Shopify AssetLink admin guide

The Shopify AssetLink app allows you to link product assets in your Cloudinary Media Library to your Shopify stores, attaching them to products based on metadata matching. This guide is for account administrators, walking you through the installation and configuration of the required components, the Shopify and Cloudinary app setups.

Prerequisites

• A Cloudinary account with access to the Assets product

  Note

  Shopify AssetLink is available on the free tier of Cloudinary for Shopify Core customers. For Shopify Plus customers, a Cloudinary Enterprise or Pro+ plan is required to use AssetLink after a 30-day trial.

  Don't have a Cloudinary account yet? Sign up for free. If you are a Shopify Plus customer, please contact us for pricing and setup options.

• At least one Shopify store where you want to sync assets

• Admin-level access to both your Cloudinary account and Shopify store(s)

Installation

To get started with Shopify AssetLink, you need to install the app in two places:

1. Enable the Shopify AssetLink app in Cloudinary Assets - Enable the app in your Cloudinary product environment
2. Install the Cloudinary AssetLink Shopify app in your stores - Install the app from the Shopify App Store on each store you want to connect

Enable the Shopify AssetLink app in Cloudinary Assets

You'll need to enable the Shopify AssetLink app in the Cloudinary Assets product environment containing the images and videos you want to sync to Shopify.

To enable the AssetLink app in Cloudinary:

1. Log into your Cloudinary account.
2. In the Console, use the Product Navigation menu on the left:
   1. In the dropdown at the top of the menu, select the product environment that contains the images you want to use on your storefront.
   2. Select Assets to navigate to the Assets product.
   3. Select App Marketplace.
3. In the App Marketplace, find the Shopify AssetLink app and set it to Enabled.

Install the Cloudinary AssetLink Shopify app in your stores

Before you can connect your Shopify stores to Cloudinary, you need to install the Cloudinary AssetLink app from the Shopify App Store on each store you want to connect.

To install the Cloudinary AssetLink app:

1. Go to the Cloudinary AssetLink app in the Shopify App Store.
2. Click Install (or Add app if you have multiple stores).
3. If you have multiple Shopify stores, select which store you want to install the app on.
4. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
5. Repeat these steps for each additional store you want to connect to your Cloudinary account.

Setup and configuration

After installing the apps, you need to set up and configure AssetLink to connect your Shopify stores and configure synchronization settings. This involves:

1. Opening the Shopify AssetLink app in Cloudinary - Access the app from your Media Library
2. Linking your Shopify stores to Cloudinary - Connect each store using a connection code
3. Configuring asset synchronization settings - Set up how assets are transformed, named, and synced

Open the Shopify AssetLink app in Cloudinary

You'll need to open the AssetLink app whenever you want to configure settings or work with assets. Here's how to access it:

To open the AssetLink app in Cloudinary:

1. In the Console, from the Product Navigation menu on the left, make sure the right product environment is selected from the dropdown at the top of the menu, and make sure Assets is selected.
2. Click Assets or Folders under Media Library.
3. Select at least one asset.
4. From the (3-dots) option menu in the assets toolbar, select Shopify AssetLink. This opens the AssetLink app in Cloudinary Assets dialog box with your selected assets.
   • For users with admin roles (Media Library Admin, Master Admin, or Technical Admin), the Setup tab opens by default.
   • For non-admin users, the Link to Products tab opens by default.

Link your Shopify stores to Cloudinary

After you've installed the Cloudinary AssetLink app on your Shopify stores, you need to connect them to your Cloudinary account using a connection code.

If the AssetLink app is not already open, open it to access the Setup tab.

To link your Shopify store to Cloudinary:

1. Click Connect new store. The Connect Cloudinary AssetLink to Shopify Store dialog box opens.
2. Click Cloudinary AssetLink app to access your AssetLink app within your Shopify store.
3. In the Shopify admin for every store you want to add:
   1. Go to the Cloudinary AssetLink on the App menu.
   2. Select Settings in the app menu.
   3. Select the AssetLink App in Cloudinary Assets tab.
   4. Click Connect Cloudinary account and copy the connection code.

