In this guide, we see how to import and export your product pictures in your online store, using a CSV file. This option can be helpful if you want to exchange information between Portmoni and other platforms. It is also convenient if you want to manage a large number of entries using Excel or another tool.
In this guide, we cover the following:
- How to export your product pictures from your online store
- How to import product pictures into your online store
- Description of the format of the CSV file
- Prepare your product pictures for import
- Download a sample CSV file
Let’s dive into it!
How to export your product pictures from your online store
To export your product pictures from your online store, follow the steps below. Your export file will be created automatically, and you will be able to download it and save it to your device.
Please note that the product pictures are exported as a list of URLs linking to each picture. If you want to download the pictures themselves, you can then use the links to do that, at your convenience.
Steps:
- From your Portmoni site editor at https://builder.portmoni.com , go to the “Account” tab
- In the “Account” tab, go to the “Import / export your data” section
- Click on “Import / Export data from your site”
- In the “Products” section, click on “Export product pictures”
- You are prompted to select a location to save it on your device. Once done your export file is created and saved to the selected location.
You can find below the description of the format of the CSV file.
How to import product pictures into your online store
To import product pictures into your online store, follow the steps below. You can also find below the description of the format of the CSV file.
Please note that as a CSV file can only contain text, the product pictures are defined in the file as a list of URLs linking to the pictures. Therefore, during the import process your product images must be available on a publicly accessible URL. Please see the section about preparing your product pictures for import below for more details about this process. During the import process, the pictures are automatically downloaded by the platform, and added to your site.
Warning: before you start an import, make sure that you have a backup of your data. Importing a CSV file that has errors might cause your products data to be deleted or corrupted. In that case a backup will allow you to restore your products quickly and easily.
Steps:
- From your Portmoni site editor at https://builder.portmoni.com , go to the “Account” tab
- In the “Account” tab, go to the “Import / export your data” section
- Click on “Import / Export data from your site”
- In the “Products” section, click on “Import product pictures”
- Click “Choose file”, and then select the CSV file that you want to import
- Click “Upload file and continue”
- Your file is uploaded and checked for any errors. If there are errors, a screen is displayed with the error details so that you can fix them and upload the file again.
- If the file is correct, a confirmation screen is displayed with the details about the import. Review the details, then if you are satisfied click on “Import product pictures”
- The pictures are downloaded, and the products are being updated. During the process, the existing pictures of all the products defined in the CSV file are removed, and replaced by the ones defined in the file.
- When the process is complete, a confirmation is displayed.
Description of the product pictures CSV file
The first line of your CSV file is the column headers that describe the content of each column. Each column is separated by a comma. The first line looks like this:
Product handle,Product name,Picture URL,Picture Alt Text
The following lines (or records) in the file contain data, using the same columns in that exact same order as the header. A line would look like this (and you can find more examples in the CSV file example):
product-example,Product Example,https://portmoni.com/product-example.jpg,My picture alternative text
Here is the description of the different columns:
| # | Column name | Column description |
| 1 | Product handle |
The handle of the product. For instance the handle for a product could be “nice-dress”. Handles are unique names for each product. They can only contain lowercase letters, dashes and numbers, but no spaces, accents or other characters, including periods. When a handle in the CSV file matches a handle in your online store, the data in the CSV file is used to update the matching product. If a handle does not match an existing product in your online store, an error is returned. Should be a string, max 50 characters. This field is required. |
| 2 | Product name |
The name of the product, for example “A Nice Dress”. This field is provided for your information only. It is ignored during the import. Should be a string, max 100 characters. This field can be empty. |
| 3 | Picture URL |
The URL of the product picture. This URL needs to be valid and publicly available online. For example, it could be “https://portmoni.com/nice-dress-picture.jpg” During the import process, Portmoni downloads the picture and re-uploads it into your site. If the picture is already on Portmoni, the import process will create a copy of the picture and associate it to the product. Should be a valid URL, max 200 characters. This field is required. |
| 4 | Picture Alt Text |
An alternative text that describes the picture. For example, it could be “Picture of our nice dress” If a picture cannot load for any reason, then the alt text displays instead. It is also used by assistive technology to describe an image to a visitor who is visually impaired, as well as by search engines like Google Search. By default, the name of the product is used for the Alt Text of the image. Should be a string, max 150 characters. This field can be empty. |
Note: If you use Excel to edit your CSV, then check Excel’s export settings when you export the CSV to ensure that your file uses commas between values.
Example of a product picture
A product picture is defined by a row in your CSV file. Here is the example of such a row:
nice-dress,A Nice Dress,https://portmoni.com/nice-dress-picture.jpg,Picture of our nice dress
This translates to the following fields:
- Product handle: nice-dress
- Product name: A Nice Dress
- Picture URL: https://portmoni.com/nice-dress-picture.jpg
- Picture Alt Text: Picture of our nice dress
Prepare your product pictures for import
As a CSV file can only contain text, the product pictures are defined in the file as a list of URLs linking to the pictures. This means that to prepare your file, all the product pictures you want to use have to be available online (i.e. they should be behind an https:// protocol with no password protection). They could be available on your Portmoni website for instance, or on an online service like Dropbox, Google Drive or similar, where you can share the URLs publicly.
The pictures URLs are only used during the CSV file importing process. You can delete the URLs when the import is complete.
Depending on the location of your files, to get your pictures URLs, you could do one of the following:
- If the files are on your computer or your phone, then you could upload them to your Portmoni store or to another image hosting service, and then obtain their URL (please see below how to find your product pictures URLs in your Portmoni site editor).
- If you are switching to Portmoni from another platform, then you can copy the current picture URLs from the other platform, and use them in the CSV file. The pictures will be copied into your Portmoni online store during the import process; it does not matter if they are taken offline by the other platform later.
- If you are using pictures from your own Portmoni online store or from another Portmoni online store, then you can use the existing URL of the pictures (please see below to see how to find your product pictures URLs in your Portmoni site editor).
How to find your product pictures URLs in your Portmoni site editor
- Edit the product from which you want to use the picture, and go to the “Product Pictures” list in your Portmoni site editor
- Click the “Copy link” icon.
- Paste the URL in the “Picture URL” column of your CSV file for the relevant product.
- Repeat steps 2 to 3 for all the pictures you want to import.
- Save the CSV file and import it to Portmoni.
Another option is to export your product pictures, and to get the URLs from the CSV file created during that process.
Sample CSV file
You can download a sample of CSV file for the product pictures to use as a template. Alternatively, you can also export a CSV file from your online store and use it as a template.
Please be aware that the sample file contains examples of product pictures. If you use it to create your own import file, then make sure that you remove all the examples from the file.
We hope this helps, and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any question!
Related articles
- How to import and export products in your online store
- How to import and export your product categories
- Find all our help resources in the Help Center