The Gift Basket Is a New Image. Don't Ship It as the SKU.

OpenAI’s image guide has a heading that should stop a catalog upload: “Create a new image using image references.” The edits endpoint can edit an existing photo, generate a new image from other images as a reference, or replace a masked region. The gift-basket example uses four inputs — body lotion, a bath bomb, an incense kit, and soap — and asks for a photorealistic gift basket on a white background labeled “Relax & Unwind,” with a ribbon and handwriting-like font, containing all the items in the reference pictures. The curl sample posts those four files to POST /v1/images/edits with model=gpt-image-2.5-sunburst and writes gift-basket.png. That file is a fifth scene. It is not the lotion MAIN. It is not the soap pack. It is not a Meta feed still of any one SKU. Catalog and campaign stills still start from a photograph of the item you sell. Leave type empty. Overlay real words last. FreeGPTImg is a GPT Image 2 workspace: 20 daily free credits, no credit card required. Do not stamp 2.6, Flare, Sunburst, or “gift basket” on a GPT Image 2 JPEG, and do not ship the basket as the product.

Draft in 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. Put one unit on white in the Amazon product photo generator. Change only the field in white background product photo. Change only one noun from a locked hero in image to image. Start a net-new concept in text to image only when you do not yet have a photo.

What the job actually is

OpenAI’s image guide still splits the work: generate from a prompt, or edit an existing image, including partial edits. Under edits, generating from references is a third job. The section title is not “keep these four packs.” It is “create a new image.” The model looks at lotion, bomb, incense, and soap, then invents a basket, a ribbon, a white field, and a handwritten claim. Recheck the live guide if a teammate still thinks four uploads equal four honest listings.

GPT Image 2.6 sits on the Image API path. The family has two models: gpt-image-2.6-sunburst for detailed visual work and gpt-image-2.6-flare for fast iteration. The model pages list /v1/images/generations and /v1/images/edits as supported. They list Responses as not supported. The same guide still says the examples below the 2.6 section use GPT Image 2.5. The gift-basket curl is gpt-image-2.5-sunburst. The Responses sample in that section uses gpt-6-astra with an image-generation tool set to gpt-image-2.5-sunburst. Write the ID that actually ran. Do not send a 2.6 ID into a Responses thread and expect the same handles as 2.5.

Both 2.6 models support complexity control, markup-guided edits, SVG output, and animated GIF output through the Image API. Complexity is how much the model plans. Markup is a circle on a transparent PNG. SVG is for icons with editable paths. GIF is a 2–16 frame loop. None of those formats is Amazon MAIN. None of them is a gift-basket composite of four SKUs. The unused handle today is the reference generate: one or more images in, a new image out.

Amazon’s product image help still treats MAIN as a realistic photo of the item you sell, usually on a pure white field, without extra graphics or type. A basket that holds four cousins and a baked “Relax & Unwind” line fails that job four times. Meta’s image-ad guide describes feed image ads as still image files of the thing you are selling, not a hamper with invented handwriting. Recheck both pages before you tell a teammate the basket is ready to upload.

The cheap failure today is not “I did not know edits can take four photos.” It is “I sent lotion, soap, bomb, and incense, the model built a hamper, and I shipped that PNG as all four listings.”

Name the still before you generate

Weak sets fail because one reference request tries to be four catalog stills, a hamper, MAIN, a 4:5 ad, and the signed headline. Pick one job.

Job	What you export	Keep	Change one thing	Wrong move
Concept still	A mood board or placeholder	One idea	Nothing else	Feeding it back as the product
Locked catalog still	The SKU you already ship	Shape, color, label, logo, pack size	Nothing, or light only	Starting from a generated JPEG
White MAIN draft	Same SKU, square, opaque white	The upload	Field only	Extra unit, ribbon, basket, type
4:5 feed still	Same SKU, empty lower or top band	Silhouette, palette	Crop and empty band	Asking for a hamper of four SKUs
9:16 story still	Same SKU, empty lower third	The object	Crop only	Status bars, prices, “Relax & Unwind”
Focused raster edit	Same locked photo	Everything the prompt does not name	One noun	Turning the edit into a new kit
Reference generate	A new composite, such as a gift basket	The brief as a concept	Nothing about listing truth	Using gift-basket.png as lotion MAIN
Lifestyle scene	Same one SKU in one real-use setting	The object	Scene only	Adding three other products from memory
Offer overlay	Don’t generate it	Empty type	Editor, last	“Relax & Unwind”, “$29”, “Shop now” in the prompt

A text-to-image basket invents. A four-reference basket also invents. The guide is explicit: you use images as a reference to generate a new image. If you already paid for pack shots that match the listings, those files are truth. The hamper is extra set dressing. It is not a fifth SKU, and it is not a substitute for the four.

Checklist before anything leaves the thread

Use this sequence. Do not paste four SKUs onto POST /v1/images/edits and expect the export to be any of the packs you used to ship.

