Mastering Odoo Product Image Import: Your Ultimate 3-Step Guide to Efficiency

Are you spending countless hours manually uploading product photos one by one into your Odoo system? Do you find yourself drowning in the tedious process of updating product information and struggling with the visual assets? If so, you’re not alone. Many businesses face this challenge, but there’s a powerful solution: mastering Odoo Product Image Import. This guide will walk you through a step-by-step process to perform bulk imports, update existing products, and most importantly, efficiently upload images, saving you precious time and ensuring your product catalog shines.

This comprehensive tutorial is inspired by the techniques demonstrated in the valuable video resource: Importación MASIVA de Productos e IMÁGENES en Odoo (¡Ahorra Horas!). Let’s dive in and transform your Odoo product management.

Why Mastering Odoo Product Image Import is a Game-Changer

Before we delve into the how-to, let’s understand why a robust strategy for Odoo Product Image Import is not just a convenience, but a necessity for modern businesses running on Odoo:

• Unleash Unprecedented Time Savings: Imagine having thousands of products. Manually adding an image to each one is a monumental task that can consume days, if not weeks, of valuable employee time. Bulk importing images slashes this effort to mere minutes or hours, allowing your team to focus on more strategic initiatives.
• Boost Data Accuracy and Consistency: Manual data entry is prone to human error, leading to incorrect product details or missing images. Automated imports minimize these risks, ensuring uniformity across your product catalog. Consistent data, including high-quality visuals, builds trust with your customers.
• Scale Your Business with Ease: As your product line expands, the traditional method becomes unsustainable. A perfected Odoo Product Image Import process enables you to onboard new products and their corresponding visuals at scale, without bottlenecks, supporting rapid business growth.
• Enhance Product Presentation and Sales: High-quality, appealing product images are crucial for attracting customers and driving sales, especially in e-commerce. An efficient import process means your products get their best visual representation faster, directly impacting your bottom line.
• Effortless Updates and Maintenance: Product visuals can change over time. Whether it’s a new product variant, an updated design, or seasonal imagery, being able to quickly Odoo Product Image Import for existing items ensures your catalog remains fresh and accurate without extensive manual effort.

Now that you understand the immense benefits, let’s get into the practical steps to achieve this efficiency.

Phase 1: Laying the Foundation – Basic Product Data Import

Before you can tackle the visual elements, a solid foundation of your product data in Odoo is essential. This phase focuses on preparing and importing your core product information, which also serves as the necessary base for your Odoo Product Image Import.

Preparing Your Data for Seamless Odoo Import

The cornerstone of a successful import is a well-structured and clean data file. While Odoo supports CSV, using an Excel spreadsheet is often recommended due to its robust character encoding handling and formula capabilities.

1. Gather Your Product Information: Compile all relevant product data. This typically includes:

   • ID: This is perhaps the most critical field. The Odoo ID acts as a unique external identifier for each product. If you’re importing new products, Odoo will assign internal IDs. If you’re updating existing products, using the correct external ID (or Internal Reference) is vital for Odoo to know which record to modify. Make sure this column is consistent and unique for each product.
   • Internal Reference: Often used as a SKU or internal product code.
   • Name: The product’s primary name.
   • Category: The product’s category (e.g., “Electronics,” “Apparel”).
   • Description: Detailed product information.
   • Prices: Sale Price (list_price), Cost (standard_price), etc.
   • Barcode: The product’s barcode.
   • Image: This will be your image URL column, which we’ll cover in Phase 3.

2. Create Your Excel File: Structure your data into columns, with each column representing a specific product attribute.

3. Crucial Data Cleansing: This step is often overlooked but can cause significant import failures.

   • Remove Extra Spaces: Leading or trailing spaces in fields like ID or Internal Reference are notorious for causing “record not found” errors. Use Excel’s TRIM() function to clean these columns. For example, if your IDs are in column A, you could create a temporary column B with =TRIM(A1) and then copy/paste as values back into column A.
   • Consistent Formatting: Ensure dates, numbers, and currencies are uniformly formatted.

The Odoo Import Wizard: Your First Steps

Once your Excel file is ready, navigating Odoo’s import wizard is straightforward.

1. Navigate to Products: Log into your Odoo instance. From the main dashboard, typically go to “Sales” or “Inventory” and then select the “Products” menu.
2. Access Import Records: On the Products list view, you’ll usually find an “Import Records” button located near the “Create” button. Click it.
3. Upload Your File: Click “Upload File” and select your prepared Excel (or CSV) document. Odoo will then attempt to read your file and suggest mappings.

Troubleshooting Common Import Errors

It’s rare for the first import attempt to be flawless, especially with complex data. Odoo’s import wizard is helpful in pointing out errors.

• “No records found to match…” (Spaces in IDs/References): As mentioned, this is a very common culprit. Go back to your Excel file, apply the TRIM() function, and re-upload.

