Bulk media import
To attach images to many entries at once, create the entries first, then run a bulk import that pairs each entry with the web address of its image. The run happens in the background and reports the outcome per image, so a few bad links do not stop the rest.
Requirements: a role that can manage the Asset Library and edit the target collection. Each image must be reachable at a secure web address.
Attaching pictures one at a time is fine for a handful of records and impossible for a catalog of hundreds. A bulk media import brings images in from their web addresses and attaches each to the right entry, without anyone dragging files.
Steps
- Create the entries first. The import attaches images to records that already exist — it does not create them. Load your products, then their photos.
- Make sure the collection has an image field. Images can only land in a field meant to hold them; add one first if it is missing — see add or change a field.
- Pair each entry with its image address. The import works from a list of pairs: this entry, this image, into this field. Where entries hold several pictures, the same entry can appear more than once.
- Start the run. It goes into the background rather than blocking while it works.
- Check the results per item. When the run finishes, each pairing reports its own outcome — so you see exactly which images landed and which addresses failed, rather than one all-or-nothing verdict.
- Fix and re-run the failures only. Correct the bad addresses and run those again; the ones that succeeded need no repeat.
What tends to fail
Almost every failed item is one of three things. The address points at a page rather than the image itself — a product page instead of the photo file. The address is not a secure link. Or the source requires a login, so the image cannot be fetched at all. A quick way to check: open the address in a private browser window and see whether the image alone appears.
Pacing
Imports are deliberately paced rather than fired all at once, and there is a cap on how much goes in a single run. For a large catalog, expect to work through it in batches, and expect a run to complete progressively rather than instantly. This protects both your business and the sites the images come from.
Notes and limitations
- Entries must exist before the import — it attaches, it does not create.
- Addresses must be secure links to the image file itself, not to a page containing it, and not behind a login.
- The target field must be an image field on that collection.
- Runs are paced and capped — large catalogs go in batches.
- Failures are per item, so one bad address does not stop the run.
- Imported images land in the Asset Library like any other asset — reusable, and replaceable everywhere at once.
Related
Single uploads and importing one image by address are covered in upload a file or image; why media lives in a shared library in what the Asset Library is. Getting the entries themselves in first is part of create a collection.