1. Name the job. Concept still, catalog still, MAIN draft, feed still, story still, focused raster edit, reference generate, lifestyle scene, or overlay. One file, one job.
2. If it is a catalog, ad, or listing still, start from a photograph. The locked JPEG of the one item you sell. If you do not have that file, stop and photograph it. Do not invent a bottle because the prompt asked four photos to sit in a basket.
3. One SKU per listing file. Lotion, soap, bomb, and incense are four listings. They are not ingredients for one MAIN. If you need a bundle shot, photograph the bundle you actually ship, or keep the composite in the concept folder.
4. Write keep / change / do-not in five lines. Keep silhouette, color, label, logo, and pack size. Change only one noun: crop, field, empty band, or — if this file is actually a concept composite — the scene. Do not add a second SKU, a restyled colorway, or a percent.
5. Name the engine on the screen. If FreeGPTImg shows GPT Image 2, write gpt-image-2. If an API log says gpt-image-2.5-sunburst, gpt-image-2.6-sunburst, or gpt-image-2.6-flare, write that ID. If the export is a reference generate, write reference-generate into the filename too. Do not relabel either file 2.6-approved.
6. Do not treat four uploads as four locks. The gift-basket sample sends body-lotion.png, bath-bomb.png, incense-kit.png, and soap.png and asks for a new basket. That is a collage brief. Image-to-image on a locked hero should send one photo and change one noun.
7. Ask for empty type. Prices, percents, star ratings, “Shop now,” “Relax & Unwind,” legal lines, and model names never belong in the generator if they must be exact. Overlay them in an editor after a person signs the words. Handwriting in the pixels is still a claim.
8. If you still need a hamper, keep it off MAIN. Photograph the real kit, or generate a concept and leave it in the concept folder. Do not upload gift-basket.png as lotion, soap, bomb, or incense. Do not recrop the hamper into a 4:5 ad and call it the kettle.
9. Pin the endpoint. Reference generates go to /v1/images/edits with one or more images. Focused keep-the-SKU edits also go to edits, but with one photo and a keep / change prompt. Generations invent with no pixels. 2.6 does not currently list Responses. Recheck the live model pages.
10. Inspect the pixels before the overlay. A rewritten mark on the lotion, a floating “Relax & Unwind”, a ribbon that says “SALE”, a fifth product you do not sell, or a tag that says “4.9” are stop conditions. Hold the export next to the real packs. If a stranger would think this brand shipped a hamper edition, discard it.
11. Only then overlay, and only on a locked still. In an editor, set the real headline on a locked raster of one SKU, not inside the basket pixels. Recrop to the live placement size after the still matches. Do not ask Sunburst to spell the offer across four cousins.

Prompt formula for the locked still

GPT Image 2 catalog or ad still, not a gift-basket composite and not MAIN unless named.
Start from the uploaded product photo.
Keep: exact silhouette, color, label, logo, pack size.
Change only: [crop / field / empty headline band / one noun].
Empty type. No prices, percents, ratings, model names, watermarks, or chat chrome.
Do not add: extra SKUs, baskets, ribbons, restyled colorways, “Relax & Unwind”, “Shop now”, celebrity faces, children.

Prompt formula if you still need a concept composite

Concept only. Not MAIN. Not a listing photo of any input SKU.
Use the uploaded product photographs as style and shape references only.
Do not restyle, recolor, or redraw any one pack into a new SKU.
Leave all type empty. Do not invent “Relax & Unwind”, prices, or CTAs.
Save as concept-gift-basket.png. Do not upload this file to a catalog.

Prompt examples

Locked catalog still. “Image-to-image: keep this exact matte lotion bottle, pump, and printed mark. Even studio light. Empty type. Not a gift basket, not MAIN unless named.”

White MAIN, one unit. “Image-to-image: keep this exact SKU. Change only the field to opaque pure white. No badge, no extra unit, no ribbon, no basket.”

4:5 feed, empty lower band. “Image-to-image: keep this exact soap bar and stamp. 4:5 crop, product in the upper two thirds, empty lower band for later overlay. Quiet bath shelf, even light. No prices, no hamper, no second bar.”

9:16 story, empty lower third. “Image-to-image: keep this exact incense kit label. 9:16, empty lower third. No status bar, no ‘Relax & Unwind’, no model watermark.”

Lifestyle, one SKU. “Image-to-image: keep this exact bath bomb color and mold. One ceramic dish, one towel, even window light. No extra products, no handwritten claim.”

Do not generate this. “Gift basket on white labeled Relax & Unwind, lotion plus soap plus bomb plus incense, CHAMPIONS ribbon, Instagram CTA Shop now $29, 4.9 stars, guaranteed Amazon approved, cousin lids that look cleaner in a hamper, MAIN for all four SKUs.”

That last prompt is four listings, a claim, and a lie. Split it.

