Free and premium. Importing and exporting images works in both. The image optimization settings described below are premium.
Images are not embedded in your export file. What travels is the URL, and the importing store downloads from it. That single fact explains most image behaviour in the plugin.
Exporting images #
Image columns appear in the product column list on step 4. An export writes the public URL of the featured image and the gallery images, separated so they can be read back in.
Step 5 offers Export images separately, which writes image data to its own file rather than widening your product file. Useful when you want a clean product sheet for editing in Excel.
Importing images #
During a product import, the plugin downloads each image URL and attaches the result to the product. This happens in the background rather than in the main row loop, so the import does not block while a slow server responds.
Requirements #
- The URL must be publicly reachable. Test it in a private browser window.
- Your host must allow outbound HTTP requests. Some locked-down hosts block them.
- The source server must not rate-limit you. A few thousand rapid requests can trigger throttling.
Why image imports are slow #
A product import that seems to hang is usually waiting on images. Two thousand products with three images each means six thousand downloads, plus thumbnail generation for every one. This is the single biggest factor in how long a large import takes.
If a run stalls, import the product data without image columns first, then run a second pass with only ID, SKU, and the image columns.
Optimizing images on import #
Under Settings → Image Optimization you can resize and recompress images as they arrive. It is off by default.
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Auto (recommended) | Safe local processing, or steps aside if Smush, Imagify, ShortPixel or EWWW is active |
| Local | Server-side only. Images never leave your host. |
| WordPress built-in only | Uses WordPress image functions alone |
| External service | Sends images to a third party for stronger compression |
| Leave to my optimization plugin | Does nothing. Your other plugin handles it. |
Defaults are 1920px maximum dimension and quality 82, with optional WebP copies. Images are never upscaled, and if optimization fails the original is imported unchanged.
Turning optimization on adds processing time per image but saves disk space and speeds up your storefront afterwards. On a migration of a few thousand products, it is usually worth the extra minutes.
Migrating a store with images #
Keep the old site online until the import finishes. The new store is downloading from the old one, and taking it down mid-migration leaves you with products and no pictures.
Images did not import #
- Open the history record and read the log. Failed downloads are recorded with the URL that failed.
- Check the URLs resolve from outside your network, not just from your own browser with a session cookie.
- Confirm the image column was mapped on step 4 rather than left blank.
