Attribute sets allow for you to gather all of your attributes in one place. When creating a new attribute set, it will inherit all of the attributes from the default attribute set and then you can drag and drop any attributes you may have created into the set. It's best to stay organized and not end up with a lot of attribute sets. Try and make only as many as you need to cover the variations in your inventory e.g. you may need special fields for bikes, or skis or wine or dress suits, wedding gowns, electronics, gold clubs, and so forth. Other goods like most clothing or most footwear probably don't need any special fields. To begin, navigate to “Catalog”>”Attributes”>”Manage Attribute Sets” as shown below.
To create a new Attribute Set, click on “New Attribute Set” at the top right. Attribute Set Name is where you will name your attribute set. The “Based On” area is where you can mirror this attribute set in relation to another. The default is here to mirror the “Inventory” attribute set. The “Sync to Magento” option will allow for this attribute set to be sent to Magento*.
*Important: If your attribute set is set as “Sync to Magento = No” and you assign the attribute set to a product, you will not be able to sync that product to Magento until the attribute set itself is synced to Magento.*
The very right column is for any attribute sets that you may have created that are not assigned to this attribute set. To assign your attribute to this attribute set, simply drag and drop the attribute into the attribute set in the location you would like it to appear. Once you have assigned all of your attributes, go ahead and click “Save”. We have now created our attributes and attribute sets.