Same Image(s) duplicating across multiple products?

Shopify Discussion
1

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.jpg
shopifyduplicateimages.jpg1240×856 115 KB

All 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?

39 Likes
2

The file manager (Settings >> Files) needs a way to overwrite existing files.

Our store has 3,600 product images and about 50 PDFs. About once a month, we take updated product photos to replace the old ones. We update about 30 photos each time. However, when uploading these new images, Shopify adds 32 characters to the end of the URL:

Before: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0251/9964/0648/files/mx_6053-40led-1.jpg

After: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0251/9964/0648/files/mx_6053-40led-1_a5e9a298-9912-4a3a-b80a-9bcfbdb8ccc6.jpg?v=1603062974

This is really frustrating because the only workaround is to search each filename manually, delete them one at a time, then upload the new images. Imagine doing this for 30 images!

The other workaround is to select ALL my files (about 4,000 in total including logos, banners, and other images), delete ALL of them, then reupload ALL of them. This is a lot of work for just wanting to update 30 images. And sometimes, this workaround doesn’t even work (it adds the 32 extra characters anyways).

Looking around on this forum, I can see that this has been an issue for at least 6 years because I have seen very old posts of customers complaining about the same issue. It would be incredible if file replacing was made easier in the future, and I’m hoping this post can be my grain of sand to help push to getting this feature implemented.

A bonus would be the ability to arrange files into folders, or perhaps allow us to upload and manage files using FTP.

Also, this may just be a semantics thing, but it surprises me that Files is considered a “Setting” when really it should be a basic part of managing an online store.

Thanks! :slightly_smiling_face:

54 Likes
3

I was surprised that one couldn’t upload new image & maintain url - so all locations linked to the file - would simply update. Same use like you!

anne

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4

If you have fewer than 10 images per product you can add/remove photos via the Vela app (getvela.com, it’s free), however, it relies on the sequence of the images for replacements so if the image you’re updating isn’t always, say, in position 3, you will still be poking at things manually. I am not at all suggesting that this feature request is not necessary – it is!!-- but this workaround may be helpful if you’re limping along in the meantime.

1 Like
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hi! I’m wondering if you figured out how to do this? I don’t even know how to put an image in my CDN.Shopify folder - I have just one image to replace on each product (400 products) and would love to just drop it into the CDN and have it override the old one. Versus having to go product by product and replace it.

I was wondering if you had discovered a solution? Or if you had any advice for me.

You mention “to search each filename manually, delete them one at a time, then upload the new image” and that could work for me since it’s just one image, but I’ve been searching and talking to Shopify help, without any luck.

Thanks so much in advance!

Sincerely, Katie

2 Likes
6

Hi Katie!

Go to Settings>> Files, then in the search bar, type the name of the file.
When you find it, delete it. Then upload the new version :slightly_smiling_face:

7

thanks for writing back!

Unfortunately, the original is not a file that I added. It’s a file that I migrated over using LitExtension from Volusion, so the file path of the one I want to replace is:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0507/2660/0860/t/6/assets/SizeImageSquares-ForShop-1500.jpg

and when I upload the image to the Settings - Files section, this is the path:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0507/2660/0860/files/SizeImageSquares-ForShop-1500.jpg?v=1607980928

pretty close! But I need to get into the /assets folder somehow and I don’t know how to do that.

“t/6/assets/” vs “files/”

Any thoughts? Do you think that hiring a Shopify Expert would be a good path for me?

Thank you!!
Sincerely, Katie

8

That does not work these days.

Shopify adds a string at the end of the name of each image placement so you have to manually change EVERY image:(

9

Pretty basic functionality.

AS A Shopify Site Owner I WANT TO BE ABLE TO copy files to my site, put them where I want them, and have them named as I specify SO THAT I can manage my online presence without spending hours deleting files that have been updated.

GIVEN THAT media assets are the single most important customer facing feature in my shop
WHEN I want to add fresh new content that keeps customer engaged and returning to my store
THEN Shopify does not PREVENT me from keeping my content fresh, they make it EASY to replace existing content files with new ones automatically

5 Likes
10

We need the ability to overwrite files. I’m shocked this even has to be a request, much less that it’s 2 years old and seemingly hasn’t been addressed at all.

4 Likes
11

It looks like a version of this functionality has been added. In the Content>files area, there’s now a replace file option in the kebab menu. So you can replace an existing image with another. There’s also an option to rename the file (is that new too?).
What they DON’T have is a way to load an image, say on a PDP or theme editor, and overwrite the file if you load it with the same name. SO CLOSE, GUYS!

I’m not sure I’ll use this much as is, kinda putzy to jump over to Files and then have to search for the image you need.

Screen Shot 2023-05-12 at 12.02.13 PM.jpg
Screen Shot 2023-05-12 at 12.02.13 PM.jpg1298×1366 113 KB

2 Likes
12

I have a similar related issue. We publish images to shopify from the Salsify PIM system. I have an image transformation formula on the channel mapping to downsize the image to a certain spec when it’s pushed to shopify. I have changed that transformation to improve load speed, but the newly formatted images are not overwriting the old ones, despite the channel mapping being set to ‘replace’ images rather than append. I assume that because the image source url is the same, shopify doesn’t see it as a new image and doesn’t overwrite the existing one. Any ideas?

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13

Is anyone else having this issue? Anyone know of a solution?

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14

We are experiencing the same issue. We have a large number of products that use the same view 2 image. Today I updated that image and 130 duplicate images got created. How can I prevent this from happening?

I know we have unlimited storage but it is an unsightly mess and makes navigating the image list, from the page editor, more difficult.

EDIT: Also, just noticed that the images don’t have the same filesize as the one I originally uploaded, they are slightly smaller. I don’t know why but they are.

EDIT2: I think I know what is going on behind the scenes to cause this. Shopify is creating a different URL for images depending on what they are associated with. Instead of http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/0/0000/0000/0000/files/something.png files linked to products use http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/0/0000/0000/0000/products/something.png

Maybe Shopify has always done this and the alternate files simply weren’t visible from the admin side. It is a bit of a waste, and potentially a minor SEO mess, but I don’t think we can really do anything about it.

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15

Having similar situation, just in my case i have exactly one copy for almost every picture. I’m also hoping for a solution to this kind of situation.

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16

I have this same set up - any luck on a fix?

17

So far, no, unfortunately.

18

Having the same problem and also hoping for a solution to this!

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19

same here, hope for a solution.

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20

same problem, anyone known how to resolve this?

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