Black Friday 2026 Sale Stills. Lock the SKU. Overlay Last.

Black Friday 2026 is Friday 27 November, the day after US Thanksgiving on 26 November. Cyber Monday follows on 30 November. Do not wait for the signed discount and then invent a cousin bottle with “50% OFF” already in the pixels. Lock the real SKU now. Leave headline, price, percent, and event name empty. Overlay the offer a manager actually signed, in an editor, the week you ship. A sale still is not MAIN, not a marketplace approval, and not proof the deal exists. OpenAI’s Image API still splits generations from edits: edits start from an image you already trust. ChatGPT Images 2.5, launched 8 September 2026, is stronger at keeping a subject from a reference photo. FreeGPTImg is a GPT Image 2 workspace: 20 daily free credits, no credit card required. Overlay real words last.

Draft in FreeGPTImg. Recrop a feed frame in AI social media ads, keep materials honest in AI product photography, cut a catalog crop in the Amazon product photo generator, keep MAIN on the white-background product photo tool, stage one in-use crop in the lifestyle product photo generator, change only layout from a locked hero in image to image, and stay on GPT Image 2 when that is the label on the screen.

What the job actually is

The file you already have is the SKU. Black Friday is a calendar. If the kettle gains a new colorway, a Prime smile, a “CYBER WEEK” ribbon, or a second product “for the bundle,” you did not make a sale still. You rolled a cousin, or you mixed two jobs.

OpenAI’s current image guide lets you generate from a prompt or edit an existing file. The edit path is the useful one here: start from the pack shot you ship, name what stays, change one noun — crop, field, or empty band — then inspect. The same guide currently points API users at gpt-image-2.5-flare for everyday generation and gpt-image-2.5-sunburst when editing precision matters, with xhigh and max quality tiers above high. Background can be transparent, opaque, or auto. FreeGPTImg currently exposes GPT Image 2 on this loop. Write the name on the screen into the filename. Do not stamp Flare, Sunburst, or “Black Friday 2026” on a GPT Image 2 JPEG.

Amazon’s product image help still treats MAIN as a realistic photo of the item you sell, on a pure white field (RGB 255, 255, 255), without extra graphics or type. A lifestyle kitchen and a campaign still with empty headline bands can sit in the gallery or in ads. They do not replace MAIN. Read the live help article for the category you sell. AI output is a draft until a person checks it.

Meta’s image-ad guide for Facebook Feed currently recommends JPG or PNG, a 4:5 frame, and 1440×1800 as a working resolution, with a 600 px minimum width. That is a crop target, not a permission to bake “27 Nov” into the still. Recheck the live ads guide for the placement you buy.

The cheap failure this month is not “I started too late.” It is “I asked the model to write 40% off because the calendar said Black Friday, and now the pixels disagree with the cart.”

Name the still before you generate

Weak sets fail because they ask one prompt to be MAIN, a 4:5 feed ad, a 9:16 story, an email hero, and a signed discount. Pick one job.

Job	What you export	Keep	Change one thing	Wrong move
Locked catalog still	The SKU you already ship, quiet field	Shape, color, label, logo, pack size	Nothing, or light only	New colorway “for the sale”
White MAIN draft	Same SKU, square, opaque white	The upload	Field only	Sale badge, event name, extra unit
Lifestyle in-use still	Same SKU in one real room	The object	Scene only	White sweep plus “50% OFF”
4:5 feed sale still	Same SKU, empty lower or top band	Silhouette, palette	Crop and empty band	Baking “BLACK FRIDAY”
9:16 story / Reel still	Same SKU, empty lower third	The object	Crop only	UI chrome, prices, countdowns
1.91:1 landscape / email hero	Same SKU, empty right third	The object	Crop and empty band	“Cyber Monday” as scene type
Bundle still	Only SKUs that actually ship together	Each true pack	Layout, empty price	Invented gift-with-purchase
Offer overlay	Don’t generate it	Empty type	Editor, last	“40% OFF” in the generator

A text-to-image pass invents. An image-to-image pass should borrow. If you already paid for a pack shot that matches the listing, that file is truth. A seasonal prompt does not get to grow a second lid.

