Introduction

This article explains how product images are synchronized from TRAEDE to Shopify. You will learn how to configure image settings, how variant image assignment works, and what to do when integrating an existing Shopify store into TRAEDE.

This guide is helpful for anyone managing product visuals, multi-variant products, or migrating existing Shopify setups into TRAEDE.

Image synchronization settings

In the Shopify integration settings, TRAEDE provides several image-related options:

• Sync images — must be activated for image synchronization

• Format selection — choose the format of images sent to Shopify

• Height / width settings — optional, for image resizing

  • TRADE generally recommends leaving these unchanged to preserve original image quality

• Only attach variant images — controls per-variant image behavior (explained below)

These settings determine how images are exported to Shopify and how variants receive their thumbnails.

“Only attach variant images” option

This is one of the most important settings.

When Only attach variant images is enabled:

• A variant in Shopify only receives images that are explicitly attached to that variant in TRAEDE

• If a variation does not have an image attached in TRAEDE → it will not have one in Shopify

Example

A product has three color variations:

• Black

• Light grey

• Beige

If Beige has no attached images in TRAEDE:

• Beige will also have no images in Shopify

This setup is ideal when each color or variation has different images.

Attaching variant images manually

To assign images for a variant:

1. Select the variant (e.g. Beige)

2. Click Update images

3. Choose the images you want to attach

   • The order you click them matters

   • The first image clicked becomes the first image in Shopify

4. Save the product in TRAEDE

5. Trigger a sync (or wait for automatic synchronization)

After syncing, the variant in Shopify will display only the images you attached.

When to disable this option

If your variants do not require different images, for example:

• Perfumes

• Products with variations like size or volume

• Items with identical packaging across variants

Then you can disable the setting.

With the option disabled:

• All images for the product in TRAEDE

• → become images for all variants in Shopify

This is the right choice when variant-specific photos are unnecessary.

Important note for existing Shopify stores

If you already have an active Shopify store and want to connect it to TRAEDE, image handling requires attention.

TRADE must maintain an internal record of each Shopify image to synchronize updates correctly. Therefore, when integrating an existing Shopify store, you must choose one of the following:

Option 1: Delete all images in TRAEDE

Then re-import all images from Shopify.

(Not recommended) — this can break future sync control.

Option 2: Delete all images in Shopify

Then let TRAEDE synchronize images to Shopify.

(Preferred method) — ensures clean synchronization and prevents duplication.

Because image synchronization can be sensitive when merging existing systems:

Always contact TRAEDE support when integrating an existing Shopify store to avoid double images or sync conflicts.