When you upload your full sized image, your online shop software (oscommerce, virtuemart, etc.) will automatically create a smaller preview image. This preview image is called a "thumbnail." The shopper can click on it and then get the full-sized image open up. And so get a better look at it.
You tell the software what size you want the thumbnail images in the settings. And you should decide on these settings before you start uploading images. Some things to consider are how many products you will have, if you have hundreds of products you should make your thumbnail settings for smaller images so you can fit more on a page. If you have only dozens, you can make the thumbnail images bigger so they take up more space. Also consider the size of your full-sized image. If your full-sized images are all going to be of women modeling clothing they probably won't be square (500x500) in size. They will probably be greater in height than in width (600x300). So, you should also set up your thumbnails to have similar proportions (full-sized image: 600x300, thumbnail image: 200x100) (full-sized image: 500x500, thumbnail image: 150x150).
The full-sized image that you prepare for upload should be big enough so that the shopper can see the product well, and not so big that it is obtrusive on the person's computer screen. Please note the examples below, and click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized images.
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| Correctly setup thumbnail | Incorrectly setup thumbnail |
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| Correctly setup thumbnail | Incorrectly setup thumbnail |
Note: If you're using VirtueMart, it won't stretch or squash your images when it automatically makes thumbnails, so you don't have to worry too much about matching the proportions of your thumbnails to the proportions of your full-sized image.