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Key Concepts

The Image Editor works differently from a normal photo tool. Spending two minutes on these concepts will make everything else obvious.

Layers​

A product image is treated as an ordered stack of PNG layers, bottom to top — for a typical POD tee that's something like:

Layer 4  ·  Promo badge (optional, top)
Layer 3  ·  Print design
Layer 2  ·  Garment / shirt
Layer 1  ·  Background (bottom)
  • Layer 1 is the bottom; Layer N is the top. Layers are addressed by their index, not their name. Names are optional and just for your convenience — the index is what counts.
  • The editor shows each layer as a column in the grid. Editing a column changes that one layer for everything in scope, leaving the other layers untouched.
  • Layers must share a fixed canvas size and alignment (all your layer PNGs line up at the same dimensions). The maximum layer dimension is 2048×2048 — larger images are scaled down uniformly to fit.
tip

You don't need every product to have the same number of layers. Products with extra layers simply use the higher-index columns; products without them leave those cells empty.

Dedup buckets​

POD products usually have one image per color, shared across every size (XS–XXL). The Image Editor mirrors that: it composites once per color, not once per variant, and attaches the result to all sizes of that color.

  • A dedup bucket is a group of variants that share one image, keyed by a variant dimension you choose — almost always Color.
  • You pick the dedup dimension when you set your scope. It defaults to Color but isn't hardcoded; you can bucket by another option (e.g. fabric) or by more than one if you really need finer buckets.
  • This is the single biggest efficiency in the app: a 100-product / 10-color catalog is ~1,000 composites for a full pass, not 5,000.

Asset Library​

A layer asset is a reusable layer image (a PNG with transparency) stored in Merchinary's own storage — not in your Shopify media. The Asset Library is where these live, organized into folders.

  • Store a common background or logo once and reuse it across many products and edits.
  • Fill a grid cell either by uploading a new PNG or by picking an existing asset from the library.
  • The library is the source of truth for your inputs. The final flattened images are uploaded to Shopify per product when you apply.

See Asset Library for the full tour.

Composite​

A composite is the flattened image produced by stacking a bucket's resolved layers in order (normal blend + transparency) and encoding it as WebP or JPEG. One composite is produced per (product, color bucket) and attached to all variants in that bucket.

Current Image vs. Next Image​

Two columns at the front of the grid let you see the change before it happens:

  • Current Image — the variant's existing Shopify image today.
  • Next Image — a live preview of the composite your staged layers will produce.

Before and after sit side by side in the grid, not hidden behind a modal.

Snapshot & Revert​

Every time you apply, the Image Editor captures a snapshot of the prior variant↔image state. Revert restores that snapshot exactly — it does not re-compute anything. Originals are kept for your revert window so a rollback returns your products to precisely how they were.

See Applying & reverting for revert modes and details.

A frozen scope (the "edit session")​

When you choose your products and click Apply scope, the set of products is frozen. The grid, your edits, and the final apply all operate on that exact frozen set — it never silently drifts as your catalog changes. To work on a different set of products, you discard the current edit and start a new one. (If products are deleted in Shopify after you freeze, they're simply dropped from the results.)

What's next?​