Review the pixels before they leave the overlay

Zoom to 400%. A basket hides a rewritten label behind raffia. An overlay will not hide it either.

• Subject honesty. Same silhouette, color, label, and pack size as the one SKU this file is for. If a stranger would think this brand shipped a hamper edition, discard the file.
• Job honesty. A concept still stays in the concept folder. A reference generate is a new image until you prove otherwise. MAIN stays white, one unit, no graphics, no basket. A lifestyle scene still shows one object you sell.
• Engine honesty. Write the model you used into the file name. A GPT Image 2 still is GPT Image 2. A 2.5 Sunburst gift-basket PNG is Sunburst plus reference-generate. Do not stamp 2.6 on the FreeGPTImg JPEG.
• Empty type. Prices, percents, ratings, store chrome, “Relax & Unwind,” and model names stay empty of anything you need people to read. A ribbon is not a headline.
• Handle honesty. One photo in is a keep / change edit. Four photos in is a new composite. Generations invent. 2.6 Image API edits are not Responses. If you needed a new object, you did not need a product still.
• People and file. No recognizable generated faces you cannot clear. No children. Preview the still at the size the catalog actually renders, and preview a feed crop at the size the ad actually renders.
• Provenance. A 200 from the Image API is not a license, not a marketplace approval, and not a signed offer. 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 gift basket is not a signed slogan, not a commercial-rights grant, and not MAIN. FreeGPTImg does not run GPT Image 2.6, Flare, Sunburst, or the four-image gift-basket sample. The default loop here is GPT Image 2 stills. Do not generate medical seals, “#1 2026,” store logos, or sale badges unless those claims are already on the real label and a manager signed them.

OpenAI’s own limitations still apply: complex prompts can take up to two minutes; text in the image can still miss placement and clarity; recurring brand marks can drift across generations; structured layouts are harder than they look. Those limits get worse when four packs become one hamper. Treat them as reasons to lock each photograph first, not as a dare to add a fifth SKU.

The 2.6 model pages currently support image generation and image edit. They do not list Responses. The gift-basket example in the live guide still names gpt-image-2.5-sunburst. Recheck the live docs; model IDs and endpoints move.

Models invent letters, digits, and product cousins when you mention Instagram, a dollar figure, “gift basket,” “more premium,” or “make ten.” Shorten the brief. One SKU. One noun. Empty type. gift-basket.png is extra set dressing, 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 four references to remember a pack you never locked.

FAQ

What does “create a new image using image references” mean?

It means the edits endpoint can take one or more photos and generate a new picture. OpenAI’s gift-basket example sends lotion, a bath bomb, an incense kit, and soap, then asks for a photorealistic basket on white labeled “Relax & Unwind.” The output is a fifth scene, not a lock of any input SKU. Recheck the live image-generation guide.

Can I use that gift-basket PNG as Amazon MAIN or a Meta image ad?

No. MAIN is a realistic photo of the item you sell, usually on pure white, without extra graphics or type. A hamper, a ribbon, extra units, or baked “Relax & Unwind” type fails that job. Feed image ads are still-image files of the thing you are selling. Lock one SKU first. Empty type. Overlay last. Recheck Amazon’s product image help and Meta’s ads guide.

Does FreeGPTImg run the four-image gift-basket sample, GPT Image 2.6, Flare, or Sunburst?

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

Should I send four product photos or one?

One, if the file must stay a listing, MAIN, or an ad of that SKU. Four, only if you are generating a concept composite and you will keep that file out of the catalog. The guide’s own sample writes gift-basket.png. Treat that name as a warning.

Why did the lotion label change inside the basket?

Because a reference generate is a new image, not a lock. Brand marks can drift across generations. If the photograph is already truth, send that PNG alone, name one change, and tell the tool not to restyle the rest of the SKU. If the hamper shows a cousin pump, discard the composite.

Should I lock stills in 2.6 or outside it?

Outside it, if the file might ship as catalog, MAIN, or an ad. Photograph the item. Run the keep / change / empty-type loop on GPT Image 2. Then, if you still need a concept hamper, send references only into a folder that cannot be uploaded as lotion. Do not send 2.6 into Responses; the current model pages do not list that endpoint.

Sources

• OpenAI: Image generation
• OpenAI: GPT Image 2.6 Sunburst
• OpenAI: GPT Image 2.6 Flare
• Amazon: Product image requirements
• Meta: Image ads guide

Lock each SKU before you composite a basket

Pick the PNG that already matches the item you sell, not the hamper a reference pass invented because the prompt asked lotion, soap, bomb, and incense to sit together. Write five lines: keep, one noun, 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, put one unit on white in the Amazon product photo generator, change only the field in white background product photo, run the edit in image to image, start a net-new concept in text to image only when there is no photo, and only then overlay the signed words — never a four-reference gift-basket.png as the pack, and tell the tool not to touch the SKU.