5. Go back to the Setup tab of the Shopify AssetLink app in your Cloudinary environment and paste the connection code in the Connect Cloudinary AssetLink to Shopify Store dialog box.
6. Click Connect.

Configure asset synchronization settings

Once you've connected Cloudinary to your Shopify stores, you can configure asset synchronization settings in the Setup tab.

If the AssetLink app is not already open, open it to access the Setup tab.

Default Image Transformation

Define the transformation string applied to all image uploads to Shopify. This transformation is automatically applied to every image when syncing to your Shopify store, allowing you to standardize product images (for example, ensuring all products display at the same size and crop mode).

The transformation string uses the transformation URL syntax, which is a comma-separated list of transformation parameters.

Example 1: c_fill,h_1200,w_1200

• c_fill - Crop mode: fills the specified dimensions by cropping the image
• h_1200 - Height: sets the height to 1200 pixels
• w_1200 - Width: sets the width to 1200 pixels

Example 2: b_gen_fill,c_pad,h_1200,w_1200

• b_gen_fill - Background: uses generative AI to fill the padded areas with contextually relevant content
• c_pad - Crop mode: pads the image to fit the specified dimensions without cropping
• h_1200 - Height: sets the height to 1200 pixels
• w_1200 - Width: sets the width to 1200 pixels

For a complete list of available transformations, see the Transformation URL API reference.

Alt Text Source

Select which Cloudinary field provides the alt text when uploading assets to Shopify. This determines how alt text is populated in the Link to Products tab.

Examples:

• Display Name
• Structured Metadata: Description

Shopify Filename Format

Choose how filenames are generated when uploading to Shopify. This setting affects how assets appear in Shopify's product media library.

Options:

• Use Public ID only for filename - Uses only the Cloudinary public ID as the filename in Shopify
• Include all metadata in filename - Embeds the metadata needed to reconstruct the Cloudinary asset URL in the filename, including cloud name, resource type (image/video), delivery type (upload/private), and public ID. These components are concatenated with underscores.

Video Upload Behavior

Configure how video assets are handled when syncing to Shopify products.

Options:

• Upload video placeholder: Uploads a thumbnail with a play button.
• Upload full video to Shopify: Uploads the actual video (coming soon).
• No upload: Skips uploading to Shopify but updates the Product Media metafield.

Advanced settings

• Asset Type Metadata Field: Allows you to select a metadata field (must be type single-select) that contains asset type information. The field should have values of either product or swatch.

  • When set to product, the asset is attached to the product's media gallery normally.
  • When set to swatch, the asset's public ID is written to the cloudinary.swatch metafield in Shopify instead of being added to the product gallery.
    Note

    This requires setup: You must first create a metadata field of type enum with values product or swatch, then set this field for all relevant assets before syncing.

• Product Sync Completed Webhook: Specifies a webhook URL to receive a notification when a product sync operation completes.

• Enable Cache Busting: Adds today’s timestamp as a version prefix to the public_id in the productmedia_v1 metadata.

Shopify Theme setup for optimized delivery

If you also want to enable optimized delivery through Cloudinary's global CDN for your Shopify store, this requires additional theme-level changes.

For assistance with setting up Cloudinary optimized delivery for your Shopify store, please contact Cloudinary support.

Using the AssetLink app

After you configure the basic synchronization settings in the Setup tab, users can work with assets in the other two tabs. These tabs provide the main interface for daily operations with AssetLink.

For complete details on using these tabs, including step-by-step instructions and workflow procedures, see the User guide.

Link to Products tab

The Link to Products tab is where users organize selected assets and configure how AssetLink links them to Shopify products. Users can:

• Group assets based on metadata matching (e.g., by SKU or product ID)
• Set alt text for each asset
• Choose link modes (overwrite, append, prepend, or reset)
• Control asset ordering within product listings
• Preview and exclude assets before syncing

Upload to Store Files tab

The Upload to Store Files tab allows users to upload assets directly to a Shopify store's file library without linking them to specific products. This is useful for general assets like logos, banners, or other store-wide content that doesn't belong to a specific product.