While Grand Shooting operates by simply uploading images, the catalog allows you to distinguish among a predefined list of products, those that have already been photographed from those that have not yet been photographed.
Note:
This chapter deals with loading an Excel file to populate the catalog. In some cases, it's possible to automate this task through automatic data transfer. To determine the feasibility of such integration, we encourage you to reach out to the sales teams.
Why Load a Catalog? One of the platform's objectives is to simplify the preparation and monitoring of photoshoot sessions. For this purpose, you have the option to load catalog data with all the relevant information for the shoot: reference, label, product taxonomy (category and family), color code, ... as well as the implementation date and useful instructions for shooting or editing the images, when available.
You prioritize the shooting order of the products. The tracking tables are enriched with all the relevant information.
The reference 8398504 and associated product data
Upload a catalog also allows you to automatically link a list of references to the specifications with the expected views for each product. Indeed, each product category in the specifications contains a series of keywords; these keywords are found in the catalog taxonomy to associate each reference with a product category in the specifications.
For this reference, the specifications indicate that 2 views are expected.
A reference that is not matched to any product category will be associated with the default category in the default specifications.
Catalog vs. Shotlist
Loading a shotlist involves a two-fold operation:
- Loading product data from a list of references into the catalog.
- Displaying the expected views through the specifications and, if applicable, the produced images with their status in the workflow.
The same product reference can be found in multiple shotlists. This occurs, for example, when a product is renewed and is the subject of multiple image series.
On the other hand, within the catalog, a product reference is unique. Its data will be updated with each loading.
What is the advantage of loading a shotlist?
A shotlist allows tracking the progress of shooting for a set of references.
What is the advantage of loading a catalog? Some organizations need to scan products upon receipt and know what to do before scheduling photo shoots. In this specific case, the Grand Shooting platform must know the completeness of the product catalog with barcodes: a catalog will be loaded and updated regularly with the latest references.
Validation of Excel File Data
Finally, to validate the data in the file, click on the "Next Step" link at the bottom right. Your Excel file will then be loaded onto the platform.
Note:
Before reaching the validation step, the platform checks the uniqueness of the references. It is not allowed to load a file containing 2 rows with the same value in the REF column.
If duplicates are detected, you will be prompted to correct your Excel file to restart the loading process. (See "Tips for Preparing Your Excel File").
Similarly, you will not be able to load your file if an EAN code is associated with 2 distinct references.
Also:
The loading of a shotlist follows the same principle. From the page listing the shotlists, click on the "Create a New Shotlist" button and fill in the basic data (brand, shotlist name, optionally a deadline).
Within the newly created shotlist, you will find on the left column the "Import Excel File" button which will allow you to load a list of references exactly the same way as for loading a catalog.
Updating a Catalog or a Shotlist Do not hesitate to update a catalog:
You update the loaded data, and you will never lose any information.
Let's take a simple example:
At the beginning of the collection, you load a comprehensive catalog with all the data from your ERP: reference, product label, color code, universe, product family, etc.
Two months later, you want to update your catalog because the implementation dates have changed. You then load an Excel file that contains only 2 columns: REF and ONLINE.
The Grand Shooting platform will not delete the data from the columns of the initial file simply because they are absent from the latest loaded file. Only the ONLINE column will be updated for the references present in the second file.
The columns accepted by Grand Shooting
- REF (Required): Unique reference of the product to be shot
- PRODUCT_REF: Product code of the reference
- EAN: EAN code of the reference
- LABEL: Label of the reference
- BRAND: Commercial brand
- COLLECTION: Product collection
- UNIVERS: Product category (1st level)
- GAMME: Product category (2nd level)
- FAMILY: Product category (3rd level)
- GENDER: Man, Woman, Child, Boy, Girl, Baby, etc...
- COLOR: Color code
- HEXA_COLOR: Hexadecimal code to display a color swatch
- SIZE: Product size (regardless of the unit)
- SKU: Additional information that can be used for renaming
- ALTERNATIVE_EANS: EAN codes (comma-separated) associated with the
- REF (*) ONLINE: Implementation date of the reference on the e-commerce site
- COMMENT: Comment regarding the shooting of this reference
- TAGS: Series of tags separated by commas
(*) See logistics and barcode.
Note:
The "Urgent" tag will mark the reference as urgent, as well as all images related to it.
A Product vs. a Reference
A product can be available in different sizes and/or colors. In most cases, a reference corresponds to a "refcol," which is a color variation of a product (regardless of size).
Let's take the example of a shirt available in 2 colors (blue and white) and each color in several sizes (S, M, L, and XL). You will want to photograph the shirt in both colors but in only one size each time because the images will apply to all shirt sizes.
In this example, you would load 2 references (2 refcols), and the references in the REF column must include the product code + the color code. It is not necessary to fill in the SIZE column.
Now let's consider a line of small leather goods products. The same product is also available in different colors and sizes. But this time, to give the customer an idea of the proportions, you want images for all sizes.
In this example, you would load as many lines as there are color x size combinations. The references in the REF column must include the product code + the color code + the size code. The COLOR and SIZE columns will also be filled in.
Note:
Why include the product code in the PRODUCT_REF column? Because it allows you to group references by product code in shotlists and reporting screens.
Logistics and Barcodes
To simplify the flow of product samples, Grand Shooting offers dedicated logistics tools as an option. These tools enable the use of barcode scanners to read barcodes and process products more efficiently.
For this reason, the catalog allows the loading of an additional EAN column.
Note:
Adhering to a standard such as GS1 or EAN-13 is not mandatory. You can load any alphanumeric identifier in this column, which will be printed as a barcode.
In Grand Shooting, you can find a product either by its reference or its EAN code. For this reason, a check is performed when loading the catalog to ensure that an EAN code is used for only one reference.
Finally, in the previous example where you need to photograph 2 shirts, you may not always know the sizes of the products you will receive. Therefore, Grand Shooting must associate the 4 EAN codes of the white shirts (in sizes S, M, L, and XL) with the "White Shirt" refcol and the other 4 EAN codes of the blue shirts with the "Blue Shirt" refcol.
Assuming you expect the products in size M for the mannequin, here's what data to load in the catalog:
- In the EAN column, indicate the EAN code of the product in size M.
- In the ALTERNATIVE_EANS column, indicate the EAN codes of the products in sizes S, L, and XL. Separate the codes with commas.
This way, Grand Shooting will know which refcols to associate with the received product samples, regardless of the sizes actually received.
In the next chapter (Tips for Preparing Your Excel File), we will provide a method for filling in the EAN codes in the ALTERNATIVE_EANS column.