Pixel Union has been building Shopify themes longer than most studios on the platform. Empire, Atlantic, Editions, Startup, Reach, Grid, plus a handful of others totaling 11 themes in the Shopify Theme Store. Their themes power mid-market D2C stores across fashion, electronics, beauty, and general retail. And every single one runs Rubik Combined Listings without code changes.
Why write a dedicated post for Pixel Union themes? Because their product card structures vary significantly between themes. Empire uses a dense grid with hover-reveal details. Atlantic goes for large imagery with minimal text overlay. Editions emphasizes editorial storytelling. Those layout differences affect where swatches appear, how many fit per row, and which of our 19 presets looks right. We tested all six of the most popular Pixel Union themes to give you specific recommendations instead of generic “it works” advice.
In this guide
- Empire + collection swatches
- Atlantic + collection swatches
- Editions + collection swatches
- Startup + collection swatches
- Reach + collection swatches
- Grid + collection swatches
- Per-theme comparison table
- Setup walkthrough
- Pairing with Rubik Variant Images
- FAQ
Empire + collection swatches
Empire is Pixel Union’s heavyweight. Built for stores with large inventories, 4-column grids, advanced filtering, and comparison-style product cards. It ships with 4 presets (Empire, Supply, Graphic, Industrial) and costs $300. Empire’s product cards are compact and information-dense, which means swatch rows need to be small.
The recommended RCL preset here is Compact Circle. Keep swatch diameter at 20-24px and the gap at 4px. Empire already packs vendor name, price, and sometimes a review star rating into each card, so swatches need to fit the existing rhythm instead of fighting it. If you have groups with 8+ colors, the overflow “+3” indicator keeps the card height consistent across the grid.
Empire stores tend to run bigger catalogs. That is actually where bulk grouping shines. If you have 200+ products that need grouping, manual one-by-one setup is painful. Use title pattern detection or tag-based grouping instead.
Atlantic + collection swatches
Atlantic ($240, 4 presets: Atlantic, Modern, Light, Chic) is the photography-first Pixel Union theme. Large hero images, full-width product cards, and a layout that breathes. Atlantic gives you more horizontal real estate per card than Empire, which means swatches can be bigger without looking cramped.
Best preset: Filled Circle or Image Swatch. Atlantic stores tend to be fashion-forward, and image swatches (tiny product photo crops inside the swatch circle) look polished here. We built the AI Magic Fill feature partly because merchants on themes like Atlantic kept asking for automated color detection instead of picking hex values manually for every swatch.
One quirk: Atlantic’s “Modern” preset uses a hover-expand card animation. RCL swatches do not interfere with this animation because they render inside a Shadow DOM container that is isolated from the theme’s CSS transitions.
Editions + collection swatches
Editions ($250, 3 presets: Editions, Spring, Fall) is the editorial theme. Magazine-style layouts, story blocks between products, and a design language that mixes content and commerce. Product cards in Editions can appear inside story sections alongside blog content, which is unusual.
RCL swatches appear on Editions product cards everywhere the theme renders them, including story sections and featured collection blocks. The Minimal Circle preset fits Editions’ editorial feel. Keep swatches subtle so they complement the content rather than distract from it.
Editions is a good choice for stores that want to tell a brand story alongside their product catalog. Separate products grouped with RCL work well here because each product gets its own URL and story, while swatches tie the family together visually.
Startup + collection swatches
Startup ($250, 3 presets: Startup, Home, Tech) targets small catalogs and new stores. Clean, minimal, fast loading. Startup’s product cards are simple with image, title, and price. Nothing else. That simplicity makes swatch integration look exceptionally clean because the swatches become the primary visual differentiator on the card.
Recommended preset: Outlined Circle. On Startup’s minimal cards, outlined circles with your brand accent color as the active border create a polished look without any visual noise. The Free plan is a natural starting point for Startup stores since both the theme and the app target merchants who are just getting going.
Reach + collection swatches
Reach ($300, 4 presets: Reach, Natural, Bold, Clean) is Pixel Union’s newer entry, designed for brands scaling into international markets. It has strong RTL support and built-in translation-friendly layouts. This makes Reach a solid match for RCL’s multilingual capabilities via Translate and Adapt.
