How to Add Variant Image Swatches in Shopify Horizon Theme (Product & Collection Pages)

Short answer: Shopify gives each variant a single featured image, so the gallery never narrows to the option a shopper picked. Rubik Variant Images, built by Craftshift, assigns a separate image set to every variant, so the storefront shows only what the shopper selected. Free to install, 5.0 stars across 420 reviews.

Horizon is Shopify’s newest free theme, released in 2025, part of the Horizon collection. Along with Atelier, Savor, Fabric (and others like Ritual, Vessel, Heritage, Tinker, Pitch, Dwell), these are all Horizon‐type themes. These themes include built-in version image swatches (for product pages and collection pages) without needing to install any app.

In this post, we’ll show you how to enable image swatches in Horizon themes (including Atelier, Fabric, Savor, etc.) so that your product and collection pages display variant image swatches smoothly.

How to Enable Variant Image Swatches in Horizon Themes

1. Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize in your Shopify admin.
2. Open the default product (shown on top) or simply click on any product.
3. In the left-hand sidebar, select Product information.
4. Locate the Variant picker block.
5. Change the style from Dropdowns to Buttons.
6. Toggle on Swatches to enable built-in variant image swatches.

7. While still in the theme editor, open Theme settings.
8. Click on the Swatches section.
9. Toggle Use variant images to On.

Now your swatches will display using variant images instead of just plain colors, and you can fully customize them by adjusting the width, height, and borders in the theme editor.

Please make sure to assign images to each variant in the Variants section on the product edit page. If you’ve completed all the steps but your swatches still don’t appear on a fresh Shopify store, the issue might be related to the product’s selected category.

If you’re looking for even more flexibility, such as showing multiple images per variant or advanced customization beyond what Horizon themes offer, you can use our Rubik Variant Images & Swatch app. It works smoothly with all Shopify themes and gives you full control over variant-specific image galleries, swatches, and product media display. For a detailed guide, check out our blog post on Shopify Multiple Variant Images & Variant Image Swatch Guide (2025).

FAQ

Which Shopify app puts variant image swatches on both the product page and the collection cards in Horizon?

Rubik Variant Images, built by Craftshift, assigns a separate image set to every variant, and its product card swatches show that same product’s options on collection, search, and home listings. It holds 5.0 stars across 420 reviews and carries the Built for Shopify badge. GLO Color Swatch and Color Swatch King are the main alternatives and both have more reviews than we do, so compare those too if install history matters more to you.

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