FAQ
Can I add swatches for Shopify variants?
Section titled “Can I add swatches for Shopify variants?”Yes. If your colors or sizes are variants of one product rather than separate products, use Variant Swatches instead of product groups. Plenty of stores use both.
Does it work with my theme?
Section titled “Does it work with my theme?”The app supports all free and paid Shopify themes, including Online Store 2.0, vintage, and Horizon themes. If you’re on a custom or unusual theme and swatches don’t place correctly, contact support and we’ll help configure it.
Does it work with headless storefronts?
Section titled “Does it work with headless storefronts?”Yes, with your own UI. Enable public metafields and read the group data from the Storefront API under pl_swatches.groups - the developer page includes the GraphQL query. The app’s ready-made widgets only render on Online Store themes, so on headless you build the swatch UI yourself from that data.
How many products can I add to a group?
Section titled “How many products can I add to a group?”Up to 100 products per group by default. Need more? Contact support and we can raise the limit to 300, or higher for large catalogs.
When you add products by hand, you can pick up to 50 at a time:
- Save the group with the first 50 products.
- Reopen it and add the next batch.
For large groups, CSV import or automations are faster. The per-group limit still applies.
Can a product be in more than one group?
Section titled “Can a product be in more than one group?”Yes. A product can belong to up to 3 groups by default, and all of them show on its product page. This is how you display, say, a Color row and a Style row on the same product.
Use the Position field on each group to control the order the rows appear in. To go beyond 3 groups per product, contact support.
Can two products use the same color name?
Section titled “Can two products use the same color name?”Yes - and how it behaves depends on the feature.
For variant swatches, option values are store-wide: there’s one Red value, and the swatch you link to it appears on every product that has a Red variant. That keeps your storefront consistent without per-product setup. If two products need different visuals for the same value name, use the Variant image style (each variant shows its own photo) or use distinct value names in Shopify.
For product groups, swatches are per product - two products named Red in different groups can each have their own swatch.
What happens when I hit my plan’s group limit?
Section titled “What happens when I hit my plan’s group limit?”Nothing breaks. Existing groups keep working on your storefront exactly as before - you just can’t create new groups until you delete unused ones or upgrade. The same applies if you downgrade to a plan below your current group count.
Will swatches slow down my store?
Section titled “Will swatches slow down my store?”No. Swatches load asynchronously after the page renders, and their images are served from Shopify’s CDN, so they don’t block your page from loading.
Are the swatches accessible?
Section titled “Are the swatches accessible?”Yes. Every swatch works with a keyboard, exposes labels to screen readers, and indicates selected and sold-out states with more than color alone. The accessibility page covers what the widgets do, the WCAG 2.1 AA practices they’re built against, and the known gaps - useful for procurement reviews and audits.
Does the app use AI? What data does it see?
Section titled “Does the app use AI? What data does it see?”Two features use AI, and both see swatch data only - never your products, customers, orders, or store details:
- Auto-detect colors sends only the color name strings (like
Ocean Breeze) to suggest hex codes. - Collection filter mapping sends a swatch’s name, its colors, and - for image swatches without a recognizable name - the swatch image, to assign it a filter color.
Both are assistive: every result is visible in the app and you can correct any of them by hand.
What happens if I delete a product in Shopify?
Section titled “What happens if I delete a product in Shopify?”The app detects the deletion on its own and updates the affected swatches, usually within a few minutes. There’s nothing to clean up by hand.
Can I copy my setup to another store?
Section titled “Can I copy my setup to another store?”Product groups: yes. Export them to CSV from one store and import into the other. Groups link to products by handle, so the destination store needs products with the same handles.
Everything else - appearance settings, variant swatch configuration, translations - doesn’t transfer via CSV and needs to be set up in the new store. If you’re moving a large setup, contact support and we’ll help.
What happens to my data if I uninstall?
Section titled “What happens to my data if I uninstall?”The app cleans up after itself, and your groups and settings are kept for 180 days, so you can pick up where you left off if you come back. See uninstall or cancel subscription for the details.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Section titled “How do I cancel my subscription?”In the app, go to Billing and click Actions > Cancel subscription. Cancellation takes effect immediately, and your data is kept for 180 days in case you come back. See uninstall or cancel subscription for what happens to your storefront and how refunds work.