Shopify Export One Row per Quantity: One Line per Engraved Item

To export Shopify orders with one row per quantity, export by line item and turn on the option that gives each unit its own row. A line item with quantity 3 then becomes three rows, numbered 1 of 3, 2 of 3 and 3 of 3, each with the order number, the product and the line item’s properties, such as the engraving text. Your workshop works down the sheet and makes one item per row.

A customer orders three mugs, each with a different name. In your order data, that can be three line items or one line item with quantity 3. In your workshop, it is always three jobs. If the production sheet shows the three mugs on one row, someone has to stop and ask which name goes on which mug, and that is where names get mixed up and mugs get remade.

This guide shows how to set up that export with Columna: Order Export & Sheets, and what to check before the sheet goes to production.

Why does quantity break a production sheet?

Shopify stores an order as a list of line items. Each line item has a product, a variant, a quantity and, for personalised products, line-item properties: the fields the customer filled in, such as engraving text, a name, a gift message or an upload link. We explain them in detail in exporting Shopify orders with line-item properties.

Two things make quantity tricky:

• Properties belong to the line item. When two units of the same variant get different properties, Shopify keeps them as separate line items. Three mugs with three different names are usually three line items of quantity 1. One line item with quantity 3 has one set of properties for all three units.
• One row can hide several jobs. A line item with quantity 3 is one row in a line-item export. A maker reading row by row sees one job, not three, unless they read the quantity column every time.

Shopify’s standard order CSV has columns for the line item’s name, quantity and SKU, but no column for line-item properties. So a production sheet needs two things: each property in its own column, and each unit on its own row.

What changes when every unit gets its own row?

Line item in the order	One row per line item	One row per unit
Mug “Anna”, quantity 1	1 row	1 row (1 of 1)
Mug “Team 2026”, quantity 3	1 row	3 rows (1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3)
T-shirt “No. 7”, quantity 2	1 row	2 rows (1 of 2, 2 of 2)

The unit rows repeat the order and product details, so you can still sort or group by order number. Items with quantity 1 do not change.

How do I set up the export in Columna?

1. Open a template. The app comes with a template called Line items with properties. Use it or create your own; templates are stored in your store.
2. Choose one row per line item. The template decides whether the file has one row per order or one row per line item. For production, pick one row per line item, so each item keeps its own properties.
3. Turn on one row per unit. With this option, a line item with quantity 3 is written as three rows.
4. Add the Unit column. It shows the position of each row, such as 1 of 3, so the maker knows which unit a row stands for and the packer can check that all three are done.
5. Add one column per property. The app scans your last 250 orders for property keys and offers a column for each one, named Property: <key>, for example Property: Engraving or Property: Gift note.
6. Save the template. Use it for every batch you send to the workshop.

Which columns does a workshop need?

A sheet with 60 columns is hard to read at a bench. Keep only what production uses. A typical set for an engraving or print shop:

• Order
• Line item and variant, or SKU
• Unit (1 of 3)
• One column per property: engraving text, name, number, font
• Upload link for the customer’s file
• Gift message
• Shipping method

You can rename the headers and put the columns in the order your makers read them. Leave prices and customer emails out of a file that goes to a workshop or an outside printer.

How do I export the batch and check it?

Filter the orders you want to produce, for example paid and unfulfilled orders from the last two days, or orders with a tag such as engraving. Then download the file as CSV or XLSX. The file is built in your browser.

Before you share it, check three things:

1. Find an order with quantity above 1. Does it show one row per unit, numbered 1 of N to N of N?
2. Check the property columns. Engraving text should sit in its own column, not inside a combined Properties cell.
3. Open a few upload links. Make sure each one opens the right customer file.

If a customer typed several names into one text field of a single line item, for example “Anna, Ben, Carla” for three mugs, every unit row shows that same text. The split gives each unit a row, but it does not divide one field into parts. Use the Unit column to agree with your makers which name goes on which unit, or change the product form so each item is added to the cart with its own name.

Who is one row per unit for?

It helps most if:

• You sell engraved, printed or personalised items.
• Customers often buy more than one unit of the same item.
• Your team copies line-item properties into design software or a job list by hand.
• You hand orders to a production partner who works from rows.

If you only sell single-unit products, one row per line item is already one row per item. For accounting, one row per order is usually the better layout; we compare the layouts in one row per line item vs one row per order.

FAQ

Can Shopify export one row per quantity?

Shopify’s standard order CSV gives one row per line item, with the quantity in a column. A line item with quantity 3 stays one row, and line-item properties are not in that file.

Why are three engraved mugs three rows even without the split?

Because they are usually three line items. When the same variant is added with different properties, Shopify keeps each one as a separate line item, and a line-item export gives each its own row.

Does every unit row carry the engraving text?

Each unit row repeats the line item’s details, including its property columns. If the line item has one engraving for all its units, each unit row shows that engraving.

Does the split change totals?

If you add order totals to a line-item or unit export, they repeat on each row, and summing the column counts them more than once. Keep totals for a separate one-row-per-order export.

Does it work with CSV and Excel?

Yes. The same template exports to CSV or XLSX.

Try it with Columna: Order Export & Sheets

Columna: Order Export & Sheets exports Shopify orders to CSV or XLSX with line-item properties such as engraving text, gift messages and upload links in their own columns, processed in your browser. It is for shops that hand orders to production, fulfilment or accounting. Read more on the Columna: Order Export & Sheets page, or install it from the Shopify App Store and export your next batch with one row per unit.