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Color swatch guide

How to add color swatches to the Showcase theme.

Showcase is a paid Clean Canvas theme, $400 in the Theme Store and at version 10.2.0 (April 1, 2026) as of October 23, 2026. Native Shopify swatches arrived after version 10.0.0, released December 17, 2025, and Clean Canvas warned that swatches may need setting up again after that update. Its variant picker shows options as a dropdown or underlined text, with swatches switched on in Theme settings.

Checked Showcase theme profile

Which route fits Showcase?

Route 1

Shopify's native swatches.

Native swatch support in Showcase in versions after 10.0.0.

  1. Update Showcase past 10.0.0

    Native swatches need a Showcase version after 10.0.0 (December 17, 2025). If you updated from an older version, check your swatch settings again: Clean Canvas warned they may need reconfiguring.

  2. Give each product a category

    In Products, open a product and choose the most specific match in the Category field. Categories come from Shopify's Standard Product Taxonomy, and picking one adds that category's attributes to the product as category metafields. You want a category that lists Color (or a color attribute such as Frame color or Band color). If Color is missing under Category metafields, try a narrower category.

  3. Add the colors you sell

    Under Category metafields, open Color and select every color your variants come in. Each color is a reusable entry. You can rename an entry, set its exact hex value or upload a pattern image later in Content > Metaobjects, and the change shows everywhere that entry is used.

  4. Link the Color option to the metafield

    In the Variants section, add an option and pick Color from the suggestions so its values come from the entries you just chose. If the product already has a Color option, open it, use the connect icon beside the option name and choose the Color category metafield. Swatches only appear for options linked this way, so do this on every product you want swatches on in Showcase.

  5. Choose Shopify swatches in Theme settings

    In the theme editor, open Theme settings > Swatches and set Swatches to display to Shopify.

  6. Show swatches in the product grid

    In the same Swatches group, turn on Show swatches in product grid. Show single swatch in product grid is an optional extra if you want a compact card.

  7. Check it on a real product page

    Save, then open a product in a private browser window and on your phone. Click each swatch and confirm the price, photo and stock message change with it. If Showcase shows plain text buttons instead, go back to the linking step: the option is probably not linked to the Color category metafield yet.

Route 2

A swatch app.

Showcase already shows swatches on product pages and product cards, so an app is for extras. Platmart Color Swatches joins separate products into one color picker, Rubik Variant Images & Swatch shows only the chosen color's photos, and GLO Color Swatch Variant Image adds product grouping and a hide-sold-out option.

  1. Duplicate Showcase first

    In Online Store > Themes, open the menu beside Showcase and choose Duplicate. Set up the app on the copy, preview it, and publish the copy only when the swatches look right. Your live store keeps working while you test.

  2. Install the app and start its trial or free plan

    Install the app from the Shopify App Store and approve the access it asks for. Every app suggested on this page had a free plan, a free listing or a free trial of 7 to 30 days when we checked on October 23, 2026, so you can test before you pay.

  3. Switch on the app embed

    Open the theme editor on your copy (Online Store > Themes, then Customize or Edit theme), click the App embeds icon in the left sidebar, switch on the app's embed and click Save.

  4. Match each color name to a swatch

    In the app's own settings, give each color name a hex value or a small image. Apps read your option values as text, so Navy on one product and Navy Blue on another need two swatches. Tidy the names first and you only set each color once.

  5. Avoid two sets of swatches

    If the app draws its own swatches, set Swatches to display to None.

  6. Preview a product page and a collection page

    Use the theme editor preview, then a phone, to check both page types in Showcase. If the app adds collection-page swatches, click one on a product card and confirm the card's photo or link changes to that color.

Apps that fit Showcase

Swatch apps for Showcase, from each App Store listing on October 23, 2026
AppFromRatingWhat it does
Platmart Color Swatches $9.99/month 5.0 (144 reviews) Made for stores that list each color as its own product: it joins them into one listing with swatches and lists collection-page support.
Rubik Variant Images & Swatch $25/month 5.0 (495 reviews) Best known for showing only the selected color's photos, with swatches included and ThemeForest themes named under Works with, but paid plans start at $25 a month.
GLO Color Swatch Variant Image $9.90/month 4.9 (1,906 reviews) A dedicated swatch app whose free plan already covers collection-page swatches and hiding sold-out options; image swatches start on the $9.90 Silver plan.

Prices and ratings change often; check the listing before you install. This site is not affiliated with any of these publishers.

Alternatives: Variants King & Color Swatch also groups separate products by color, and FB Variant Image, Color Swatch is free. Both were listed in the Shopify App Store on October 23, 2026.

Route 3

Editing the theme code.

You don't need to edit code for swatches in Showcase. Showcase's Theme settings > Swatches group covers the product page and grid.