Best preset: Pill Button or Filled Circle depending on your swatch type. Reach’s card design is modern with rounded corners, so rounded swatch shapes (circles, pills) match the theme’s design language better than sharp squares.
Grid + collection swatches
Grid ($260, 3 presets: Grid, Bright, Classic) does exactly what the name says. Tight product grid, lots of items per row, minimal chrome. Grid merchants tend to have medium-sized catalogs (50-200 products) and prioritize browsing density over editorial storytelling.
Preset recommendation: Compact Circle. Grid’s tight spacing means swatches need to stay small. But that is fine. Even 18px circle swatches are clearly clickable on desktop, and RCL’s mobile view automatically adjusts touch targets to meet accessibility standards regardless of the desktop size you choose.
Per-theme comparison table
| Theme | Price | Presets | Best RCL preset | Card style | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire | $300 | 4 | Compact Circle | Dense, info-heavy | Large catalogs, electronics |
| Atlantic | $240 | 4 | Filled Circle / Image | Photo-first, wide | Fashion, photography brands |
| Editions | $250 | 3 | Minimal Circle | Editorial, mixed content | Storytelling brands |
| Startup | $250 | 3 | Outlined Circle | Minimal, clean | New stores, small catalogs |
| Reach | $300 | 4 | Pill Button | Modern, rounded | International, RTL |
| Grid | $260 | 3 | Compact Circle | Tight grid | Medium catalogs, browsing density |
Setup walkthrough
All Pixel Union themes follow the same RCL installation flow:
- Install Rubik Combined Listings from the Shopify App Store.
- Toggle the app embed in your Pixel Union theme’s customizer (App embeds section).
- Create groups manually, via bulk title pattern, or with AI auto-grouping.
- Pick a preset from the table above, then fine-tune in the visual editor.
- Check mobile and desktop views. Pixel Union themes often have different card layouts per breakpoint, so verify both.
The entire process takes under 15 minutes for the first group. Subsequent groups are faster because your swatch settings carry over.
Pairing with Rubik Variant Images
RCL gives you collection page swatches and grouped product page navigation. But the product page gallery? That is Rubik Variant Images territory. RVI filters product page images so customers only see photos matching their selected variant. If you sell a jacket in 6 colors and each color has 5 photos, RVI ensures visitors see only those 5 photos, not all 30.
Both apps are metafield-based, no external API calls. Running them together does not double your page load. We designed them as companion tools from the start.
“I use Rubik Combined Listings Along with Rubik Swatch. I went through, no exaggerating, 50 apps before I found what I needed. Theses guys are the real deal, and they will jump on chat and fix your problems ASAP. Definately reccomend.”
Parks Nerd, US, March 2026 – Rubik Combined Listings on the Shopify App Store
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Product groups | AI credits/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 | 100 |
| Starter | $10 | 100 | 1,000 |
| Advanced | $30 | 500 | 5,000 |
| Premium | $50 | 5,000 | 50,000 |
Annual billing saves 17%. All features on every plan. The only limit that changes is group count and AI credits.
See the live demo store, watch the tutorial video, or read the getting started guide.
FAQ
Does RCL work with every Pixel Union theme? Yes. Empire, Atlantic, Editions, Startup, Reach, Grid, and the rest of Pixel Union’s lineup are all supported. The app uses Shopify’s app embed system, not theme code injection.
Empire has really dense product cards. Will swatches make them too tall? Not if you use the Compact Circle preset and keep sizes at 20-24px. The overflow indicator handles groups with many colors.
Can I show different swatch types for different product groups? Yes. Visual settings are per-group. Color groups can use filled circles while material groups use text pills.
Does RCL work on the home page featured collection? Yes. Any Pixel Union section that renders product cards picks up RCL swatches automatically.
Is Shopify Plus required? No. RCL works on Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus. No plan restriction.
How do I handle bulk grouping on Empire with 500+ products? Use the bulk grouping tool with title pattern detection. It scans your catalog and creates groups automatically based on shared title prefixes.
Can I pair RCL with RVI on Pixel Union themes? Absolutely. RCL handles collection swatches, RVI handles product page image filtering. Both apps work together without conflict.
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