gpt-image-1 Shuts Down October 23: A 48-Hour Creator Checklist

OpenAI’s deprecations table, in the 22 April 2026 snapshot, lists gpt-image-1 as shutting down on 23 October 2026. The listed API substitutes are gpt-image-2.5-sunburst or gpt-image-2.5-flare. After that date, calls that still name gpt-image-1 should be expected to fail. A second wave on 1 December 2026 removes gpt-image-1-mini, gpt-image-1.5, and chatgpt-image-latest, with the same 2.5 substitutes. If you make catalog stills, ads, and posters, you do not need that dying API string. OpenAI’s image-generation guide now points new API work at GPT Image 2.5; gpt-image-2 remains a documented earlier model with quality settings low / medium / high and sizes up to a 3840-pixel edge. ChatGPT Images 2.5 launched 8 September 2026 as the consumer editing surface. FreeGPTImg is a GPT Image 2 workspace: 20 daily free credits, no credit card required. It is not ChatGPT Images 2.5, and it does not run gpt-image-1. Overlay exact copy last.

Keep the loop in FreeGPTImg. Stay on GPT Image 2 for the generator in front of you, use the ChatGPT image generator free alternative when you want a dedicated text-to-image path, invent the first frame in AI text-to-image or the free AI image generator, lock a catalog crop in AI product photography, recrop a feed frame in AI social media ads, and change one view from a locked hero in image to image.

What actually ends in 48 hours

Three products share similar names. Mixing them is how a 48-hour window turns into a week of bad files.

1. gpt-image-1 (API). OpenAI shuts this route down on 23 October 2026. After that date, requests that name it should fail. The deprecations table names GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst or Flare as the substitute, not “any image button you already have.”
2. Older GPT Image API aliases. On 1 December 2026, gpt-image-1-mini, gpt-image-1.5, and chatgpt-image-latest also leave the API, with the same 2.5 substitutes. If a script, custom GPT, or Zap still stores those strings, change them before that date. A creator prompt does not need those IDs.
3. ChatGPT Images 2.5 (consumer). OpenAI launched this on 8 September 2026. It is the chat surface for generating and editing. It is not the same string as gpt-image-1, and it is not FreeGPTImg.

GPT Image 2 is still in OpenAI’s image-generation guide as an earlier model. For new API integrations, that guide says to use one of the GPT Image 2.5 models. Square 1024×1024 is typically fastest. Documented popular sizes include 1536×1024, 1024×1536, 2048×2048, and 4K landscape / portrait within the edge and ratio limits. Quality on GPT Image 2 is low, medium, or high. GPT Image 2.5 adds xhigh and max. Do not write those 2.5 quality names into a GPT Image 2 prompt and expect a different engine.

The prompting guide is the same whether you have two days or two months: start from the image you need, name what stays, change one thing, inspect. Flare is documented as the small, faster 2.5 model with quality comparable to GPT Image 2. Sunburst is the base 2.5 model, with higher image quality than GPT Image 2. Both are described as stronger at precise editing and subject preservation. FreeGPTImg currently exposes GPT Image 2 on this loop. Write the name on the screen into the filename.

Name the job before you name the model

Weak sets fail because they ask one prompt to be an API migration poster, a white catalog MAIN, a ChatGPT edit, and a “new model” announcement. Name the job first.

Job	Working crop	Generate in	Keep	Wrong move
Catalog still	Square, quiet field	GPT Image 2 still	Product as sold, empty type	gpt-image-1 after Oct 23; sale bursts
Additional view	Square or 4:5	Same SKU, one change	True silhouette	Extra ports, extra colorways
ChatGPT edit	Whatever ChatGPT exports	ChatGPT Images 2.5	One element change	Calling that file “GPT Image 2”
API replacement	Your app’s size	Official 2.5 Sunburst or Flare	Not a FreeGPTImg feature	Shipping gpt-image-1 in production
Social recrop	1:1, 4:5, or 9:16	After the catalog still is honest	Empty price, empty percent	Baking “Oct 23” or “2.5” into the pixels
Poster with words	Generate large, overlay later	GPT Image 2, then an editor	Empty headline band	Fake logos, fake “#1 2026”

A ChatGPT Images 2.5 edit is not a GPT Image 2 still. A GPT Image 2 still is not an API migration. An API substitute is not marketplace approval. Generate large, then recrop in an editor to the box the channel shows. Overlay real words later. Prices, percents, SKUs, URLs, and model IDs never belong in the generator if they must be exact.

