How do I show only the images of the selected variant?

How to make the Volume product gallery show only the images that belong to the selected variant, using image alt text.

Volume can filter the gallery so a customer choosing Blue sees only the blue photos. It groups images by alt text, not by Shopify's variant image field alone, and that is why it looks broken the first time.

1

Assign one image to each variant in Shopify

In Products → your product → Variants, open each variant and attach an image to it. The filter only switches on when at least one image is assigned to a variant and the product has real variants — on a product with a single default variant it stays off no matter what you do in the theme editor.

2

Turn the filter on

In Customize, open a product template, select the Product overview section, and under Media tick Display only media related to the chosen variant.

3

Tag every image in its alt text, in round brackets

Open each image in Products → your product → Media → Edit alt text and add the tag in round brackets at the end:

• Linen shirt, front (Blue)
• Linen shirt, detail (Blue)
• Linen shirt, front (Sand)

The brackets are required. The theme reads the last pair of brackets in the alt text, ignoring case, and treats that as the image's group.

4

Tag the variant's own image the same way

This is the step that is usually missed. The theme does not read the variant title — it reads the alt text of the image assigned to that variant, and shows every other image carrying the same bracketed tag. If the blue variant's image is untagged, or tagged (Navy) while the rest say (Blue), nothing lines up and the customer sees a single photo.

Because the comparison is alt text against alt text, the tag does not have to match the option name. (Blue), (blue) and (b-01) all work, as long as the variant's image and its siblings use the identical wording.

An image with no brackets in its alt text is not treated as neutral — it belongs to no group and gets hidden once the filter is active. If you want a size chart or a fabric close-up to appear on blue and sand alike, add it twice, once tagged (Blue) and once tagged (Sand).

Videos, 3D models and other non-image media are the exception: they are always shown, for every variant.

Alt text is also what screen readers announce and what search engines read. Keep a real description in front of the brackets rather than writing just (Blue).

Next to this setting sits Show images in the same order as they appear in the admin panel. Leave it off and the theme pulls the selected variant's own image to the front of the gallery; switch it on and the gallery keeps your admin order exactly.

Step-by-step walkthrough with screenshots: Display Only Media Related to the Chosen Variant.