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How to Import Product Images From Dropbox to Acenda

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Written by Sam E.
Updated over a month ago

You can bulk-import product images into Acenda by hosting them on a service like Dropbox and using their public links to build an import file.

This process has three main stages:

  1. Extracting links from Dropbox (using an Excel macro).

  2. Preparing your CSV file (matching links to SKUs).

  3. Importing the file into Acenda.

1. Get Your Public Image Links from Dropbox

This step uses an Excel workflow to generate a clean list of your image filenames and their corresponding URLs.

1. Upload Images to Dropbox

  • Go to your Dropbox account and select Upload > Folder.

  • Select the folder containing your product images and upload it.

2. Copy the Folder Link

  • Find your uploaded folder under All Files.

  • Hover over the folder, click Share, and select Copy Link.

3. Open in an Incognito Window

  • Open a new Incognito or Private browsing window (Ctrl+Shift+N or Cmd+Shift+N).

  • Paste the Dropbox folder link into the URL bar and press Enter.

4. Copy Image Files

  • You should see all images in that folder. Highlight all the images you want to create links for.

  • Note: If your images are in subfolders, you must open each subfolder and select the images from there.

  • Press Ctrl+C (or Right-click > Copy). This copies the files as hyperlinked text.

2. Extract Links Using an Excel Macro

Now, you will use a macro to separate the file names from the hidden URLs.

1. Paste into Excel

  • Open a blank Excel spreadsheet.

  • Select cell A1 and paste your images (Ctrl+V). You will see the filenames appear in Column A as blue clickable links.

2. Open the Visual Basic Editor

  • Click the Developer tab in Excel.

    • Don't see the Developer tab? Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon and check the Developer box.

  • Click the Visual Basic button.

3. Insert the Macro Code

  • In the window that appears, click Insert > Module.

  • Paste the following code exactly as written into the white code box:

VB.Net

Sub ExtractHL() Dim HL As Hyperlink For Each HL In ActiveSheet.Hyperlinks HL.Range.Offset(0, 1).Value = HL.Address Next End Sub

4. Run the Macro

  • Close the Visual Basic window to return to your sheet.

  • On the Developer tab, click Macros.

  • Select ExtractHL and click Run.

  • Column B will automatically fill with the Dropbox URL for each file.

3. Clean and Format Your Links

You must format the links so Acenda can access the raw image file rather than the Dropbox preview page.

1. Remove Duplicates

  • Create a new sheet (e.g., "Sheet2").

  • Copy Column A (Names) and Column B (Links) from the first sheet and paste them into Sheet2.

  • With both columns highlighted, go to the Data tab and click Remove Duplicates.

  • Uncheck Column A and ensure only Column B is checked. Click OK.

2. Convert Links to "Raw" Format (Critical)

  • Press Ctrl+F to open the Find and Replace tool.

  • Click the Replace tab.

    • Find what: dl=0

    • Replace with: raw=1

  • Click Replace All.

Why? Dropbox links end in dl=0 (download mode). Changing this to raw=1 forces the browser to display the actual image file, which Acenda requires for importing.

3. Verify Your Links

  • Copy a link from Column B and paste it into an incognito browser window.

  • You should see only the image, not the Dropbox website interface.

4. Prepare Your Acenda Import File

Create the final CSV file to map these links to your SKUs.

1. Create the File

  • Open a new Excel spreadsheet.

  • In Row 1, add your headers. You need sku and at least one image column.

Required Headers:

  • sku

  • images.default.main.url (Main product image)

Optional Headers:

  • images.default.swatch.url (Swatch image)

  • images.default.1.alternate.url

  • images.default.2.alternate.url

  • (You can add up to 15 alternate images)

2. Populate Data

  • Enter the Product SKU in the sku column.

  • Paste the matching raw=1 link into the images.default.main.url column.

  • Repeat for all products.

3. Save as CSV

  • Go to File > Save As.

  • Select CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (.csv).

5. Import Your File into Acenda

  1. In your Acenda Admin, navigate to Imports/Exports > Import.

  2. Click + New Import.

  3. Import Type: Select Catalog.

  4. Drag and drop your CSV file into the upload box.

  5. Map Fields: Ensure the source headers match the Acenda fields (e.g., map your images.default.main.url header to the images.default.main.url field).

  6. Set Import Rules:

    • To add new products only: Leave boxes unchecked.

    • To update existing products: Check Overwrite any records that have the same ID.

  7. Click Start Import.

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