What Does “Hide Unassigned Images” Do?

The “Hide unassigned images” setting in Rubik Variant Images gives you precise control over which images appear on your product page.

🔧 When enabled:

  • Only the images that are explicitly assigned to the selected variant(s) will appear on the product page.
  • Any unassigned images are hidden from the gallery, creating a more focused and cleaner visual experience.

🔓 When disabled:

  • Unassigned images will appear for all variants — useful for lifestyle images, packaging shots, or general branding visuals.

💡 Pro Use Case: Custom Featured Image for Collection Pages

By default, Shopify uses the first image in your product media gallery as the featured image — which appears on collection pages, homepage carousels, and even search results.

But what if you want to show a different featured image on your collection page without displaying it on the actual product page?

Rubik Variant Images makes this possible.

✅ Here’s how to set it up:

  1. Upload a featured-only image to your product in Shopify and drag it to the first position in the media gallery.
  2. Open the Rubik Variant Images app and assign all variant-specific images to the appropriate options — but do not assign the featured image to any variant.
  3. In the Settings tab, enable “Hide unassigned images”.
  4. (Optional) In Advanced Settings, disable “Overwrite image orders in Admin” if you don’t want Rubik to change the media order.

✨ Result:

  • Shopify uses your first image (the featured-only one) for collection pages and homepage displays.
  • On the product page, only the assigned variant images are shown — the featured image is hidden, keeping your product gallery clean and focused.