We can use this utility to bulk create user products. This is especially handy when dealing with dozens, or hundreds of products and/or variants. Following these steps will ensure that your products are created correctly, but particular attention needs to paid to making sure the data is correct before uploading the spreadsheet.
- If you are planning on connecting these products to a Shopify store, Etsy store, or some other system, it's advisable to pay close attention to how you are defining the sku ('user_sku' field) in the csv.
If you have a Shopify product with 3 sizes, the product has 3 'variants' and will need 3 unique products in PrintOps - one for each size. To make things much quicker, you'll want the variant sku on your Shopify variant to match the user_sku on the PrintOps product. Just make sure they are the same.
- You need to make sure that the image url you are providing is publicly accessible, and it's a direct link to the actual file. Linking to a page where the file can be downloaded will not work and the import will fail.
However, with Google Drive files, we do have an exception. You can use the share link, and we will alter the url to create a downloadable link. To get the share link from a google drive file:
Initially you'll head over to https://printops.com, click on the Store you want, then scroll a down a bit until you see the Products card. Click on the Import Products button.
Once there, you'll want to download the template - there will be a link next to the blue upload button. You can then open this up in a spreadsheet editor. We'll go over the columns and what data you need to include.
Each product that you want to create will occupy one row.
base_product_sku
This is our internal product code for the product that you want to create. You'll find the list of products and the SKU here: https://printops.com/help/product-specifications
ex: PP12
user_sku
This is your SKU that you want this product to have. A SKU is just a code you use to identify a product. If you are integrating with Shopify, you want this to match the product variant you'll be syncing this product to. This needs to be alpha numerical with dashes or underscores - no spaces or special characters.
ex: my-great-poster-12x16
filename
This is the filename of the file that you want to use for the product you are creating.
ex: my-great-poster-12x16.jpg
image_url
This is the publicly accessible url where our system can download the file. This has to be a direct link to the file, not a download page. The exception is google drive links - please see above.
ex: https://www.printops.com/my-files/my-great-poster-12x16.jpg
name
This is the name of the product that you are creating. You should make this similar to your Shopify listing or something descriptive.
ex: My Great Poster 12x16
description
This is the description of the product that you are creating. This can also be descriptive or anything else you want.
ex: This poster depicts my 1959 Chevrolet Impala
scale_option
Here you define the scaling technique to be employed during the product creation. Understanding this is crucial to creating products correctly. If you select the incorrect scaling option, you may end up with incorrectly placed image within the print area.
The options are: fit, fill, stretch, noscale
ex: fit
If you have a file with bleed and/or crop marks, you can only use this file for the size it was create for. You'll have to use the "noscale" option, so that the file prints at 100% size.
Detailed information can be found here: https://printops.com/help/scale-option
Once you have filled out all of the spreadsheet information, it's time to start processing the data. You'll want to head back over to the url above, the same place you downloaded the template.
Just click the Select File and select the spreadsheet file that you want to upload. Then just click Upload.
This will forward you to a page where you can double check the entries. Once you're sure everything is set, click Start Import. It will then forward you back to the Import page.
In the list, click on the filename that you just uploaded to see the status of the import. The system will first determine if multiple products will be using the same file - we only need to download once. It will download all files first - if unsuccessful it will fail. Once all files are uploaded successfully, it will begin to create the products on PrintOps.
Once it has completed, you can go to the Products page of your store and see the products there. It will likely be working on creating the preview images.