How to Import Products & Images Separately to Magento 2
You’ve probably noticed that importing products with multiple images to Magento 2 may take a considerable amount of time. The more images per product you have – the longer the product import lasts. And the length of this procedure increases with the amount of items you transfer. Although you cannot do anything with this if you stay with the default Magento 2 instruments, there is an opportunity to speed up product import dramatically by separating product images from the remaining product data. You will need the Improved Import & Export extension to get the missing functionality. The module offers the Deferred Import Images functionality which we describe below. So, let’s see how to import products and product images to Magento 2 separately, and don’t forget to visit our Magento 2 Developer’s Cookbook for other useful tips.
Deferred Import Images: The Option’s Definition & Impact
You can turn on the “Deferred Import Images” option to import product images after products have been imported into your Magento 2 store. Since image import is a RAM-hungry operation, the use of this feature leads to faster product import.
Note that it works with Magento 2 Database Queue, which is available from Adobe Commerce 2.2 and Magento Open Source 2.3.
Alternatively, the “Deferred Import Images” functionality can be based on Rabbit MQ, if it is installed on your server.
How to Import Products & Images Separately to Magento 2
The whole process of importing products and images to Magento 2 separately is reduced to a single click. You need to configure an import profile according to your preferences and then turn on the “Deferred Import Images” feature:
- Click the “Add New Job” button under System -> Improved Import/Export -> Import Jobs to create a new import job.
- Next, turn on your job and provide its title in General Settings. You can also configure the update frequency for regular data updates along with a few other features.
- Now, you can choose Products as your import entity on the Import Settings tab. Additional settings display. Configure them according to your preferences.
- When on the Import Source tab, find the “Deferred Import Images” setting and turn it on.
- Configure other parameters and save your import job.
Now, you can import products and images to Magento 2 separately. For further information on how to import Magento 2 products, follow this link: The Complete Guide to Magento 2 Product Import.
Improved Import & Export Features
The ability to import products and images separately isn’t the only benefit of Improved Import and Export. The plugin completely redesigns the platform’s default import and export operations.
Because Magento 2 only accepts CSV files, all other file types should be automatically converted to CSV. However, you’ll be able to avoid time-consuming and unpleasant file transformations with the Improved Import & Export addon. The extension allows you to import and export files in CSV, XML, JSON, ODS, and XLSX formats, as well as transfer them as archives.
You may access files from a variety of sources, including Google Drive and Dropbox. FTP/SFTP, direct file uploads, and URL uploads can also be used to send data between Magento 2 and other systems. Even Google Sheets can be used as a source of updates:
Because of our module’s wide API support, you may also avoid utilizing third-party services in data transfers. Improved Import & Export connects your e-commerce website to external systems via direct API transfers.
Another key innovation that is incorporated into every import and export profile is scheduling. It enables you to automatically update your e-commerce website at predefined intervals.
Furthermore, the extension’s robust mapping tools allow you to convert third-party properties to Magento 2 characteristics as needed, as well as build new attributes and values on the fly. For further information, use these links: