or unreachable — that row shows + Image followed by ERROR, and the rest of the row still imports.

For everything else about the import (exporting, the preview step, permissions, error messages, Excel pitfalls), see Attribute Management & Import/Export.

Re-running an image import attaches the images again

The image columns have no duplicate protection and are not covered by the Time Stamp conflict check that protects the other columns. Every time you import a file, each filled-in Picture 1 / Picture 2 cell is downloaded and attached again — so running the same file twice leaves every item with two copies of the same photo, three times leaves three, and so on.

Before re-running an import file (because it stalled partway, or because you fixed some other column), blank out the Picture 1 and Picture 2 columns for the rows whose images already went through. If duplicates do get created, open each extra one from the item's Attachments tab (the pencil icon) and click Delete.

Choose which image shows on your website

An item can carry any number of image attachments. Which one becomes the main photo on your online store is decided by two fields on each attachment (More > Attachments, open the attachment; or the pencil icon on the item's Attachments tab):

Show on web — only images with this checked go to the website at all. Images uploaded through the drag-and-drop or spreadsheet methods start with it checked.
Sort — a number controlling the order. The image with the lowest Sort number becomes the item's main photo; the rest follow as additional photos in Sort order. A blank Sort sorts last, so if you number one image 1 and leave the others blank, the numbered one wins.

When several images all have a blank Sort — the usual state right after a bulk upload — the oldest one (the lowest attachment number) becomes the main photo. So if you bulk-loaded images onto items that already had a photo, expect the existing photo to stay in front until you set Sort numbers.

Images reach the website through the regular sync; there is no publish step. For the full picture, including captions, see Website Sync.

Attach several photos to one item at once

The drag-and-drop upload also works on an item page, and there the files are assigned to that item automatically — useful when a single item needs a photo set (different angles, in-flower and out-of-flower, packaging shots):

Open the item in Inventory > Search and go to its Attachments tab.
Select all the photos for that item in a folder on your computer and drag them onto the VMX page until the screen dims and shows Drop..., then release.
Every file uploads and is attached to that item, so you never have to type its item number. When you click Close at the end of a multi-file batch, VMX takes you to the Attachments page.
Go back to the item's Attachments tab, open each new file (the pencil icon beside it) and set Type to Item Image, plus a Sort number and Caption if needed.

Do not skip step 4. A dropped file arrives with no type and is listed on the tab as Miscellaneous (filename) — it is attached to the item, but it is not a product photo and will not go to your website until its Type is Item Image. Until then it also still shows in the Unassigned list on the Attachments page, because a file counts as assigned only once it has both a Type and an item.

You can also click + Attachment on the item's Attachments tab and multi-select files in the file picker.

Reuse one product image on several items

When several items share a photo — the same plant in three pot sizes, one product in a range of colors — you don't need a copy of the file per item. One attachment can be linked to more than one item:

Open the image's attachment page (More > Attachments, then click the file name).
In the empty row at the bottom, set the dropdown to Item #, enter the second item's PLU, and click Save.
The page reopens with a fresh empty row. Repeat for the next item, saving after each one.

A second route, for building a new item out of an existing one: open the existing item and choose Duplicate from its Actions dropdown. On most systems the new item is created with the original's photos already attached. Some systems show a Duplicate Item Options window first — if you see one, check Copy images/attachments before clicking Duplicate. Whether duplicates carry their images across is set per-client by VMX; if yours don't and you want them to, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Record where your product images came from

Product photos are published on your website, so VMX asks where each one came from. On any attachment whose Type is Item Image (or Item Sign, Department Image, Sub Department Image, Collection Image, Brand Image, or Care Guide), an Image source dropdown appears on the attachment page with these choices:

We took this photo
Vendor/grower sent it to us
Licensed stock photo — also asks for the License (for example Getty Images) and a catalog link or asset ID
AI generated
Found online — warns that "Web images have led to real copyright claims — it will be recorded and flagged for review."
Don't know

For a bulk load of supplier-provided photos the answer is normally Vendor/grower sent it to us. Photos taken on a phone or camera are cleared automatically and show Camera photo — auto-verified instead of the dropdown.

Common problems when bulk-loading product images

The images uploaded but nothing shows on the items. Uploads dropped on the Attachments page are deliberately Unassigned — they are stored, not attached. Assign each one an Item # on its attachment page (see "Assign an unassigned image to an inventory item" above).
An imported row shows "+ Image" then ERROR. VMX could not download that address. Check that it is a full http:// or https:// address, that it points directly at the image file rather than a preview page, and that the file is publicly reachable without a login.
Items now have two copies of the same photo. The import file was run more than once with the Picture 1 / Picture 2 columns still filled in — those columns re-attach on every run. Open each extra image from the item's Attachments tab (the pencil icon) and click Delete.
The wrong photo is showing on the website. Whichever qualifying image has the lowest Sort number wins, and blank Sort sorts last. Give the photo you want first a Sort of 1.
A photo is attached but does not appear online at all. Check Show on web on the attachment, and check that the item itself is visible online — an item needs both Show item on web? and Allow Selling? checked. See Website Sync.
Uploads are slow or the browser stalls. Full-resolution camera files are many megabytes each; VMX warns above 50 MB per file or 100 MB per batch. Resize images to web dimensions before uploading, and load them in batches rather than thousands at once.
You can't tell what's still missing an image. In Inventory > Search, use the Filter dropdown's No Picture option and the Columns dropdown's Has Image column to track progress as you work through a department.

For help planning a large image load, contact help@vmxllc.com.