Bulk Upload with Watch Folder

Bulk Upload with Watch Folder

The Watch Folder feature in the 3DIMLI Desktop app lets you create multiple product drafts at once by organizing files into folders on your computer. Each folder becomes a product draft — the app monitors your folder and automatically creates drafts as you add files.

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Why Use Watch Folder?

• Bulk upload: Create dozens of product drafts in minutes
• Automatic detection: Drop files into folders and drafts appear instantly
• Offline editing: Drafts are stored locally until you're ready to publish
• Organized workflow: Use your file manager to prepare products before uploading

Requirements

Watch Folder is available only in the 3DIMLI Desktop app and requires a seller account. Download for your platform: Windows | macOS (Intel) | macOS (Apple Silicon) | Linux

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Setting Up Watch Folder

Step 1: Open the Tray Menu

Right-click the 3DIMLI icon in your system tray (bottom-right corner of your taskbar).

Step 2: Set the Folder Path

1. Click "Watch Folder" → "Set Watch Folder..."
2. Browse to an existing folder or create a new one (e.g., C:\Users\YourName\3DIMLI Products)
3. Click Select Folder

Step 3: Enable Watching

In the tray menu, click "Watch Folder" → "Enable Watch Folder". The app will now monitor that folder for new product folders.

tip

Choose an empty folder to start with. The app processes all subfolders automatically once enabled.

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Folder Structure

When you enable the watch folder, the app automatically creates product type subfolders inside it — one for each product category. Place your product folders inside the relevant type folder to keep things organised and to lock in the product type.

Watch Folder/
├── 3D Model/
│   ├── fantasy-sword-model/
│   │   ├── main.png
│   │   ├── angle-1.jpg
│   │   ├── sword.fbx
│   │   ├── description.html
│   │   └── tags.txt
│   └── crystal-dragon-3d/
│       ├── main.png
│       └── dragon.fbx
│
├── Audio/
│   └── ambient-music-loop/
│       ├── main.png
│       ├── loop.mp3
│       └── description.txt
│
├── Graphics/
│   └── pixel-art-brush-pack/
│       ├── main.jpg
│       ├── preview.png
│       └── brushes.zip
│
├── Ebook/
├── AI Model/
├── Software/
├── Video/
├── Games/
└── Link/

Product Type Folders

The following type folders are created automatically — you don't need to make them yourself:

Folder	Product Type
3D Model	3D Model
Graphics	Graphics
Audio	Audio
Ebook	Ebook
AI Model	AI Model
Software	Software
Video	Video
Games	Games
Link	Link Product

Common aliases also work — for example, music and sound are recognised as Audio; e-book and ebooks as Ebook; 3dmodel or 3dasset as 3D Model.

tip

You can also place product folders directly in the watch folder root (without a type folder). In that case, the product type is detected automatically from the file extensions inside.

note

Files dropped directly into the watch folder root (not inside any type folder or product subfolder) are ignored.

Dropping Files Directly into a Type Folder

If you drop a file directly into a type folder (e.g., Audio/song.mp3 instead of Audio/my-product/song.mp3), the app automatically organises it for you:

1. A new product subfolder is created, named after the file (e.g., Audio/song/)
2. The file is moved into that subfolder (Audio/song/song.mp3)
3. A draft is created from the new subfolder as normal
4. You receive a notification — "3DIMLI - File Organised" — explaining what happened. Click it to open this documentation.

This is useful when you want to quickly drop a single file and let the app handle the folder structure.

Folder Naming

Your folder name automatically becomes the product title:

Folder Name	Generated Title
fantasy-sword-model	Fantasy Sword Model
my_awesome_product	My Awesome Product
dragonWarrior	Dragon Warrior
3D Chair Model	3D Chair Model

Hyphens, underscores, and camelCase are all converted to readable titles.

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Supported Files

Images

Format	Supported
.png, .jpg, .jpeg	Yes
.webp, .avif	Yes
.gif	Yes

Size limit: 2 MB per image. Maximum: 1 main image + 15 gallery images (16 total).