Collection pages.

Showcase puts swatches in the product grid with one setting, Show swatches in product grid, in Theme settings > Swatches.

  1. Turn on grid swatches

    Open Theme settings > Swatches and turn on Show swatches in product grid. Turn on Show single swatch in product grid too if you'd like one swatch per card instead of the full row.

  2. Add color filters with swatches (optional)

    The Theme Store lists swatch filters for Showcase (checked October 23, 2026). Open the Search & Discovery app, go to Filters > Add filter, choose Color with the type Category metafield, then open Manage values and turn on Include swatch. For patterns, turn on Use images when available so the filter shows each entry's image.

Showcase at a glance.

The theme's facts from the Shopify Theme Store and Clean Canvas' documentation, checked October 23, 2026. Anything we could not confirm says so.

Full Showcase profile Check images against Showcase's sizes
Showcase: theme facts
Theme Showcase
Vendor Clean Canvas
Price $400 One-time license price in the Shopify Theme Store, in US dollars, checked October 23, 2026.
Free or paid Paid
Where it is sold Shopify Theme Store
Status Current theme
Online Store 2.0 Yes
Current version 10.2.0 (April 1, 2026)
Native color swatches Yes In versions after 10.0.0.
Variant picker block Variant picker
Swatch setting Theme settings > Swatches > Swatches to display: Shopify
Swatches on product cards Theme settings > Swatches > Show swatches in product grid (optional: Show single swatch in product grid)
Theme Store swatch features Color swatches, swatch filters, combined listings
Swatch documentation Clean Canvas' documentation
General advice No fixed size No fixed pixel sizes: "Upload the largest version possible"; max upload 20 MB. Source: Clean Canvas' documentation.
Favicon No fixed size Theme Settings > Favicon; PNG; no pixel size stated. Source: Clean Canvas' documentation.
Swatch images (older swatch method) 40 x 40 px Custom swatch PNG for pre-10.0.0 "Uploaded image" method, "approximately 40px by 40px". Source: Clean Canvas' documentation.
Last checked October 23, 2026

Swatch problems on Showcase, and fixes.

  • Swatches not showing

    Work through three checks in order: the product has a category that includes Color, its Color option is linked to the Color category metafield, and the swatch setting is on in Showcase. In Showcase, check Swatches to display is set to Shopify. If swatches vanished after updating to 10.0.0 or later, set them up again, as Clean Canvas warned.

  • Wrong colors

    A native swatch takes its color from the entry in Content > Metaobjects, not from the color's name. Open the entry, correct the hex value and save, and every product linked to it updates at once. If two products show different shades of the same color, they're probably linked to two separate entries, so point both at one.

  • Pattern or image swatches

    Upload a square image to the color's entry. Crop it to the fabric or finish itself rather than a product photo, because at swatch size a busy photo turns into a blur. Multicolor has no preset hex value, so it always needs an image. Showcase's older Uploaded image method used PNGs of about 40 x 40 px; for native swatches, put the image on the color's entry instead.

  • Out-of-stock variants

    How a sold-out color looks is decided by the variant picker in Showcase, so test it: set one color to zero stock and open the product. If you'd rather hide sold-out colors completely, Color Swatch Pug and GLO Color Swatch Variant Image both list that option (checked October 23, 2026).

  • Speed

    Native swatches are drawn by Showcase itself, so they add no app script to your pages. A hex swatch costs nothing extra to load; an image swatch adds one small image per color, so keep those files small. The swatch loading speed guide shows how to measure a collection page before and after a change.

Showcase swatch questions.

Why did my Showcase swatches disappear after updating?

Clean Canvas's 10.0.0 release note, from December 17, 2025, warns that swatches may need reconfiguring after the update. Open Theme settings > Swatches, set Swatches to display to Shopify, and turn grid swatches back on.

Which Showcase version supports Shopify swatches?

Versions after 10.0.0. The Theme Store listed Showcase 10.2.0 from April 1, 2026 when we checked on October 23, 2026.

What size were the old Showcase swatch images?

For the older Uploaded image method, Clean Canvas suggested PNGs of roughly 40 x 40 px. With native swatches you upload the image to the color's entry in Content > Metaobjects instead, and a small square file is still the right choice.

Can Showcase show one swatch per product card?

Yes. Turn on Show single swatch in product grid in Theme settings > Swatches, next to Show swatches in product grid.

Does Showcase have a dropdown variant picker?

Yes. The Variant picker block's Variant display style offers Dropdown or Underlined. Swatches themselves are switched on in Theme settings > Swatches.

Related guides and tools.

Themes like Showcase

Checked

Sources

Make the swatch files.

Turn your colors into hex values, swatch images and a printable sheet, ready for Shopify.

Open the swatch generator All theme guides