Stacking (Image Combination)

Introduction

In today’s visually driven world, the ability to showcase images creatively can significantly enhance your content and presentations. For Stacking, a cutting-edge extension available on Solo, Professional, and Enterprise plans, empowers users to bring their visual projects to life like never before. Designed for both professionals and enthusiasts, this innovative tool transforms the way images are combined and displayed.

Description

The Stacking is a versatile extension that allows users to seamlessly merge up to 10 images into a single 'stack' or collage. This functionality is perfect for creating dynamic presentations, visually appealing social media posts, or intricate design projects. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, For Stacking enhances your ability to present multiple images cohesively, offering greater flexibility and creativity in your visual content.

Who Should Use Stacking?

Online retailers use stacking for various purposes to showcase their images on their e-commerce sites and marketplaces like Amazon or eBay. The following are the most common use cases:

Multipacks

When selling a pack of one product, such as socks or underwear, it's common to create the main image that displays all the products included in the pack. This might be a range of different variants, several of the same variant, or a combination of the two—as in the examples below.

Multi-Variant Listings

This option is historically seen on images used in an online marketplace. Marketplaces usually have their requirements for stacked images, so it's best practice to double-check the marketplace standards before creating your own.

A multi-variant listing is a listing in which multiple versions (colors, for example) of the same item are for sale on a single product listing. Unlike in a multi-pack listing, the products are for sale individually, but the buyer must choose which one they want to purchase on the listing page.

On marketplaces, there is fierce competition between sellers for buyers' attention. Every time a potential buyer is exposed to one of their listings in search results, by displaying the main image containing every variant available, sellers can increase the exposure of their inventory, thereby increasing the chance of a sale. Sellers also save time and fees compared to creating individual listings for each product variant. 

These competitive conditions normally don't exist on a retailer's own branded website, so these kinds of images are rarely used. Multi-variant images can be unattractive, make websites look inconsistent, and be a bit chaotic. From a best-practice point of view, they should be avoided outside of marketplaces.

Accessing the Stacking Extension

For the Professional plan: Go to the Extension Store in the left-hand menu to add the Stacking extension. Pixelz charges $1 per stacked image to your order total and is offering the subscription free of charge for 14 days. After the 14-day trial period, you can add Stacking Extension to your monthly plan for an additional $25 per month or reduce the cost to $19 per month with an annual commitment.

Note: To actually subscribe to the extension, you have to be a Professional subscriber. Anyone who has trialed the extension on Solo or during the Professional trial must subscribe to the Professional plan before subscribing to the extension.

For the Enterprise plan: To add the Markup extension, please contact your CSM or our CS team at enterprise@pixelz.com.

They will assist you in setting up and getting started.

Learn more about our pricing.

Using the Stacking

Step-by-step Guide

1. Accessing Stacking

To access the stacking functionality, you must first go through the usual order creation process (choose specification and upload images). Once you are on the order confirmation page, you can choose to stack or combine your images prior to placing your order.

The stacking feature is accessed by first selecting the images in your order that you want to stack/combine, right-clicking on one of the selected images, and then clicking on the Stacking option in the menu.

2. Stacking Settings

To create a stack, you can either choose from a range of pre-designed layouts using the 'Fixed Layout' option or create your own layout using the 'Stacking Editor'.

Fixed Layout

When Fixed Layout is selected, 2 further drop-down menus are visible.

Product categories: The first drop-down contains the product categories. These are based on the 3 most common use cases for stacking images and one generic option for other product types.

• Socks
• Underwear
• T-shirts
• Other

Stacking Layouts

The second drop-down contains the 'Stacking layouts' available for each product type.

A 'stacking layout' describes how the products will be arranged in the stack. It could also be classified as a stacking pattern.

As you scroll through the different layouts available, the display image on the right will change. You can also use the Previous / Next buttons below the display image to preview different available options.

The stacking layouts displayed are dependent on the number of images selected.  Each stacking layout is designed to be able to accommodate a minimum and a maximum number of products. See chart below for complete details.

3. Stacking Editor

If none of the stacking layouts meet your needs, you can use the 'Stacking Editor' to create your own.

Selecting this option will add the selected images to the editor as thumbnails, allowing you to move them around to create your desired layout.  The thumbnails can be re-sized and positioned in the frame.

Images are stacked back to front

If the images overlap in the stacking layout, the image in position 1 is the backmost image. To move an image forward or backward, simply change the order of the images by dragging and dropping it in the frame. 

3. Saving a stack

When a stack is saved, it appears as an additional image to be included in the order.

If the Fixed Editor is used, the selected 'Stacking Layout' mockup image is shown:

If the Stacking Editor is used, the mockup using your images is displayed:

Additional information: Stacking and Specifications

Each 'Stack' will be considered one object and will be scaled and positioned according to the specification settings being submitted with the order. 

Unsubscribing the Stacking

For the Professional plan: To unsubscribe from the Stacking extension, go to the Extension Store in the left-hand menu and turn auto-renew to OFF. The extension will continue to be available until the end of the pre-paid billing period at which point it will be removed from the account.

For the Enterprise plan: To unsubscribe from the Stacking extension, please contact your CSM or our CS team at enterprise@pixelz.com.

If you require further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact your CSM or our CS team at enterprise@pixelz.com.

Additionally, we would like to encourage you to share your feedback or comments, as they are highly valued and appreciated. Please feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section below.