Main Image Priority

The app picks your main image in this order:

1. main.png, main.jpg, main.jpeg, main.webp, main.avif
2. thumbnail.png, thumbnail.jpg, etc.
3. cover.png, cover.jpg, etc.
4. First image alphabetically

All other images become gallery images.

Download Files

These file types are recognized as downloadable product files:

Category	Formats
3D Models	.blend, .fbx, .obj, .glb, .gltf, .stl, .usdz, .max, .3ds, .dae
AI Models	.safetensors, .ckpt, .pt, .pth, .bin
Audio	.mp3, .ogg, .wav, .flac, .aac, .wma, .m4a
E-books	.pdf, .epub, .mobi
Graphics	.psd, .ai, .svg, .eps, .sketch, .fig, .xd, .indd
Software	.exe, .msi, .dmg, .deb, .rpm, .appimage, .apk
Video	.mp4, .webm, .mov
Archives	.zip, .rar, .7z

Size limit: There is no fixed per-file limit — uploads count toward your storage plan. The free plan includes 5 GB, and a single product can use all of it.

note

Non-archive files (like .fbx, .psd) are automatically compressed into a .zip for download. Archive files (.zip, .rar, .7z) are stored as-is.

The product type is determined automatically from the download files (3D Model, Audio, Ebook, Graphics, Software, or Video).

Description File (Optional)

Create one of these files in your product folder:

• description.html — HTML formatted (recommended)
• description.htm — HTML formatted
• description.txt — Plain text (auto-converted to HTML)

Maximum 1,500 characters. HTML descriptions should not include <script> tags (they are stripped for security).

Example description.html:

<p>A detailed fantasy sword 3D model, perfect for game development and rendering.</p>
<ul>
  <li>High-poly mesh with clean topology</li>
  <li>PBR textures included (4K)</li>
  <li>Formats: FBX, OBJ, BLEND</li>
</ul>

Tags File (Optional)

Create one of these files:

• tags.txt — One tag per line or comma-separated
• tag.txt — Same format

Maximum 6 tags, each up to 50 characters.

Example tags.txt:

3D Model
Fantasy
Game Asset
Sword
PBR
Low Poly

Or comma-separated: 3D Model, Fantasy, Game Asset, Sword, PBR, Low Poly

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How It Works

1. You add a product folder inside a type folder (e.g., 3D Model/my-product/) or directly in the watch folder root. You can also drop a single file into a type folder and the app will auto-create a subfolder for it
2. The app detects it automatically (waits ~2 seconds for files to settle)
3. A draft is created with title, images, downloads, description, and tags
4. You get a notification — "Draft created: Fantasy Sword Model (3D Model)"
5. The draft appears in Dashboard → My Product → Draft Products

Live Updates

The app watches your folder continuously:

• Add more images → They appear in the draft gallery
• Add download files → They're added to the draft
• Rename the folder → The draft title updates
• Delete a folder → The draft is removed
• Edit description.html → The draft description updates
• Add or remove variant folders in @variants → The draft's variants update

Duplicate Protection

• If a draft with the same title already exists, the folder is skipped
• You'll see a notification asking you to rename the folder

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Creating Products with Variants

Variants let one product offer multiple purchase options — for example Basic, Premium, and Commercial — each with its own price, files, images, and attributes. In the desktop app you create variants without filling any forms: the folder structure is the interface.

Enable Variants (Once)

Right-click the 3DIMLI tray icon → "Watch Folder" → "Enable Variants". From then on, every new product folder automatically gets an @variants subfolder so the convention is always at hand. You never need to toggle it again.

note

Don't want variants for a particular product? Just leave @variants empty — the product behaves exactly like a normal single product.

