Key Benefits
Active & Inactive Product Color Variants provide a better experience for managing Colors through the development process
You can now mark Color Variants as Inactive (or restore them as Active) in one step, via the Product Summary
No information tied to Inactive Variants is ever displayed on Product Tech Packs - whether that’s BOM data, Variant level Images, or Variant-level Custom Field data
Inactive Variant Custom Fields may still be displayed and edited via the Product Summary or the Item View, so you can seamlessly track data related to the process of dropping/reviving Variants
What's changing?
Product Summary
A toggle at the top of each Color Variant column in the Variant Table enables users to set an Active or Inactive status
By default, the toggle is turned on for every Variant - the Variants are therefore Active
Inactive Variants are distinguished with a grey highlight color and an "INACTIVE" badge overlaid on the Variant Image
Table data may be edited for Active and Inactive Variants alike, including dragging-to-copy across, copy/paste, etc.
The Variant Number displayed at the top of each column remains consistent whether a Variant is set to Active or Inactive
Color Variants can be filtered using the drop-down list above the Variant table
The Status Filter can be set to Active, Inactive, or All
Variant Numbers at the top of columns may be used to detect that there is a collapsed column. For example, if Variant #2 is Active, but Variants #1 and #3 are Inactive, the columns will show Variant #1 followed directly by Variant #3
Product Images Section
When a Color Variant is marked Inactive, the associated Variant Images are not displayed in the Image Section
A badge at the top of the Color Variant Image Section summarizes the total number of Inactive Variants, so users know there may be "hidden" images
Product BOM Section
When a Color Variant is marked Inactive, the associated BOM Column is hidden
A badge at the top of the BOM summarizes the total number of Inactive Variants so that users know there are "hidden" columns
Only Active Color Variants may be edited - to view and edit BOM columns for Inactive Product Color Variants, the Variant must be set to Active via the Product Summary
Product Tech Packs
Product Tech Packs will not display any data which is linked to Inactive Product Color Variants. This includes:
Images allocated to Inactive Product Color Variants
BOM Column data allocated to Inactive Product Color Variants
Public Custom Field data allocated to Inactive Product Color Variants
Active Color Variants are summarized on the BOM Preferences page of the Create Tech Pack flow
Item Views
Color Variants can be filtered by Active/Inactive Status using the newly added filter at the top of the Item View
By default, the Color Variant Status filter is set to All, but once the Status Filter is changed, the new setting will persist for that Item View instance
Inactive Variants are denoted with a gray tint
Item Views now have 6 possible states based on the Item View Mode and Variant Status Filter:
Product Mode - (Active, Inactive, or All)
Variant Mode - (Active, Inactive, or All)
Product Mode - Active Filter Setting
Inactive Variants are excluded from the report
In the Product Name Field, the Variant Count will reflect the total number of Active Variants
In the Color Variants Column (if included), Inactive Variants are not listed (which means Variant Numbers may not be perfectly sequential)
If a Product has only Inactive Variants, it will not appear on the report at all
Product Mode - Inactive Filter Setting
Active Variants are excluded from the report
In the Product Name Field, the Variant Count will reflect the total number of Inactive Variants
In the Color Variants Column (if included), Active Variants are not listed (which means Variant Numbers may not be perfectly sequential)
The Inactive Variant Icon (hexagon with strikethrough) appears as part of the comma-separated listing of each Inactive Variant
If a Product has only Active Variants, it will not appear on the report at all
Product Mode - All Filter Setting
Active and Inactive Variants alike are included in the report
Every Product that matches the criteria of the report will appear, regardless of what status its Variants have
In the Product Name Field, the Variant count will reflect the total number of Variants of all statuses
In the Color Variants Column (if included), all Variants are listed, which means the Variant Numbers will always be sequential
The Inactive Variant Icon (hexagon with strikethrough) appears as part of the comma-separated listing of each Inactive Variant
Active Variants get no such icon
Variant Mode - Active Filter Setting
Inactive Variants are excluded from the report - the Inactive Variant rows just don’t show up
If a Product has only Inactive Variants, it will not appear on the report at all
Variant Counts and Variant Numbers will be separated (historically they were both grouped into the Name cell in Variant Mode reports, despite being separated in Product Mode reports)
In the Product Name Field, the Variant Count will reflect the total number of Active Variants
The Color Variants Column (if included) will display the Variant Number for each row ahead of the No Color Assigned text or the Inline Condensed swatch data
Variant Mode - Inactive Filter Setting
Active Variants are excluded from the report - the Active Variant rows just don’t show up
If a Product has only Active Variants, it will not appear on the report at all
Variant Counts and Variant Numbers will be separated (historically they were both grouped into the Name cell in Variant Mode reports, despite being separated in Product Mode reports)
In the Product Name Field, the Variant Count will reflect the total number of Inactive Variants
The Color Variants Column (if included) will display the Variant Number for each row ahead of the No Color Assigned text or the Inline Condensed swatch data
The Inactive Variant Icon (hexagon with strikethrough) appears as part of the listings in this column
