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How to Add Images to Products

Goal: Add product images stored locally to your products using cobby formulas, either one image or multiple images per product.

Prerequisites

  • Excel with cobby installed
  • Images stored in a local folder or Magento's media/import folder
  • Image names that match your product SKUs or a consistent naming pattern

Add One Image per Product

1. Prepare Excel

  1. Ensure cell format is set to General (not Text):
    • Select your Images column
    • Go to Home tab
    • In the Numbers dropdown, select General

2. Create the Image Formula

  1. Click on a cell in the Images column
  2. In the formula bar, enter:
=IMAGES.ADD("C:\Users\YourPath\ImageFolder\"&[@SKU]&".jpg")

Formula components:

  • "C:\Users\YourPath\ImageFolder\" - Full path to your image folder (must end with \)
  • &[@SKU]& - References the SKU column for the current product
  • ".jpg" - Image file extension

3. Get Your Image Path

  1. Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer
  2. Navigate to your image folder
  3. Click on the address bar and copy the full path
  4. Ensure the path ends with a backslash \

4. Apply the Formula

  1. Click the Insert Function (fx) button
  2. Verify the formula is correct
  3. Click OK

The formula structure should look like this:

5. Apply to Multiple Products

  1. Select the cell with your formula
  2. Drag the fill handle down to apply to other products
  3. The formula automatically adjusts for each SKU

Add Multiple Images per Product

1. Prepare Image Files

Ensure all images for a product follow a consistent naming pattern:

  • Main image: 24-MB04.jpg
  • Additional images: 24-MB04_2.jpg, 24-MB04_3.jpg

2. Create Formula for First Image

Click in the first image cell and enter:

=IMAGES.ADD("C:\Users\YourPath\ImageFolder\"&[@SKU]&".jpg")

3. Add Additional Images

  1. Click Insert Function (fx)
  2. Add more image paths in the additional fields
  3. Adjust the file extension for each image position

Example for three images:

=IMAGES.ADD("C:\Users\YourPath\ImageFolder\"&[@SKU]&".jpg";"C:\Users\YourPath\ImageFolder\"&[@SKU]&"_2.jpg";"C:\Users\YourPath\ImageFolder\"&[@SKU]&"_3.jpg")

  1. Click OK when finished

4. Handle Variable Image Counts

If products have different numbers of images:

  • Define formulas for the maximum number of images needed
  • Non-existent images will be automatically hidden
  • Hidden images won't appear in your store frontend

Using Images from media/import Folder

If images are already in Magento's media/import folder:

  1. Reference images by filename only (no path needed):
=IMAGES.ADD([@SKU]&".jpg")
  1. Or use the SKU directly if image names match exactly:
=IMAGES.ADD("24-MB01.jpg")

Troubleshooting

Formula appears as text

  • Change cell format from Text to General
  • Re-enter the formula after changing format

Images not found

  • Verify the image path ends with backslash \
  • Check that image files exist at the specified location
  • Confirm image names match exactly (case-sensitive)
  • Ensure file extensions are correct (.jpg, .png, etc.)

SKU reference not working

  • Click fx button and use the reference picker
  • Click on the SKU cell while the formula dialog is open
  • This ensures the correct column reference

Images not appearing in store

  • Click Save products in cobby to sync to Magento
  • Clear Magento cache if images still don't appear
  • Verify images were uploaded successfully

Advanced Tips

Reference other columns: Use any column as the image name:

=IMAGES.ADD("C:\ImageFolder\"&[@[Product Name]]&".jpg")

Mix fixed and dynamic parts:

=IMAGES.ADD("C:\ImageFolder\Brand_"&[@Brand]&"_Product.jpg")

Use different image extensions:

=IMAGES.ADD("C:\ImageFolder\"&[@SKU]&".png")