• “No record matching…” (Category/Tags/Many-to-One Fields): If your product categories or tags don’t pre-exist in Odoo, the system won’t know where to link them. Odoo offers a powerful solution here:

  • When this error appears, look for the “Configuration” options next to the problematic field (e.g., “Category”).
  • You’ll typically see choices like “Prevent Import,” “Set Value as Empty,” “Skip Record,” or “Create New Values.” For categories or tags that should exist, choosing “Create New Values” is usually the best approach. Odoo will automatically create these missing records during the import, linking your products correctly.

• Data Type Mismatches: Ensure your data types in Excel align with Odoo’s expectations (e.g., numbers in price fields, text in description fields). Odoo will often indicate the expected data type (e.g., Char, Float).

Once you’ve mapped the basic fields and resolved any initial errors, click “Test Import.” If everything looks good, proceed with the “Import” button. You’ve now got your core product data in Odoo!

Phase 2: Unlocking Efficiency – Advanced Template Creation for Odoo Product Image Import

Manually mapping fields every time you import can still be cumbersome, especially if you have many columns or frequently update your data. This phase introduces a powerful technique to create a self-mapping template, crucial for streamlining your Odoo Product Image Import process.

The Power of Developer Mode

To achieve automatic field mapping, you need to understand Odoo’s internal technical field names. This is where Developer Mode comes into play.

1. Activate Developer Mode:

   • Go to “Settings” from your Odoo dashboard.
   • Under “General Settings,” scroll down to the bottom.
   • You’ll find an option to “Activate the developer mode.” Click it. (Note: You need administrator rights to do this).
   • Once activated, you’ll notice a small “bug” icon (or an insect icon, as the original video calls it) appear in the top right corner of your Odoo interface.

Discovering Technical Field Names

With Developer Mode active, Odoo provides two main ways to find the technical names you need for your Excel headers:

1. Hover Method: Go to any Odoo form view (e.g., open a product record). Hover your mouse cursor over a field label (like “Sale Price” or “Internal Reference”). A small tooltip will pop up showing the technical field name (e.g., list_price for Sale Price, default_code for Internal Reference).

2. “Insect” Icon Method (Debug View): Click the “bug” icon in the top right corner. From the dropdown, select “View Fields” or “Edit View: Form.” This will open a detailed list of all fields associated with that specific Odoo model (e.g., Product). You can search for fields by their displayed name and find their corresponding technical name. This is particularly useful for finding fields that might not be immediately visible on the form or for complex fields like descriptions. For instance, you might search for “description” and find description_sale.

Building Your Ultimate Odoo Import Template

The key is to rename the column headers in your Excel file to exactly match these technical field names. When you upload this refined Excel file, Odoo will automatically recognize and map the columns, saving you significant manual effort.

Here are some common and critical technical field names you’ll encounter, particularly useful for basic product import and eventually for Odoo Product Image Import:

• Product Name: name
• Internal Reference: default_code
• Product Category: categ_id
• Sales Description: description_sale
• Sale Price: list_price
• Cost: standard_price
• Barcode: barcode
• Product Tags: product_tag_ids (This is a Many-to-Many field – see next section)
• Product Image: image_1920 (This is the critical field for image import)

By using these precise technical names as your Excel column headers, your import process will become much faster and more reliable.

Handling Complex Fields: Many-to-Many Relationships (e.g., Tags)

Fields like “Product Tags” or “Customers” (if linking to a product) are often “Many-to-Many” relationships. This means one product can have many tags, and one tag can be associated with many products.

• Comma Separation: To import multiple tags for a single product, list them in the same cell in your Excel file, separated by commas. For example: Summer Collection, New Arrivals, Cotton.
• Creating New Values: Similar to categories, if the tags don’t already exist in Odoo, the import wizard will allow you to “Create New Values.” This is generally the preferred method unless you strictly manage tags beforehand.

After perfecting your Excel template with technical headers and handling complex fields, perform another “Test Import” to ensure everything maps correctly before proceeding to the final import. This streamlined approach lays the groundwork for the most exciting part: bringing your product visuals to life.

Phase 3: The Visual Revolution – Mastering Odoo Product Image Import

This is the core of our tutorial. Importing images efficiently means your product listings are visually complete, compelling, and ready to capture customer attention. Odoo primarily supports image import via URLs.

Understanding Odoo’s Image Import Mechanisms

Odoo downloads images from a specified URL during the import process. This means your images need to be accessible online. You have two main options for hosting these images:

Option 1: Publicly Hosted Images (Direct URLs)

If your product images are already hosted on a public web server, a Content Delivery Network (CDN), or another e-commerce platform that provides direct image URLs, this is the simplest method.

• Excel Column: In your image_1920 column, simply paste the direct URL to each product’s image.
• Example URL: https://yourwebsite.com/images/product-name-123.jpg

Ensure these URLs are always accessible and point directly to the image file (ending in .jpg, .png, .gif, etc.).

Option 2: Leveraging Cloud Storage (Google Drive Walkthrough)

What if your images are just sitting in a local folder on your computer, or you prefer using cloud storage like Google Drive? The original video provides an excellent walkthrough using Google Drive, which we’ll detail here.

