Re: Same Image(s) duplicating across multiple products?

Same Image(s) duplicating across multiple products?

LeeAurich
Tourist
11 0 61

I have a store for a garden centre

As a result I have a lot of products (literally thousands) that share the same images (as we get the same plants in from multiple suppliers depending on the time of the year.) whether it's a collection place-holder image or a specific image of the plant/product.

 

Previously I was able to click the "copy Image" link on the files page and paste it into the image section for the product.
Recently, when I do this, Shopify has been creating duplicate images rather than linking to the same image.

To summarise: Let's say I have 20 products that share the same image, previously I was able to link the same file for all products so they shared the same image. Now shopify is creating 20 separate duplicate images meaning the page has to load 20 individual copies of the same image for each product, rather than 1 image shared for each product.

 

Here's what it looks like in my files section:
shopifyduplicateimages.jpgAll of these images in the list are exactly the same, and each one was created when I tried to copy the link of the original to new products.

This is causing the following problems for me:
1. it increases the page load time as instead of loading 1 shared image, it's now loading individual duplicate images
2. it's majorly clogging up my files section.

It's not a massive problem as I can still run my store with it. But I'd rather go back to how it was working before. Is there a way to tell shopify to share a particular image when I want to use it on another product rather than creating all these duplicates? 

Replies 103 (103)

GarageAndFab
Visitor
1 0 0

Part of the reason they have to remove call back support was because of the employee abuse, there is only so many times you can listen to " Yes, I understand", "I'm sorry..." "We have someone already working on this"

As a customer trying to build for over 5 years and constantly running into these types of issues, almost all of them go unresolved.
Even after speaking with managers and supervisors for months, constantly escalating help tickets to try and come up with a resolve you will likely get the run around until you realize it is simply a ploy to waste your time and avoid accountability.

Good luck! You are going to need it!

Screen Shot 2024-08-23 at 5.15.51 PM.pngScreen Shot 2024-08-23 at 5.17.40 PM.png

Patrick_McCabe
Shopify Partner
26 1 28

Could you provide the context for this? What exactly were you seeing?
This sounds like a completely different problem than what has been discussed here.

JoesToes
Excursionist
18 1 6

Smacks of the Post Office Horizon help line "you're the only one with this issue" , an issue affecting thousands. This duplicat image thing is a real pain.

On the whole though I have found Shopify very helpful and it is still my preferred platform. 

jgxdesigns
Visitor
1 0 0

It’s been over a year since this issue was first raised, and Shopify still hasn’t provided a solution for overwriting existing images without generating a new file name. Who decided this approach made sense? The purpose of uploading the same image file is to overwrite it, not to create duplicates. Now I’m stuck in the same situation—trying to update my product images with new dimensions. Instead, I end up with duplicates. To get around this, I have to delete the current image, re-upload the new one, and re-enter the alt tag manually (WTF). This could easily be avoided by simply allowing images with the same file name to overwrite existing ones. Shopify, are you planning to address this issue, what are you waiting for?