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GPT Image: How to Generate Images with ChatGPT

By Ashmaad

If you searched for gpt image, gpt photo, or gpt pictures, you are probably trying to figure out what ChatGPT’s image generator is actually called right now, since the name has changed more than once. This is about ChatGPT creating a brand new image from your description, not uploading one.

EpicTechNews wrote about How to Send a Photo in ChatGPT also.

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What Is GPT Image Actually Called Right Now

Inside ChatGPT itself, the feature is simply called ChatGPT Images, currently on version 2.0. You do not pick a model name to generate a picture, you just ask for one, or use the Images option in the app to generate or create an image directly. The underlying model that powers it, which mostly matters if you are a developer or just curious, is called gpt-image-2, sometimes written GPT Image 2. When people search gpt image, this overlap between the product name and the model name is usually exactly what they are trying to sort out.

A Quick History Of GPT And DALL-E

chatgpt free image

GPT Image has changed names and versions several times, which is why older tutorials can look confusing today. It started with DALL-E, then DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3, all diffusion based models built separately from ChatGPT’s language model. In March 2025, OpenAI replaced that with a native image generator built directly into GPT-4o, branded through the API as gpt-image-1, or GPT Image 1. That was followed by an interim gpt-image-1.5, and then by gpt-image-2 on April 21, 2026, which is what powers ChatGPT Images 2.0 today.

How To Generate An Image With GPT Image In ChatGPT

Open a chat and describe the image you want in plain language, the same way you would ask a person. Whether you think of it as asking GPT to generate an image or asking GPT to create an image, the process is identical. You can specify aspect ratio, style, and specific details directly in your prompt, and ChatGPT will generate the image inline in the conversation. If the result is close but not quite right, you can ask for edits in the same chat rather than starting over, and ChatGPT will adjust the existing image instead of generating a completely new one.

What Is New In GPT Image And ChatGPT Images 2.0

According to OpenAI’s own announcement, ChatGPT Images 2.0 improved text rendering inside generated images, added stronger multilingual support, and introduced a feature called Images with thinking. This mode can generate up to eight consistent images from a single prompt, keeping the same characters, objects, and style across the set, useful for things like a set of slides or a sequence of illustrations that need to match.

For anyone tracking the chatgpt image generator update history closely, OpenAI has also quietly added transparent background support to GPT Image through the API since the initial April launch, and on August 30, 2026, OpenAI officially retired the standalone DALL-E GPT inside ChatGPT for good, confirmed on its own ChatGPT Release Notes page. Any guide still telling you to open the DALL-E GPT is now out of date.

Which Plans Can Generate Images With GPT Image

ChatGPT Images 2.0 itself is available from Free through Enterprise, so the chatgpt free image experience gets the same core model as paid plans. Images with thinking is currently limited to Plus, Pro, and Business, with Enterprise and Edu access coming later, according to OpenAI’s Images in ChatGPT help page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to DALL-E in ChatGPT?

It is gone. DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3 were retired as base models on May 12, 2026, and OpenAI officially retired the standalone DALL-E GPT from ChatGPT on August 30, 2026. Any guide still telling you to open the DALL-E GPT is out of date.

Is GPT Image the same as ChatGPT Images 2.0?

Close, but they refer to slightly different things. ChatGPT Images 2.0 is the product name you see inside the app. GPT Image 2, or gpt-image-2, is the name of the underlying model powering it.

What is gpt-image-2?

It is the current image generation model behind ChatGPT Images 2.0, part of OpenAI’s broader GPT Image model family that also includes gpt-image-1 and gpt-image-1.5.

Is GPT-4o still generating ChatGPT’s images?

No. GPT-4o’s image generation was an earlier stage of this same feature. It has since been replaced by gpt-image-1.5 and then gpt-image-2.

Is ChatGPT’s image generator called Imagen?

No. Imagen is Google’s own image model, used in Gemini and Google’s other tools, and it is not related to OpenAI. ChatGPT’s image generator is called GPT Image, currently on GPT Image 2.


Written By

Ashmaad

I build WordPress websites and write blog posts that show up on Google. I help brands grow by mixing my technical skills with easy-to-read writing and smart search habits.