Organizing Product Images for a Large Evolution CMS Catalog

Large product catalogs usually start with a simple rule: every product image lives in one folder and the file name matches the product identifier. That works for a while, but once the catalog grows into thousands of items and every product needs multiple photos, the flat-folder approach becomes hard to maintain.

The original setup

A common import flow looks like this:

• catalog data arrives from 1C or another ERP as an XLS or XML export
• the product identifier becomes the Evolution CMS resource identifier or an external article number
• images are uploaded separately with names such as 34567.jpg

The problem appears when one image per product is no longer enough.

What goes wrong with one huge folder

• directory listings become slow and inconvenient
• duplicate or missing names are harder to track
• adding gallery images needs naming conventions that become messy very quickly
• backup, sync, and cleanup routines become more error-prone

A better storage model

Instead of one giant folder, split files into predictable subdirectories. The simplest approach is to group by the first digits of the product identifier or by brand/category.

/assets/catalog/34/34567/main.jpg
/assets/catalog/34/34567/gallery-1.jpg
/assets/catalog/34/34567/gallery-2.jpg

This gives you:

• stable paths
• space for multiple images per product
• easier cleanup when a product is removed
• clearer integration with imports and scripts

How to connect this with Evolution CMS

Store the external product code in a field or TV, then build image paths from that value. If you need a main image and a gallery, keep the main path explicit and let the gallery live in a predictable product directory.

$article = '34567';
$prefix = substr($article, 0, 2);
$basePath = "/assets/catalog/{$prefix}/{$article}";
$mainImage = "{$basePath}/main.jpg";

Recommended pattern for imports

• keep one field for the external product code
• do not depend only on the Evolution resource id
• store one explicit main image path if needed
• derive gallery paths from a predictable folder structure

That gives you enough structure for today while staying simple enough for future automation.