Checklist before you overlay the offer

Use this sequence on GPT Image 2. Do not paste a homepage slogan into a creator prompt and expect the model to keep the SKU.

1. Find the locked raster. One JPEG or PNG of the item you actually sell. If you do not have that file, stop and photograph it. Do not invent a kettle because November 27 is on the calendar.
2. Write keep / change / do-not in five lines. Keep silhouette, color, label, logo, and pack size. Change only one noun: crop, field, or empty band. Do not add a second SKU, a wax seal, a QR code, or a percent.
3. Name the engine on the screen. If the tab says GPT Image 2, write gpt-image-2 into the filename. Do not relabel the file flare or black-friday-approved.
4. Name the placement. 1:1 catalog, 4:5 feed, 9:16 story, or 1.91:1 landscape are different files. Recrop after the still is honest. Do not stretch one square into a story.
5. Ask for empty type. Prices, percents, “Black Friday,” “Cyber Monday,” “BLACK FRIDAY 2026,” “27 Nov,” and legal lines never belong in the generator if they must be exact. Overlay them in an editor after a manager signs the offer.
6. Leave production room. Product in the middle third. Quiet field. Empty band where the headline will sit. Do not fill every edge with confetti that will fight the overlay.
7. Keep MAIN honest. If this file might also be uploaded as MAIN, it is the wrong file. MAIN stays white, one unit, no graphics. Sale stills live in ads, email, and gallery slots that allow lifestyle.
8. Generate one still. One pass. File names like kettle-4x5-empty-band-gpt-image-2.png.
9. Inspect the subject before the overlay. A new spout, a Prime smile, a ribbon that says “SALE,” or a tag that says “40%” are stop conditions. Hold the still next to the real pack. If a stranger would think this brand shipped a holiday edition, discard it.
10. Only then overlay. In an editor, set the real headline, the real percent, and only the claims a manager signed. Recrop to the live placement size after the pixels match. Do not ask the model to spell the offer.

Prompt formula for the sale still

GPT Image 2 sale still for later overlay, not a MAIN image and not a signed discount.
Start from the uploaded product photo.
Keep: exact silhouette, color, label, logo, pack size.
Change only: [crop / field / empty headline band].
Empty type. No “Black Friday”, “Cyber Monday”, prices, percents, dates, or watermarks.
Do not add: extra SKUs, gift boxes that do not ship, Prime smiles, countdown clocks, celebrity faces, children.

Prompt examples

4:5 feed, empty lower band. “Image-to-image: keep this exact matte-black kettle, spout curve, and handle. 4:5 crop, product in the upper two thirds, empty lower band for later overlay. Quiet kitchen, even light. No prices, no ‘BLACK FRIDAY’, no second kettle.”

9:16 story, empty lower third. “4:5 then 9:16 recrop of the locked kettle, product in the middle third, empty lower third. No UI chrome, no countdown, no ‘27 Nov’.”

1.91:1 landscape, empty right third. “Image-to-image: keep this exact bottle silhouette and label. Landscape crop, product left of center, empty right third. Studio gray field. No ‘Cyber Monday’, no percent.”

Lifestyle in-use, type empty. “Image-to-image: keep this exact mug glaze and printed mark. Change only the scene to a quiet desk. No gift wrap that is not in the box, no price tag.”

White MAIN, not a sale file. “Image-to-image: keep this exact SKU. Change only the field to opaque pure white. No badge, no event name, no extra unit.”

Bundle that actually ships. “Image-to-image from two locked files: the 10-inch skillet and the lid that ships with it, side by side, empty price band. No third pan, no ‘bundle save’ type.”

Do not generate this. “Infographic that says ‘Black Friday 2026, 50% OFF, Amazon approved, guaranteed stock,’ with a fake Prime smile and a cousin kettle in a new color.”

Review the pixels before you overlay them

Zoom to 400%. A phone grid hides a rewritten label. An overlay will not hide it either.

