Dec 5, 20248 minSudoMock Team

Shopify Product Images at Scale: API Approach

Automate Shopify product image generation with mockup APIs. Bulk create variants for your entire catalog.

Running a Shopify store with hundreds of products? Learn how to automate product image generation using mockup APIs — creating professional visuals for your entire catalog in minutes.
500+
Products
Handled in one batch
<1s
Per image
Generation time
$1
Cost
Per 500 images
API
Integration
Shopify + SudoMock

The Shopify Image Problem

Every Shopify product needs multiple high-quality images. For POD stores, that means mockups showing your designs on actual products. Manual creation doesn't scale.

Multiple anglesFront, back, detail shots per product
Color variantsSame design, different product colors
Size consistencyShopify expects uniform image dimensions
Fast updatesNew designs need images immediately

Solution: API-Powered Pipeline

1

Upload Your Templates

Create mockup templates for each product type in your store. Upload them to SudoMock once.

Upload templatebash
curl -X POST "https://api.sudomock.com/api/v1/psd/upload" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "psd_file_url": "https://storage.com/tshirt-front.psd",
    "psd_name": "T-Shirt Front View"
  }'
2

Generate Mockups on Product Create

Use Shopify's product webhook to trigger mockup generation whenever you add a new product.

Shopify product handlerjavascript
1// Express.js endpoint for Shopify webhook
2app.post('/api/shopify/product-create', async (req, res) => {
3 const product = req.body;
4
5 // Get design URL from product metafield or description
6 const designUrl = product.metafields?.design_url;
7
8 if (!designUrl) {
9 return res.status(200).send('No design URL');
10 }
11
12 // Generate mockups for all templates
13 const templates = ['tshirt_front', 'tshirt_back', 'lifestyle'];
14 const mockupUrls = [];
15
16 for (const template of templates) {
17 const response = await fetch('https://api.sudomock.com/api/v1/renders', {
18 method: 'POST',
19 headers: {
20 'X-API-KEY': process.env.SUDOMOCK_API_KEY,
21 'Content-Type': 'application/json'
22 },
23 body: JSON.stringify({
24 mockup_uuid: TEMPLATE_IDS[template],
25 smart_objects: [{
26 uuid: SO_IDS[template],
27 asset: { url: designUrl }
28 }],
29 export_options: {
30 image_format: 'webp',
31 image_size: 2048,
32 quality: 90
33 }
34 })
35 });
36
37 const result = await response.json();
38 mockupUrls.push(result.data.print_files[0].export_path);
39 }
40
41 // Add images to Shopify product
42 await addImagesToProduct(product.id, mockupUrls);
43
44 res.status(200).send('Mockups generated');
45});
3

Attach Images to Shopify

Use Shopify Admin API to attach the generated mockups to your product.

Add images to Shopifyjavascript
async function addImagesToProduct(productId, imageUrls) {
  const shopify = new Shopify({
    shopName: process.env.SHOPIFY_SHOP,
    apiKey: process.env.SHOPIFY_API_KEY,
    password: process.env.SHOPIFY_PASSWORD
  });
  
  for (const url of imageUrls) {
    await shopify.productImage.create(productId, {
      src: url,
      position: imageUrls.indexOf(url) + 1
    });
  }
}

Variant Images

For products with color variants, generate a mockup for each variant and use Shopify's variant image association to show the correct mockup when customers select different colors.

No-Code Alternative: Zapier

Not a developer? Use Zapier to connect Shopify and SudoMock without writing code.

TriggerNew Shopify Product
Action 1Webhooks by Zapier → SudoMock API
Action 2Shopify → Add Product Image

Batch Processing Existing Products

Have an existing catalog? Process all products at once:

Batch process catalogjavascript
const products = await shopify.product.list({ limit: 250 });

for (const product of products) {
  const designUrl = getDesignUrl(product);
  
  if (product.images.length === 0 && designUrl) {
    const mockups = await generateMockups(designUrl);
    await addImagesToProduct(product.id, mockups);
    
    console.log(`Generated images for: ${product.title}`);
    
    // Respect rate limits
    await sleep(500);
  }
}

Result

A complete Shopify store with 500 products can have all mockup images generated in under 30 minutes — automatically.

Related Resources

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