How do I add multiple images to a product?
by: Ajeh - Linda McGrath

A product owns 1 filename ...

Example:

You load via the categories.php an image file called:

a_bugs_life.gif and put it in the /images/dvd directory via the drop down

Now you FTP additional images to /images/dvd

a_bugs_life_01.gif
a_bugs_life_02.gif
a_bugs_life_03.gif
a_bugs_life_04.gif

I use the numbers so these load in order, as the additional images are loaded alpha/numeric

For the large image I FTP:

/images/large/dvd/a_bugs_life_01_LRG.gif
/images/large/dvd/a_bugs_life_02_LRG.gif
/images/large/dvd/a_bugs_life_03_LRG.gif
/images/large/dvd/a_bugs_life_04_LRG.gif

For the medium image (used on product_info) I FTP

/images/medium/dvd/a_bugs_life_MED.gif

Now you do not need to use subdirectories.

All images can be loaded to

/images
/images/large
/images/medium

You can also change the suffix for Large and Medium from _LRG and _MED to something else or to nothing at all.

I use the suffixes so when looking at 2000 images I can tell what size I am really looking at just from the name.

In a future release, this will be more automated with options for auto-generating the thumb and medium based on dpi, height, width and compression ratio

For now, it uses the same directories that the auto-generated would use, but you do the FTP for the different sizes and additional images.

Additional information:

Note: the base image name is the original image name loaded for the product.

The suffix of _MED and _LRG is optionally defined but very handy for distinguising image names from a visual stand point.

The medium images are kept in the /images/medium directory and the large in the /images/large directory

Additional images can be the base name of the original image plus anything after that example:

Original Image: fred.jpg

All of these are considered additional images because they contain the base image name:

fredabc.jpg
fred_73b2.jpg
fred_01.jpg
fred_02.jpg
freddy.jpg
fredrick.jpg

The advantage of the numbering on the additional images like: _01 _02 _03 is that they will sort in this order when displayed.

These images are places in the same directory as the main image such as /images or /images/dvd

The large image match would then go in /images/large or /images/large/dvd with the Admin defined suffix added to it of _LRG

fredabc_LRG.jpg
fred_73b2_LRG.jpg
fred_01_LRG.jpg
fred_02_LRG.jpg
freddy_LRG.jpg
fredrick_LRG.jpg