Thumbnail images for each Variant have an X overlay on top due to Inactive status
Variant Mode - All Filter Setting
Active and Inactive Variants alike are included in the report - each gets its own row
Every Product that matches the criteria of the report will appear, regardless of what status its Variants have
Variant Counts and Variant Numbers will be separated (historically they were both grouped into the Name cell in Variant Mode reports, despite being separated in Product Mode reports)
In the Product Name Field, the Variant Count will reflect the total number of Variants of all statuses
The Color Variants Column (if included) will display the Variant Number for each row ahead of the No Color Assigned text or the Inline Condensed swatch data
The Inactive Variant Icon (hexagon with strikethrough) appears as part of the listings in this column for Inactive Variants
Active Variants get no such icon
Rows for Inactive Variant have a gray highlight color whereas rows for Active Variants have a plain white background
Thumbnail images for Inactive Variants have an X overlay on top whereas thumbnail images for Active Variants have no such overlay
Item View Exports
Item View Exports will respect the Active/Inactive/All setting of the Variant Status filter at the time of export
Product-Color level and Product-Color-Size level exports will have two new columns each
Color Variant Status
Displays ‘Active’ or ‘Inactive’ text as applicable
Color Variant Number
Previously the Color Variant Number was incorporated into the same column which houses the Color Variant Count in reports at this level, but we have separated them out
Line Sheets - Product Mode
Products with both Active and Inactive Variants:
If the Color Name and/or the Color Custom Code is enabled on the report, the card for a Product with mixed Active/Inactive Variants will display a lozenge for every Active Variant - it will not display a lozenge for any Inactive Variants
If one or more Variant level Custom Field is enabled on the report, the card for a Product with mixed Active/Inactive Variants will display
“Not Set” text in the event that none of the Active Variants of the Product have been assigned a value on this Variant level Custom Field
“See Variants” text in the event that the Active Variants of the Product have different values assigned on this Variant level Custom Field
Products with no Active Variants
These will still map to the report
If the Color Name and/or the Color Custom Code is enabled on the report, the card for a Product with no Active Variants will display a lozenge with “No Active Variants” text
If one or more Variant level Custom Field is enabled on the report, the card for a Product with no Active Variants will display the value “N/A” in any such field
Line Sheets - Color Variant Mode
Products with all Active Variants
There will be no change to how these Products are displayed in the report
Products with some Active Variants and some Inactive Variants
A card will appear only for each Active Variant - Inactive Variants will be excluded
These cards will display Color Attributes and Variant level Custom Fields just the way they did before
The Variant Numbers, which appear on the report only if one or more Color Attribute has been enabled on the report, may not be perfectly sequential as Inactive Variants are excluded
Products with no Active Variants
There will still be a header for each of these Products, but no Variant Cards will display below the header
Instead, “No Active Variants” will display under the header
Line Sheet Exports
Largely, line sheet exports will match the behavior described in the in-app view described above
No Active Variants text will display where applicable on Product-level exports
The N/A value will appear for Variant Level Custom Fields where applicable on Product-level exports
The Color Condensed export does not have headers for each Product, unlike its in-app counterpart
Therefore there will be no “No Active Variants” text listed anywhere on the Color Condensed export
Products with no Active Variants simply will not have any cards on this export.
Component Utilization Reports
Inactive Variant data will not be fully supported in Component Utilization reports as part of this release
If a Product Color Variant is Inactive, its Component Utilizations will not appear on any Utilization Reports
In the future, it’s possible we will offer more comprehensive support for Inactive Variants in this area of the app, but we have not made any explicit plans to do so at this time
Using the Feature
How to make a Product Color Variant Inactive:
Navigate to the Color Variant Table on the Product’s Summary
Ensure the filter at the top of the Color Variant Table is set to either “All” or “Active”
At the top of the relevant column in the Product Color Variant table, toggle the switch to the left
If the filter is set to “All” you will see the styling change for the newly Inactive Variant’s column
The column will be highlighted in gray
The Variant Image will have an overlay with an X and an “inactive” badge
If the filter is set to “Active” you will see the newly Inactive Variant’s column drop off the table
Reset the filter to “All” or to “Inactive” if you wish to review/edit data on the newly Inactive Variant - or restore it to Active status
How to make an Inactive Product Color Variant Active:
Go to the Color Variant Table on the Product’s Summary
Ensure the filter at the top of the Color Variant Table is set to either “All” (the default) or to “Inactive”
If the filter is set to “Active” none of your Inactive Variants will be in view, so you will not be able to mark them as Active
At the top of the relevant column in the Product Color Variant table, toggle the switch to the right
If the filter is set to “All” you will see the styling change for the newly Inactive Variant’s column
The column will have no gray highlight
The Variant Image will have no overlay with an X and an “inactive” badge
If the filter is set to “Inactive” you will see the newly Active Variant’s column drop off the table