OpenAI still lists four limits that matter this week: complex prompts can take up to two minutes; text in the frame can still land in the wrong place; recurring brand marks can drift across a set; structured layouts can ignore a grid. Empty type bands are the cheap way to stay inside those lines.

48-hour creator checklist

Use the same sequence in a GPT Image 2 tab, a text-to-image tool, an image-to-image pass, or ChatGPT Images 2.5. Do not paste API request bodies into a creator prompt.

1. Grep the dead string today. Search scripts, .env files, custom GPTs, Zap steps, and saved presets for gpt-image-1. If you build against the API, OpenAI’s listed substitute is gpt-image-2.5-sunburst or gpt-image-2.5-flare. If you generate stills in FreeGPTImg, you are already off that route. Do not keep a dead model string “just in case.”
2. Write the offer in five lines. What you ship, the slot name (catalog still, additional view, social recrop, poster), crop, empty type zones, and which model you will actually use. If the file must say “GPT Image 2,” do not generate it in a ChatGPT Images 2.5 thread and rename it later.
3. Lock one as-sold hero. Even light, product filling most of the frame, quiet field. This file is truth. Do not put prices, model IDs, or sunset dates on it.
4. Write keep / change / do-not. Keep silhouette, materials, pack count, and the exact SKU. Change only view, crop, or one empty layout. Do not add logos, seals, QR codes, extra accessories, or a second gadget.
5. Generate one still on GPT Image 2. One pass. File names like speaker-main-gpt-image-2.jpg. FreeGPTImg does not expose the gpt-image-1 API string; it runs GPT Image 2.
6. Optional second view. Same lighting, same SKU, one change. Image-to-image is for “keep this speaker, show the back,” not “make it look like the 2.5 demo.”
7. Match the crop. Square for many gallery files. 4:5 for a tall additional still. 16:9 or 9:16 only as recrops. Do not stretch a white catalog still into a Story and call it a model upgrade.
8. Inspect the subject before the model story. A USB-C that became Lightning, a sixth finger, a badge reading “gpt-image-2.5,” or a tag that says “50% OFF” are stop conditions. Hold the still next to the real sample.
9. Overlay copy last. In an editor, set the real headline and only the claims a manager signed. Keep marketplace files in the format that channel lists (often JPEG or PNG, RGB, enough pixels for zoom).
10. Calendar the December 1 aliases. gpt-image-1-mini, gpt-image-1.5, and chatgpt-image-latest still have until 1 December 2026. If those strings appear anywhere in production, treat them as the next cleanup, not as a reason to stamp “2.5” on a catalog JPEG this week.

Prompt formula

Catalog still on GPT Image 2, not a gpt-image-1 API call and not a ChatGPT Images 2.5 demo poster.
Product: one [SKU], accurate silhouette, materials, port count, and pack count.
Slot: [catalog still / additional view / social recrop / poster with empty headline].
Light: even catalog light, quiet field.
Keep: empty price, empty percent, empty model-name lockup.
Change only: [front-to-back / crop / one empty layout].
Text in image: none. No “gpt-image-1”, “2.5”, “October 23”, prices, watermarks, or marketplace badges.
Do not add: extra SKUs, extra ports, sale bursts, celebrity hands, children.

Prompt examples

Catalog still, as sold. “Square catalog still of one charcoal fabric Bluetooth speaker standing assembled, even studio light, quiet white field. Product fills most of the frame. No arrows, no boxes, no readable slogans, no model-name badges.”

Additional back view. “Square catalog still of the same speaker, identical lighting, quiet field, rear USB-C port visible, true port count. No extra ports, no phone, no ‘GPT Image 2.5’ type.”

Image-to-image, one change. “Image-to-image: keep this exact speaker silhouette, fabric, and studio lighting. Change only to the back view. Quiet field. No extra objects, no text, no second speaker.”

Social recrop. “9:16 recrop of the locked hero, speaker in the middle third, empty lower band for later overlay. No ‘50% off’ type, no percentages, no platform UI chrome.”

Poster with empty headline. “4:5 poster layout of the same speaker on a quiet tabletop, large empty headline band at the top, empty subhead band. No invented watts, no ‘#1 2026,’ no competitor logos.”

Do not generate this. “API migration infographic that says ‘gpt-image-1 → 2.5, 59% cheaper, guaranteed commercial rights,’ with a sunset date and a fake ranking badge.”

