How to change the main product image in PrestaShop and set the image order
To change the main product image in PrestaShop, open the product in Catalog → Products and click the image that should be the main one. In the image panel, tick the cover option and save the product. You change the order of the other images by dragging the thumbnails. The main image appears in the product list, in the cart and first in the gallery.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for PrestaShop store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 6 min read
Where the main image appears in the store
The cover is more than the first image in the gallery. The PrestaShop specification on product images in the storefront explains that it is the cover that goes into product lists. When a product has one image, it becomes the cover automatically.
| Place | Which image | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Product list in a category | the cover | this image decides whether the customer clicks |
| Store search and suggestions | the cover | the product should be clearly visible in it |
| Product page | the cover first, then the rest in order | you set the gallery order by dragging |
| Product combination (e.g. colour) | images assigned to the combination | after choosing a colour, the customer sees its images |
| Cart and order confirmation | the cover or the combination image | the customer checks they chose the right product |
| Google Shopping | usually the cover, passed in the product data | the image must meet Google's requirements |
How to change the main image step by step
These steps are for the new product page in PrestaShop 8.1 and 9. In the older layout the fields look similar, though they sit in different places.
- Open Catalog → Products and click the product name.
- On the first tab, find the images section.
- Click the thumbnail of the image that should be the main one. A panel with its settings opens.
- Tick the cover option. The previous cover stops being the cover.
- In the same panel, type the image caption, which is the alternative text for Google and screen readers.
- Save the product.
- Open the category in the store in a private window and check that the list shows the new image.
If you see the old image, clear the cache in Advanced Parameters → Performance. More on this in the post on why changes are not visible in PrestaShop.
Image order and adding new images
You change the order by dragging the thumbnails in the images section. The first place always belongs to the cover. You add new images with the add button or by dragging files from your computer onto the image area. A new image goes to the end of the gallery.
A few rules that work well:
- Cover on a light, plain background. In a product list the images sit side by side, and different backgrounds look messy.
- Second position: the product in use. After the cover, the customer wants to see scale and use.
- Combination images assigned to combinations. When editing a combination, you choose which images belong to it. Without that, a customer who picks a colour still sees a different colour.
- No logos or text on the cover. Google, in the Merchant Center help on the image_link attribute, advises against watermarks and logo-only images as the main image.
Google's guide to images in search also recommends descriptive alternative text for every image. We describe filling in captions across many products in the post on image alt text in PrestaShop.
The most common product image problems
The cover changed by itself after an import. A CSV import can add images and set the cover based on the order in the file. If the supplier lists the packaging photo first, that becomes the main image. Before the next import, check the order of image addresses in the file. We cover importing in the post on importing products from CSV.
The product list shows a different image from the cover. Usually it is the default combination's image. When the default colour has its own images assigned, the list may show those. Change the default combination or the images assigned to it.
Images are blurry or cropped. PrestaShop creates several sizes of each image based on the theme settings. When you upload images that are too small or have different proportions from the rest, they look worse in the product list. Upload images with the same proportions, ideally square.
Google Shopping still shows the old image. Google reads images from the product data with a delay. A cover change in the store does not carry over to Merchant Center straight away.
Images across many products at once
For one product, the admin is enough. The trouble starts when a supplier sends new images for a whole range, or when an import leaves a label photo as the cover. With the TellMyShop module you describe what you want to change, and your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) prepares the changes for all products and shows them in a preview.
You: In the Nordic mugs range, the cover is a photo of the box. Set the photo of the mug itself as the main image and move the box to the end.
Your chat: The range has 8 products. In 6, the cover is an image with “box” in the file name, and the mug photo is second. Preview for the first product:
You: Fine. What about the other two?
Your chat: There the cover is already the mug, so I am leaving them unchanged. I will show a preview for the 6 products. I'll save it after your ‘yes’.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”old version: cover: nordic-mug-grey-box.jpg
new version: cover: nordic-mug-grey.jpg
old version: order: box, mug, in use
new version: order: mug, in use, box
The names and numbers in the example are illustrative. The chat checks images using the data it sees in the store, such as file names and captions. When it cannot tell which image shows the product itself, it asks.
In the free TellMyShop Free the chat finds products without images and shows the images and their captions for a given product, but changes nothing. In TellMyShop Pro it adds images from addresses, sets the cover and the order, removes unneeded images and fills in captions. This is the Catalogue area, which works right after you activate the licence. Example requests are in the use cases product images: adding, ordering, changing the main one, products without images, EAN or brand and descriptions of hundreds of images for Google.
Every change has a preview and goes into the change history. You can undo most changes with one instruction, but do not delete an image without keeping a copy of the file yourself. Plans are on the pricing page, and more guides about the product page are on the blog.
Questions and answers
What is the product cover in PrestaShop?
The cover is the product's main image. PrestaShop shows it in the product list in a category, in search, in the cart and first on the product page. A product always has one cover.
I changed the cover, but the store still shows the old image. Why?
Most often it is the store or browser cache. Clear the cache in Advanced Parameters → Performance and refresh the page in a private window. For products with combinations, also check that the default combination does not have a different image assigned.
Does the image order matter for Google?
The main image usually goes into the product data and into the file for Google Merchant Center, so it is the one that represents the product in Google Shopping. The order of the other images matters mainly to the customer browsing the gallery.
Do I need to regenerate thumbnails after changing the cover?
Usually not. PrestaShop creates thumbnails when you upload an image. Regeneration is only needed after you change image sizes in the settings or switch themes.
Can the chat add images from a supplier's links?
Yes, in TellMyShop Pro. The chat adds images from addresses, sets the cover and the order, and shows a preview before saving. This is the Catalogue area, which works right after you activate the licence.
PrestaShop is a registered trademark of PrestaShop SA. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.