???? nopCom allows such now? before, 1.9 - 2.2 nopC renamed files or modified their names. but no, i've not done such bc well, where would i put'em? i can investigate some.
okay - so i figured it out. based on your suggestion to upload the images. turns out, the "image path" in the excel doc references the path on the server, not a local path, so one has to upload images referenced in the excel doc image path column before it will be seen while doing the upload. otherwise you get the "image can't be found" will appear for ya.
thank you guys - i am always grateful for your insight, suggestions, feedback and input. couldn't have done it without'cha.