Create Variants with Folders

Inside your product folder, make one subfolder per variant inside @variants:

Knight-Character/
├── cover.jpg                  ← product hero image (shared)
├── description.txt            ← product description (shared)
└── @variants/
    ├── main-Standard/         ← "main-" marks the DEFAULT variant
    │   ├── preview.jpg
    │   └── knight-standard.blend
    ├── Premium-$75/           ← "-$75" sets the price from the folder name
    │   ├── preview.jpg
    │   └── knight-premium.blend
    └── Free-Demo/             ← "Free-" makes this variant free
        └── demo.blend

Drop the folder into your watch folder — one draft appears with three variants, priced, titled, and organized.

Or Just Drop Loose Files — the App Organizes Them

Paste files directly into @variants (no subfolders) and the app sorts them:

• Each download file (zip, blend, mp3, …) becomes its own variant — variant1, variant2, … Images are distributed between them
• Adding more loose files later creates new variants — it never mixes them into your existing ones
• Name files with a variant prefix to control grouping yourself: var_1_cover.jpg, var_1_model.blend, var_2_cover.jpg → variants var_1 and var_2. Only var and variant are recognized as prefixes
• After moving, the prefix is stripped from the filename (var_1_cover.jpg → cover.jpg) so your published image names stay clean and SEO-friendly

Folder-Name Markers (Quick Reference)

Marker	Example	Effect
main- / main_ / ! prefix	main-Premium, !Premium	This variant is the default (the primary purchase option)
Free- prefix	Free-Demo	Variant is free
-$NN suffix	Premium-$29, Pro_$99.99	Sets the variant's price

Markers combine: !Free-Demo is a free default variant titled "Demo"; main-Pro-$29 is the default at $29 titled "Pro".

Metadata Files (Drop Inside a Variant Folder)

Pricing — price.txt:

29                  ← 1st bare price → Standard license
75                  ← 2nd → Commercial, 3rd → Editorial, 4th → Creative Common
COMMERCIAL=120      ← or name the license directly

Pricing — filename markers: an empty text file named $29.txt or $29-standard.txt ($9.99_commercial.txt, $5-cc.txt) sets the price from its name. Placed at the product root (outside @variants), it prices the whole product.

Color — color.txt: contains #ff8800, #f00, or a name (red, blue, teal, …). Or use a filename marker: red.txt, blue-color.txt, ff8800_color.txt, #ff8800.txt.

Attributes — attributes.txt:

Polygon Count,12000
Formats=blend|fbx|obj

Description — description.txt per variant; the default variant's description also fills the product description when the root has none.

Limits and Safety

• Maximum 4 variants. A 5th folder — or files needing a 5th — moves to @variants/_not-added and a notification explains why. Nothing is ever deleted
• The same file is never added twice: duplicates go to _not-added
• System junk (Thumbs.db, desktop.ini, .DS_Store) and metadata files never become variants
• Everything keeps working after creation: add/remove files or whole variant folders anytime and the draft updates; delete @variants and the draft reverts to a normal product

Manage Variants in Bulk Uploads

The Bulk Uploads table has a Variants column:

• Swatches — one colored square per variant (star = default, strike-through = hidden). Toggle Colors on/off to switch between color swatches and initials tiles; enabling colors auto-assigns distinct colors to variants that have none
• Hover a swatch for the variant card: thumbnail, title, Default badge, price, image and license counts — plus a red "No files" warning if the variant has nothing to deliver
• From the card: Hide/Show (hidden variants stay hidden after publishing; the default can't be hidden), Set default, and Edit variant
• Click Edit (next to Colors) for the full variant editor — the same panel as the product form: drag to reorder, rename, star a default, edit each variant's pricing, media, files, and attributes, duplicate a variant, or add new ones (up to 4). Set Price on a variant draft opens this editor too, since pricing lives per variant

Quick Draft and Publishing

Quick Draft (Ctrl+Shift+D) accepts folders and zips — a zip containing @variants/ creates a multi-variant draft instantly, and the success popup shows the variant names.

Publishing carries everything through: per-variant prices, files, images, colors, attributes, the default variant, and hidden states.

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Reviewing and Publishing Drafts

Step 1: Open Your Drafts

Go to Dashboard → My Product → Draft Products to see all drafts created from your watch folder.

