Magento – Magento use associated simple product image for configurable product

I highly recommend a free extension called Simple Configurable Products (SCP). This extension allows you to show different images, descriptions, prices, etc depending on which attribute is selected. It also allows more advanced pricing and simpler adding of configurable products to the system. Overall, it saves time and makes the buying process easier...which is what eCommerce development is about!

More specific to your question, I believe the extension will default back to the simple product image if the child product doesn't have an image associated with it.

The only caveat with using this extension is that the extension has not been updated for a while, so you have to apply some patches for it to with with newer versions. These are easy updates. I have the extension working great with 1.8.1.

Install Process:

1. Install Simple Configurable Products on Magento Connect:
2. Fix indexing by replacing the file app/code/community/OrganicInternet/SimpleConfigurableProducts/Catalog/Model/Resource/Eav/Mysql4/Product/Indexer/Price/Configurable.php contents with this: http://pastebin.com/spVj88T4

3. Update the file app/code/community/OrganicInternet/SimpleConfigurableProducts/Checkout/Block/Cart/Item/Renderer.php with:

   class OrganicInternet_SimpleConfigurableProducts_Checkout_Block_Cart_Item_Renderer extends Mage_Checkout_Block_Cart_Item_Renderer
   {
       protected function getConfigurableProductParentId() //U PDATED
       {
           // FIX TO SHOW CORRECT IMAGE IN CART
           $parentIds = Mage::getResourceSingleton('catalog/product_type_configurable')->getParentIdsByChild($this->getItem()->getProductId());
           if($parentIds[0]) {
               return $parentIds[0];
           }
           return null;
       }
   

When you create a configurable product it doesn't matter what's the price of simple products -- these prices are ignored completely. So if you want to sell a simple product A which has price $29.99 and a simple product B ($39.99) then you must create a configurable product, set its price to $29.99 and open Associated product tab. Add products you want to associate with this configurable product. After adding them a block named Super product attributes configuration appears which contains options and price differences. Leave product A price empty and put 10 (+$10) to product B price field and voila: different simple product have different price.

There's actually an extension that allows you to use simple product prices instead of price differences, but it's kind of tricky to set up. Since it's free extension, I hope nobody complains about me pasting its link here:

https://github.com/organicinternet/magento-configurable-simple