• Subject honesty. Same silhouette, color, label, and pack size. If a stranger would think this brand shipped a holiday edition, discard the still.
• Edit honesty. Only the noun you named should move. If the spout, lid, or print also moved, the pass failed.
• Placement honesty. 4:5 is not 9:16. Recrop; do not stretch. Confirm the live Meta, Amazon, or email size before you export.
• Model honesty. Write the model you used into the file name. A GPT Image 2 still is GPT Image 2. Do not stamp 2.5 or “BFCM” on the JPEG.
• Empty type. Prices, percents, event names, and dates stay empty of anything you need people to read.
• People and file. No recognizable generated faces you cannot clear. No children. PNG or JPEG, RGB, quiet field, no watermark, no QR. Preview at feed size and at story size.
• Provenance. A calendar date is not a license, not a marketplace approval, and not a signed offer. If a platform requires AI disclosure, follow that policy. Recheck Amazon’s product image help and Meta’s ads guide before you tell a teammate the file is ready.

Limitations you should not skip

A generated still is not a signed discount, not a commercial-rights grant, and not MAIN. FreeGPTImg does not run ChatGPT Images 2.5 Flare or Sunburst, and it does not overlay live prices from your cart. The default loop here is GPT Image 2 stills. Do not generate medical seals, “#1 2026,” or sale badges unless those claims are already on the real label and a manager signed them.

OpenAI’s image guide is explicit about the two jobs: generate from a prompt, or edit an existing image. Edits can be partial or entire. Treat that as a keep-subject loop, not as a promise the model will honor an unsigned 40%. Quality tiers, background modes, and model IDs move. Recheck the live docs.

Models invent letters when you mention an event, a dollar figure, or a date as scene dressing. Shorten the brief. One SKU. One crop. Empty type. A new paragraph is not a backup of the PNG you already had. If the locked raster is honest, recrop that. If it is not honest, rephotograph. Do not ask a sale prompt to remember a pack you never locked.

US Black Friday is a retail weekend, not a global public holiday. Confirm the event your market actually runs. Overlay the name that belongs on the ad, not the name that trends on a mood board.

FAQ

When is Black Friday 2026?

Friday 27 November 2026, the day after US Thanksgiving on 26 November. Cyber Monday is 30 November 2026. Recheck your market if you sell outside the US weekend.

Should I bake “50% OFF” or “BLACK FRIDAY” into the image?

No. Leave headline, price, percent, and event name empty in the generator. Overlay only the offer a manager signed, in an editor, the week you ship. Unsigned type in pixels is how a still disagrees with the cart.

Can this file be my Amazon MAIN image?

No. MAIN is a realistic photo of the item you sell, usually on pure white, without extra graphics or type. A sale still with empty headline bands belongs in ads, email, or gallery slots that allow lifestyle. Read Amazon’s live product image help for your category.

Does FreeGPTImg run GPT Image 2.5 Flare or Sunburst?

No. FreeGPTImg is a GPT Image 2 workspace: 20 daily free credits, no credit card required. Use it to lock the still. Write the name on the screen into the filename.

Why did the model add a Prime smile or a second kettle?

The prompt mentioned a launch, a percent, or “make it more Black Friday” as scene dressing. Shorten it. Upload the locked photo. Name one crop. Empty type. Generate again.

When should I overlay the real offer?

After the still matches the SKU you ship, and after a manager signs the headline, percent, and dates. Do not overlay a guess on 26 October and hope the cart catches up on 27 November.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Black Friday (shopping)
• OpenAI: Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.5
• OpenAI: Image generation
• Amazon: Product image requirements
• Meta: Image ads guide

Lock the SKU on FreeGPTImg first

Pick the PNG that already matches the item you sell. Write five lines: keep, one crop or field change, empty type, overlay later. Open FreeGPTImg, stay on GPT Image 2 when that is the label on the screen, recrop a feed frame in AI social media ads, keep materials honest in AI product photography, cut a catalog crop in the Amazon product photo generator, keep MAIN on the white-background product photo tool, stage one in-use crop in the lifestyle product photo generator, run the edit in image to image, and only then overlay the signed offer.