GPT-image-1 review
Log Entry 3: 2025‑04‑25 KST
Good point-and-shoot image generation is now programmable.
Update
OpenAI released a new image model API. It didn’t make the same splash as when this model hit chatGPT a month ago. But it’s a big deal.
Observation
A month ago, shockwaves of Ghibli Studio profile picture rippled through the internet. That had mass appeal. But with this api release, developers are quietly tapping away. This is laying the groundwork for a much bigger change.
I added GPT-image-1 to my storybook generator. Prompt → image → storage → client review, all now runs inside one pipeline.
The API supports two main endpoints: generate and edit. Settings include:
Masking & in painting
moderation settings: low and auto
transparent background
aspect ratios (landscape, portrait and square)
transparent backgrounds
low, medium, and high quality settings
But this isn’t about prettier pictures. It’s about ease and control. Midjourney is still far and away the king of aesthetics. Stable Diffusion developers can still produce better results—but only after hours of darkroom tinkering. GPT-Image-1, though still more sterile than Midjourney, offers something different: consistent quality, wide accessibility, and the kind of programmable control that real systems can be built on.
This image model thinks like an LLM. Midjourney thrives on serendipity and vibe. GPT-image-1 listens, understands, and executes with precision. Especially when combining multiple input images and long prompts.
But there are downsides: It’s slower than I’d like, especially for edits with multiple photo inputs. Some requests take minutes. The aesthetics are lacking. And it’s expensive. It will improve in time.
What GPT-image-1 is enabling now isn’t “art.” It’s visual infrastructure. Back in the 2000s, we uploaded text to the internet.
2010s: photo.
2020s: perception.
And now the line between imagination and execution is less than ever before. An idea hits—and it’s rendered, masked, rerun, and shipped within minutes.
Capsule Note
The power of this update isn’t aesthetic—it’s architectural.