Client has asked me to figure out why product pictures aren’t changing when clicking between variants. Is this a Shopify 1.0 vs. 2.0 issue, 1.0 doesn’t support? Or is the code broken? Product is set up correctly, with each variant having an image, but when you click through the variants, it doesn’t change the picture.
Topic summary
Main issue: On a Shopify store using the Dawn (Shopify 1.0/vintage) theme, the main product image does not change when different variants (each with its own image) are selected.
Key points and context:
- This behavior should work by default across themes when variant images are assigned; it’s not inherently a Shopify 1.0 vs 2.0 limitation.
- The likely cause is an outdated or broken theme implementation. The store appears to be running a very old Dawn/vintage version.
Suggested actions:
- Upgrade the theme to the latest Dawn (noted as v12.0.0) to restore native variant-image switching.
- Reference docs shared: how to add images to variants (Shopify help) and an older “vintage themes” guide that enables selecting variants by clicking images (the reverse flow of the reported issue), indicating legacy customization paths exist but aren’t the recommended fix.
Outcome/status:
- No confirmation of a fix from the original poster.
- Recommended resolution is to update the theme; custom vintage tweaks are possible but not ideal.
Hey Hoff,
If they’re still using a Shopify 1.0 theme at this point, it’s probably worth having them upgrade to the latest version of the theme.
By default, if the variants have images assigned to them, then regardless of which theme you’re using, it should switch the main image that’s shown, when a variant is selected.
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/product-media/add-images-variants
So if that’s not happening, the theme must be incredibly old and no longer working correctly.
The closest thing I could find that might help with this, is this old help doc: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/themes-by-shopify/vintage-themes/customizing-vintage-themes/select-variants-click
Following the above help doc would add the ability to select variants by clicking the product images (kind of the reverse of what you’re trying to do).
The real solution here should be updating their theme, and then everything should work correctly. The Dawn theme is currently on version 12.0.0 … so definitely upgrade the theme, if you’re still using the originally released version of the theme.
Cheers,
Stephen