Reset the filter to “All” or to “Active” if you wish to review/edit data on the newly Active Variant - or restore it to Inactive status
How to edit Custom Field data on an Active Product Color Variant:
Go to the Color Variant Table on the Product’s Summary - or to an Item View which includes the relevant Product and Custom Fields
Ensure the filter at the top of the Color Variant Table or the Item View Table is set to either “All” or “Active”
Make changes within the table just as you would have done before
Any copy/paste or drag-to-copy operations will only impact the Variants which are visible in the table at the time you execute the operation
How to edit Custom Field data on an Inactive Product Color Variant:
Go to the Color Variant Table on the Product Summary - or to an Item View which includes the relevant Product and Custom Fields
Ensure the filter at the top of the Color Variant Table or the Item View Table is set to either “All” or “Inactive”
Make changes within the table just as you would have done before
Any copy/paste or drag-to-copy operations will only impact the Variants which are visible in the table at the time you execute the operation
How to edit BOM data on an Active Product Color Variant:
Go to the BOM tab and make changes just as you would have done before
Any “Copy to all Variants” operations you make will only impact the Variants which are visible in the BOM table at the time you execute the operation
If you Add/Delete/Move a Component on the BOM table it will also be Added/Deleted/Moved on any Inactive Variants, despite the fact they will not be visible at the time you execute the operation
How to edit BOM Data on an Inactive Product Color Variant:
You can neither view nor edit Inactive Product Color Variant data on the BOM
A badge appears at the top of the BOM table alerting you to the presence of Inactive Product Color Variants
You must first make the Product Color Variant Active in order to view or make changes to its Component Variant Selections on the BOM
Component Variant selections for a Product Color Variant will be preserved when the Product Color Variant is marked Inactive, so that all its data is restored clearly if the Product Color Variant is marked Active at a later time
When you Add/Delete/Move a Component on the BOM table it will also be Added/Deleted/Moved on any Inactive Product Color Variants, despite the fact they will not be visible at the time you execute the operation
How to edit Image data on an Inactive Product Color Variant
You can neither view nor edit Images allocated to Inactive Product Color Variants
A badge appears at the top of the Product Color Variant Images Section alerting you to the presence of Inactive Product Color Variants
You must first make the Product Color Variant Active in order to view or edit its images (ex. annotate its images, access the Version History for its images, reassign or delete its images, or assign it new images)
When you sync a new version of a multi-artboard file that has one or more artboards assigned to an Inactive Variant, the Inactive Variant will be impacted despite the fact that it is not visible
FAQs:
Why can’t I access my Inactive Product Color Variants in Line Sheets?
For this feature, the top priority was enabling users to quickly exclude Inactive Product Color Variants from Tech Packs while preserving the ability to manipulate Product Color Variant Custom Fields for such Variants within the Product Summary and in Item Views
We deploy new features with an incremental approach, and will be enabling the display of Inactive Color Variants on Line Sheets as time allows
Why can’t I access my Inactive Product Color Variants in Component Utilization Reports?
For this feature, the top priority was enabling users to quickly exclude Inactive Product Color Variants from Tech Packs while preserving the ability to manipulate Product Color Variant Custom Fields for such Variants within the Product Summary and in Item Views
Component Utilization Reports have relatively low adoption rates across our user base, and we are not sure how much demand there will be to display Inactive Product Color Variants on these reports
We will track all requests to display Inactive Color Variants on Component Utilization Reports and incorporate this ability if and when it becomes a high priority
Why doesn’t the in-app BOM display data related to my Inactive Color Variants?
Historically, excluding a Product Color Variant from a Tech Pack required that users hide its column in the BOM section, hide its images in the Image section, and hide any other references to it in other areas of the Product Record - all as separate actions. There were a lot of steps and it was easy to overlook one of them, leading to an inaccurate Tech Pack and factory confusion.
Our new model streamlines the process - mark the Product Color Variant Inactive on the Summary, and it covers the Custom Fields, BOM and Images all at once. We don’t show data for the Inactive Variants at the BOM level to reinforce the status set at the Summary level, to provide a focused view of only the most relevant data, and to prevent any confusion on whether Inactive Variant BOM data will appear on the Tech Pack (it will not).
Why doesn’t the in-app Product Images tab display images assigned to Inactive Color Variants?
Historically, excluding a Product Color Variant from a Tech Pack required that users hide its column in the BOM section, hide its images in the Image section, and hide any other references to it in other areas of the Product Record - all as separate actions. There were a lot of steps and it was easy to overlook one of them, leading to an inaccurate Tech Pack and factory confusion.
Our new model streamlines the process - mark the Product Color Variant Inactive on the Summary, and it covers the Custom Fields, BOM, and Images all at once. We don’t show data for the Inactive Variants in the Images section to reinforce the status set at the Summary level, to provide a focused view of only the most relevant data, and to prevent any confusion on whether Inactive Variant images will appear on the Tech Pack (they will not).