Review the pixels before you upload

Zoom to 100%. A phone grid hides a fake port and a leftover model name.

• Subject honesty. Same silhouette, materials, finish, port count, and SKU. If a stranger would think this unit has a feature it does not ship, discard the still.
• Model honesty. Write the model you used into the file name. GPT Image 2 stills are GPT Image 2. ChatGPT Images 2.5 edits are ChatGPT Images 2.5. Do not label either as gpt-image-1 after you stop using that route.
• Empty type. Prices, percents, watts, model IDs, and marketplace badges stay empty of anything you need people to read.
• People and file. No recognizable generated faces you cannot clear. No children. JPG or PNG, RGB, enough pixels for zoom, no watermark, no QR. Preview on a phone and as a square.
• Provenance. A newer model name is not a license. If a platform requires AI disclosure, follow that policy. Recheck OpenAI’s deprecations table before you leave an old model string in a script.

Limitations you should not skip

A generated still is not marketplace approval, not an API migration, and not a commercial-rights grant. FreeGPTImg does not upload into Amazon, Shopify, or a retailer CMS, and it does not call gpt-image-1 or GPT Image 2.5 for you. OpenAI’s documented API substitute on 23 October is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst or Flare; GPT Image 2 remains a separate, documented model. ChatGPT Images 2.5 is a consumer surface, not a FreeGPTImg feature. 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 current Image API documents recommended sizes at 1024×1024, 1536×1024, and 1024×1536, with custom WIDTHxHEIGHT strings whose edges are multiples of 16, aspect between 1:3 and 3:1, neither edge above 3840 pixels, and a total pixel count up to 8,294,400 (4K). Resolutions above 2560×1440 are experimental. Transparent PNG or WebP is a different export (background: "transparent"). Keep it off a catalog still unless the slot is a cutout. GPT Image 2 quality is low, medium, or high. Do not type xhigh or max into a GPT Image 2 prompt and expect Sunburst.

Models still invent letters when you mention a sunset, a percent, or a model ID as scene dressing. Shorten the brief. One SKU. Empty type.

FAQ

What shuts down on October 23, 2026?

gpt-image-1 leaves the OpenAI API. The deprecations table lists gpt-image-2.5-sunburst or gpt-image-2.5-flare as the substitute. That is an API change. It is not a reason to throw away honest catalog stills, and it is not a FreeGPTImg outage. FreeGPTImg runs GPT Image 2, with 20 daily free credits and no credit card required.

What happens on December 1, 2026?

gpt-image-1-mini, gpt-image-1.5, and chatgpt-image-latest also leave the API, with the same 2.5 substitutes. If a tool, script, or custom integration still names those strings, change it before that date. A creator prompt does not need those IDs.

Is GPT Image 2 the same as ChatGPT Images 2.5?

No. ChatGPT Images 2.5 is the 8 September 2026 consumer editing surface. GPT Image 2 is a documented image model with low / medium / high quality and sizes up to a 3840-pixel edge. FreeGPTImg is a GPT Image 2 workspace. Do not treat a ChatGPT thread export as a GPT Image 2 file.

Should I put the model name or the sunset date in the image?

No. Do not render “gpt-image-1,” “GPT Image 2.5,” or “October 23” in the pixels. Put the model in the file name. Leave catalog files empty of type. Overlay real headlines in an editor.

Can I keep using old gpt-image-1 presets after October 23?

Not on the API. Calls to a shut-down route return errors. Move stills work to GPT Image 2 or, if you are building against the API, to the substitute OpenAI lists. Do not keep a dead model string “just in case.”

Why did the model write “2.5” or “50% off” on my speaker?

The prompt mentioned the sunset, a sale, or “new model” as scene dressing. Shorten it. One SKU. Empty type. Generate again. If type still appears, lock a quiet-field hero of the real product first, then run image-to-image with “change the view only, add no text.”

Sources

• OpenAI Developers: Deprecations
• OpenAI Developers: Image generation
• OpenAI Developers: Image prompting
• OpenAI: Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.5

Make one GPT Image 2 still on FreeGPTImg

Write five lines for one offer and the slot you actually need. Ask for empty type. Open FreeGPTImg, run the job on GPT Image 2 or the ChatGPT image generator free alternative, invent the first frame in AI text-to-image or the free AI image generator, keep materials honest in AI product photography, recrop a feed frame in AI social media ads, change one view from a locked hero in image to image, and overlay real words only after the still matches the product you ship.