How to Read a Shopify Image Export Manifest

When someone sends you a ZIP of product photos, filenames alone may not tell you which Shopify product each image came from. PlainKits Image Export includes manifest.csv to keep that relationship with the exported files.

Quick answer: what is manifest.csv?

manifest.csv is an index inside the image ZIP. Each row describes one image the exporter attempted to download. It records source product and media details, the path chosen for the file in the ZIP, and a download_status. A row marked downloaded should have a matching image file. A row beginning with failed: needs attention before you treat the archive as complete.

The manifest describes image export results. It is not Shopify's native product CSV, a product import template, or a complete store backup. If you need product records as well, export them separately using Shopify's product export.

Find the rows that need attention

1. Download the finished ZIP and extract it into a new folder. Keep the original ZIP unchanged.
2. Open manifest.csv in a spreadsheet or text editor. Preserve ID and SKU columns as text so spreadsheet software does not change long IDs or leading zeros.
3. Filter download_status. Rows marked downloaded should correspond to image paths in exported_filename. Review every row beginning with failed:; a failed row can have an empty filename because no image file was added to the ZIP.
4. Open a few successful files, including products with several images and products near the end of the export. Verify that the path in exported_filename leads to the image you expect.
5. Keep a note of the selected product or collection scope. The manifest tells you what the exporter attempted, but it cannot prove that your original selection included every product you intended.

Do not count the ZIP alone as proof of a complete download. The exporter can finish the archive while individual image requests fail; those attempts remain visible in the manifest.

Which columns answer which question?

The current exporter writes these fields to manifest.csv. The table groups them by the question a recipient is likely to ask.

Question	Columns to inspect
Which product did this file come from?	product_id, product_title, handle, product_status
Is an image linked to a variant or SKU?	variant_id, variant_title, sku, barcode
Which Shopify media item was it?	media_id, media_position, is_featured, collections, original_url
Where is the local file, and did it download?	exported_filename, download_status

Variant and SKU fields can be blank for product gallery images. The collections field may contain several names separated by semicolons. original_url is the source of the download; exported_filename is the relative path inside the ZIP. The manifest does not include image alt text or all Shopify product fields.

A small example

The following rows are illustrative, not a real merchant export. They show a subset of the actual column names and the status format produced by the current exporter:

product_id	sku	media_position	exported_filename	download_status
gid://shopify/Product/123456789	TOTE-BLK	1	canvas-tote/tote-front-123456789-01.jpg	downloaded
gid://shopify/Product/123456789		2		failed: HTTP 404

For the first row, look for canvas-tote/tote-front-123456789-01.jpg in the extracted ZIP. For the second, check the source image URL and decide whether to retry or document the missing image. A blank SKU does not by itself mean the image failed; use download_status for that decision.

Use the manifest for a handoff

Send the ZIP and its manifest together. Tell the recipient which products or collections you selected, when you exported them, and what they should do with rows that failed. If you rename files after extraction, maintain a separate old-to-new path list; the original manifest will still refer to the exported names.

For a design project, add a brief describing the intended edits. The manifest says what each file is; the brief says what to make. See the designer handoff checklist. For a full catalog, use the whole-catalog download checks. If you only have Shopify's product CSV and need to understand its image URLs, start with the CSV guide.