Photos sell. On a phone, the first photo of a product is often the only thing a shopper looks at before deciding to open it. Mercayo keeps your photos exactly as you upload them, at full quality, and shows each shopper a copy sized for their screen. This guide covers the Photos card of the Product Editor: adding photos, putting them in order, describing them, linking them to a colour or a model, and what shoppers see.
To add or change photos you need the right to edit products (the owner, admins and the Catalog Editor role).
Before You Start
The Photos card works on a saved product. On a new product it says "Save the product first, then add its photos here." Type the title, press SAVE, and the card opens.
| Rule | Limit |
|---|---|
| File types | JPEG, PNG, WebP or AVIF |
| File size | Up to 20 MB each |
| Picture size | Up to 50 megapixels, and up to 16,384 pixels on a side |
| Photos per product | Up to 250 |
Mercayo reads each file's real type from its contents, not from its name, so a renamed file of another kind is refused.
How to Add Photos
- Open the product.
- Drop photos from your computer onto the Photos card (the box says Drop Photos Here or Choose Files), or press ADD PHOTOS and choose several at once.
- Each photo uploads in turn with a progress bar, then "Saving…". When it is done it appears in the row of photos.
A photo is added to the product as soon as it has uploaded: you do not need to press SAVE for the upload itself. A file that cannot be used is listed in red with the reason, for example "“IMG_2041.HEIC” is not a JPEG, PNG, WebP or AVIF picture." or "This file is over 20 MB. Photos can be at most 20 MB." An upload that fails shows its message with DISMISS.
How to Put Photos in Order
The first photo is the Main one: it is the picture on product cards, in search, in the bag and in shared links.
- Drag a photo to its new place, or use the left and right arrows on it.
- Press SAVE in the save bar. The order is saved with the rest of the product.
"Drag photos to arrange them, or use the arrows. The first photo is the main one. Order, descriptions and links are saved with SAVE."
How to Describe a Photo (Alt Text)
- Click the photo. The Photo 1 window opens with a large preview.
- Type the Alt Text: "What the photo shows, for shoppers using screen readers and for search." For example "Matte black case, back view" or "Banarasi silk saree in maroon, draped". Up to 300 characters.
- Press DONE, then SAVE.
A photo without a description shows "No description" under it, as a reminder.
How to Link a Photo to a Colour or Model
When a product has options, a photo can belong to the values it shows.
- Click the photo.
- Under Shown for These Choices, tick the values the photo shows, for example Navy under Colour. "When a shopper picks one of these, this photo is shown first. Leave all unticked for every choice."
- Press DONE, then SAVE.
The values a photo is linked to appear under it in the row. Only saved values can be linked: "Values added since the last save can be linked once the product is saved."
How Linked Photos Show to Shoppers
- When a shopper picks a value, the gallery shows the photos linked to it first, then the photos linked to no value. Photos linked only to other values are left out, so a shopper who picked Navy is not shown the maroon photos.
- Before anything is picked, the gallery shows the photos linked to no value. If every photo belongs to a value (a phone case photographed on each model), it shows the first value's set rather than every model at once.
How to Delete a Photo
- Point at the photo (or tap it on a phone) and press the bin icon.
- "Delete This Photo?": "The photo is removed from the product and the store at once. This cannot be undone."
- Press DELETE PHOTO.
A photo shared with a copy of the product (made with Duplicate) stays on the copy.
What Size Should Photos Be?
- Shoppers' screens get copies of your photo at widths from 160 up to 2,048 pixels. A photo 2,048 pixels wide or more is sharp at every size, including the full-screen viewer on a large monitor. A smaller photo is never stretched: it is shown at most at its own size.
- Keep every photo of a product the same shape (all square, or all 4:5 portrait). The gallery keeps the first photo's shape for every slide, so nothing jumps while photos load.
- Mercayo never shrinks or recompresses your original. Upload the best file you have.
What Shoppers See
- The gallery on the product page, in the layout your product page uses: one large photo with thumbnails, a grid, or a carousel on computers; on phones and tablets a strip that shoppers swipe, with thumbnails, dots or a counter under it.
- Zoom on hover: on a computer, the large photo zooms where the pointer is, when Zoom on Hover is on (the default) in the Product Page section of the Theme Editor. Any photo opens full screen with a click or tap.
- Cards in lists and rows show the main photo.
- Alt text is read out by screen readers and helps search engines understand the photo.
Videos on Product Pages
The Photos card takes pictures only. To show a video on a product page, make a reel: upload the video in Online Store › Reels, tag the products in it and publish. Reels with a product show on that product's page as "Shop the Video" when reels are on for your store. See Reels.
Good to Know
- Uploading and deleting happen at once. Order, alt text and links wait for SAVE.
- If the photos were changed in another window while you worked, your order and descriptions are not saved: "The photos were changed in another window, so their order, descriptions and links were not saved. Reload the page to see the latest photos." The rest of the product is still saved.
- A product with no photo is counted under No Photo on the Products List.
- Story pictures in Product Page Details are chosen from the product's own photos. See Product Stories, Highlights and Specifications.
- Photo upload problems and their fixes: Photo Upload Problems.
Questions
Why does my photo look blurry when zoomed?
It is smaller than the zoom needs. Upload a larger original, ideally 2,048 pixels wide or more. Mercayo does not enlarge photos.
Does Mercayo compress my photos?
Your original is stored exactly as uploaded. Shoppers receive copies sized for their screen, which keeps pages fast without touching your original.
How do I change the main photo?
Drag the photo you want to the first place (or use its left arrow until it is first), then press SAVE.
Can I upload many photos at once?
Yes. Choose or drop as many as you like; they upload one after another. A product can hold up to 250.
Can a photo show for two colours?
Yes. Tick both values under Shown for These Choices.
Why can't I see the Photos card on a new product?
Photos belong to a saved product. Save the product once and the card appears.