Step 2: Review Each Draft

Click a draft to open the full product editor. Here you can:

• Edit the title and description
• Add or remove images
• Configure pricing and licenses
• Set a category
• Add SEO details

important

You must set pricing and licensing before publishing. Unless you set prices from your folders — via folder-name markers like Premium-$75 or metadata files like price.txt and $29.txt — the watch folder creates drafts with no pricing, and you need to configure it manually.

Step 3: Publish

Publishing a Single Draft

Each draft has a three-dot action menu (⋯) in the Actions column. Click it and select "Publish Draft" to publish that individual draft. You'll see upload progress for each step.

note

The "Publish Draft" option is disabled if required fields (like pricing) are not set. Make sure to configure pricing before publishing.

Bulk Publishing Multiple Drafts

You can publish several drafts at once:

1. Use the checkbox next to each draft to select the ones you want to publish, or click the Select All checkbox in the table header to select all drafts at once
2. A floating action bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing how many items are selected
3. Click "Publish selected" — drafts are published one by one with a progress indicator (e.g., "Publishing 2/5...")
4. After completion, you'll see a summary of how many were successfully published

tip

You can also bulk delete selected drafts using the "Delete selected" button in the same action bar.

After publishing, the watch folder mapping for that product is removed automatically.

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Quick Start Example

Want to upload 3 products? Here's how:

1. Create your folder structure:

C:\Users\YourName\3DIMLI Products\
├── 3D Model/
│   └── crystal-dragon-3d/
│       ├── main.png
│       ├── side-view.jpg
│       ├── dragon.fbx
│       ├── description.html
│       └── tags.txt
│
├── Audio/
│   └── lofi-music-pack/
│       ├── main.jpg
│       ├── tracks.zip
│       └── description.html
│
└── Graphics/
    └── ui-icon-set/
        ├── main.png
        ├── preview-1.png
        ├── icons.zip
        └── tags.txt

tip

The type folders (3D Model, Audio, Graphics, etc.) are created automatically when you enable the watch folder — just drop your product folders inside them.

2. Set and enable watch folder from the tray menu

3. Wait a few seconds — three notifications appear confirming draft creation

4. Go to Draft Products — review each draft, set pricing

5. Publish — use the Select All checkbox to select all drafts, then click "Publish selected" to publish them in one go, or publish individually via the three-dot action menu (⋯)

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Limits

Feature	Limit
Image size	2 MB each
Gallery images	15 per product (+ 1 main)
Download file size	Limited by your storage plan (free plan: 5 GB)
Description length	1,500 characters
Variants per product	4
Tags per product	6
Tag length	50 characters each
Title length	60 characters
Folder name length	200 characters

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Draft not created	Ensure files are inside a product subfolder (e.g., Watch Folder/3D Model/my-product/), not directly in the root or type folder
Draft not created for folder inside type folder	The product folder must be one level inside a type folder — deeper nesting (e.g., 3D Model/sub/my-product/) is not supported
"Draft with title already exists"	Rename the subfolder to a unique name
Images not appearing	Check format (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .webp, .gif, .avif) and size (< 2 MB)
Download file not detected	Verify it's a supported format and that you have enough space left in your storage plan
Description not showing	File must be named exactly description.html, description.htm, or description.txt
Tags not showing	File must be named exactly tags.txt or tag.txt
Watch folder not working	Check the tray menu — ensure the path is set and watching is enabled
Variant folder or file not becoming a variant	The limit is 4 variants per product; extras and duplicate files are moved to @variants/_not-added — check there and review the notification
"Enable Variants" missing from the tray menu	Update to the latest desktop app version
"Malware detected" notification	Review the folder contents and remove suspicious files
File dropped into type folder — no draft created	Ensure the file is a supported download format. The app creates a subfolder automatically; unsupported file types are skipped

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tip

Start with 1-2 test products to get familiar with the folder structure before bulk uploading. Once you're comfortable, you can prepare dozens of product folders and let the watch folder process them all at once.