1. Upload Images to Google Drive: Create a dedicated folder in Google Drive for your product images and upload all your visual assets there.

2. Crucial: Set Public Permissions: Odoo needs to be able to download these images.

   • Right-click on the Google Drive folder containing your images.
   • Select “Share.”
   • Change the access from “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link.” Make sure the permission is set to “Viewer.” This makes the files readable by Odoo.

3. Get the Correct Google Drive Image URL (The Trick!): This is the most vital step. Simply using the sharing link from Google Drive (the one that opens the file in a browser) will not work for direct download. You need a specific download URL.

   • For each image in Google Drive:
     • Right-click on the image file and select “Open with” > “Google Docs” (or any other viewer).
     • Once opened, click “File” > “Share” > “Publish to web.”
     • Choose the “Link” tab and copy the provided URL.
     • Alternatively, open the image in a new tab within Google Drive. The URL will look something like https://drive.google.com/file/d/SOME_LONG_ID/view. The SOME_LONG_ID is your file’s unique ID.
     • To construct the download URL, you’ll use a specific Google Drive direct download structure: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=YOUR_FILE_ID_HERE
     • Replace YOUR_FILE_ID_HERE with the actual file ID you extracted.
     • Note: The video’s suggested URL (r.gw.com/ucinstant?id=) is a specific shortcut for Google Drive direct downloads that might be less commonly known but works similarly by taking the file ID. Both aim to provide a direct download link. If one doesn’t work for you, try the other.

4. Verify the URL: Paste the constructed URL into your web browser. It should immediately download the image, not open a Google Drive viewer page. If it downloads, you have the correct URL.

Preparing Your Excel for Image Import

Once you have your direct image download URLs, update your Excel file for the Odoo Product Image Import.

• Required Columns: For image-only import or update, you primarily need two columns:

  • The ID column (the unique external identifier for each product, as discussed in Phase 1). This tells Odoo which product record to update.
  • The image_1920 column, which contains the direct download URL for each product’s image.

• Existing Products: If you’re updating images for products already in Odoo, ensure your ID column matches the external IDs you used during the initial product import or Odoo’s internal IDs if you didn’t provide external ones.

Executing the Image Import

The final step is to run the import with your image URLs.

1. Return to Odoo Import: Go back to “Products” and click “Import Records.”
2. Upload Your Image-Ready Excel: Select your updated Excel file.
3. Map Fields: Odoo should automatically map ID and image_1920 if you used the technical names as headers.
4. Test and Import: Click “Test Import.” If successful, click “Import.”

The import process for images might take a few moments, depending on the number and size of your images, as Odoo needs to download each one. Once complete, navigate to your product list, and you’ll see your products now beautifully adorned with their corresponding images!

Beyond the Basics: Pro Tips for Odoo Product Image Import Success

While we’ve covered the essentials of Odoo Product Image Import, here are some additional tips to ensure a smooth and efficient process every time:

• Start Small, Test Often: Never import your entire catalog in one go without testing. Start with a small batch (5-10 products) to iron out any kinks in your data, mapping, and URL structures. This iterative approach minimizes risk.
• Data Consistency is Key: Reiterate the importance of clean data. Inconsistent formatting, missing data, or special characters can disrupt your import. Consider using external data validation tools if your datasets are exceptionally large or complex.
• Image Optimization for Web Performance: While Odoo handles image storage, consider optimizing your images (reducing file size without significant quality loss) before uploading them to Google Drive or your public server. This will improve your website’s loading speed and overall user experience. Tools like TinyPNG or online image compressors can help.
• Backup Before You Import: Especially when performing large-scale updates or imports, it’s always a good practice to back up your Odoo database. This provides a safety net in case anything goes wrong and you need to revert changes.
• Exploring Other Fields: The principles learned here for Odoo Product Image Import and basic product data apply to almost any field in Odoo. For instance, you could use developer mode to find the technical names for fields like “Track Inventory” (type or detailed_type depending on Odoo version) or “Invoicing Policy” (invoice_policy). Apply the same mapping and import strategy to update these fields in bulk, further automating your product management. Check out Odoo’s official documentation on Importing Data for more in-depth information on different field types and import options.
• Internal Linking Strategy: As you build out your Odoo knowledge base, consider creating internal links between related articles. For example, if you have a guide on setting up Odoo inventory routes or managing product categories effectively, link them within your Odoo Product Image Import guide. This creates a richer user experience and helps with SEO.

Conclusion

Mastering Odoo Product Image Import is a powerful skill that can dramatically improve your efficiency, accuracy, and the visual appeal of your Odoo product catalog. By following these three phases – preparing your core data, leveraging developer mode for advanced template creation, and executing precise image imports – you can transform a tedious task into a streamlined, automated process.

Say goodbye to manual uploads and hello to hours saved, a cleaner database, and a more engaging product presentation that drives sales. If you found this guide helpful, consider subscribing to our blog for more Odoo tips and tricks. Have specific questions about bulk importing price lists or other Odoo features? Let us know in the comments below!