Note: This guide covers the core concepts of Catalog Machine, which remain consistent across versions, including new V2 beta (learn more here).
Welcome to Catalog Machine, your all-in-one solution for creating professional product catalogs. Here's a quick overview of our key features:
1. Product Management: Centralize and organize your product information
2. Catalog Design: Create attractive, customizable catalogs with ease
3. Distribution and Hosting: Share your catalogs through multiple channels
This guide covers these features to help you manage products, design catalogs, and share them with customers. Let's explore the main areas:
1. Product Management
At the heart of Catalog Machine is your product database, the central repository where all your product information is stored and managed. Here's what you can do:
Products: Add and edit core items you want to showcase. Each product has attributes like name, description, price, images, etc.
Categories: Group similar products that share the same set of attributes. For example, all "T-shirts" might have size, color, and material attributes. Categories define the structure and properties of your products.
Collections: Organize products into flexible, hierarchical groups for marketing or display purposes. Products can belong to multiple collections, such as "Summer Sale" and "Best Sellers", regardless of their category.
Fields: Manage specific attributes of a product, like name, price, description, etc. Fields are defined at the category level and apply to all products in that category.
Variants: Create and manage different versions of a product (e.g., sizes, colors) with their own image, price, attributes, and options.
Import and Integration: Bring in products from CSV files or e-commerce platforms like Shopify.
Inventory: Track and manage stock levels for your products.
Getting Started with Products:
Start by adding a few products manually to familiarize yourself with the system
Use the import feature to bulk add products from your existing spreadsheets or platforms like Shopify
Organize your products:
Create categories to define product attributes and structure
Use collections to group products for specific catalogs or marketing purposes
2. Catalog Design
The Catalog Designer is where you'll create your professional-looking catalogs. Key features include:
Page Creation and Editing:
Drag-and-drop interface for easy page design
Page elements: text boxes, images, product information, barcodes
Page Layouts: Pre-designed templates for quick page creation
Customization: Options for colors, fonts, headers/footers, and page sizes.
Product Display Tools:
AutoGrid: Automatically generate multi-product pages based on your selected products, layout, and product card design. It can create pages with up to 12x12 products each, dynamically updating as your product information changes.
Product Lists: Create customizable tabular displays of price lists, product information, including fields, images, and variants
Product Cards (formerly Templates): Customizable/reusable templates for displaying individual product information
Advanced Catalog Features:
Master catalogs to compose from existing sub-catalogs
Table of contents and product indexes
Getting Started with Design:
Begin with a pre-made layout to get a feel for the system
Try creating a simple product page using the drag-and-drop interface
Experiment with creating price lists using Product Lists and generate multi-product pages with AutoGrid
3. Catalog Distribution and Hosting
Once your catalog is ready, Catalog Machine offers multiple ways to share it:
Generate high-quality PDF files for printing or digital distribution
Publish your catalog as an interactive online site
Share via direct link, social media, or embed on your website
Control catalog access with privacy settings
Getting Started with Distribution:
Preview your catalog to ensure everything looks correct
Generate a PDF to see how your catalog will look when printed
Try publishing a test catalog online to explore the interactive features
4. Advanced Features
As you become more comfortable with the system, explore these advanced features:
Showroom: An automatically generated online product site with product search, navigation, product cards, ordering and other features
Ordering System: Allow customers to place orders directly from your catalog
Automation: Automate data updates, import, catalog generation, send email updates, etc. with Zapier or use our API from your systems
Parameters: Use dynamic placeholders for content that updates across multiple places (formatted product fragments with expressions, currency rates for prices, shared images). Parameters can change for catalogs, product categories, etc.
Team: Invite more users from your team to work on products and catalogs
Note: Some advanced features may vary between versions. Check your current version's documentation for specific details.
5. How It All Works Together
Catalog Machine streamlines your workflow through seamless integration of its components:
Central Product Database: Feeds information to all catalogs and the showroom, ensuring consistency across your entire product presentation
Import and Integration: Easily sync products from various sources (CSV, e-commerce platforms) to keep your product database up-to-date
Automatic Updates: Changes to product information instantly reflect across all catalogs and the showroom
Reusable Design Elements: Product Cards and Layouts can be used across multiple catalogs, saving time and maintaining brand consistency
Flexible Organization: Collections and categories efficiently organize products for use in catalogs, Showroom, AutoGrids, and Product Lists
Multi-channel Distribution: Share your catalogs through various channels - online sites, PDFs, email links, social media, and more
Advanced Features: Showroom provides automated display and search of your products, while the ordering system allows customers to inquire about or order products directly from your catalogs or Showroom
Automation: Streamline repetitive tasks such as data updates, catalog generation, and customer communications using Zapier integrations or our API.
Best Practices for Getting Started:
Start small: Begin with a limited product set to learn the system
Use templates: Leverage pre-made layouts and product cards to speed up your design process
Organize early: Set up your product categories and collections thoughtfully from the beginning
Update regularly: Keep your product information current to take advantage of automatic updates
Experiment: Try different design approaches to find what works best for your products
Remember, Catalog Machine is designed to be user-friendly, even for those without technical or design experience. Don't be afraid to experiment with different features, and refer back to this guide and our detailed help articles as you explore the system. You can always contact us in our chat if you need additional help.
By mastering these key areas, you'll be able to create professional, up-to-date catalogs that effectively showcase your products to your customers.