GPT Image 1.5 is now live inside ImageGen

OpenAI’s GPT Image 1.5 is now working behind the scenes in ImageGen. With stronger lighting, cleaner text, and more reliable edits, your images are now more realistic and publish-ready—without changing how you work.

Julia Fernandez 5min read 17 Dec 2025
GPT Image 1.5

OpenAI has released GPT Image 1.5, a major upgrade to its earlier GPT Image 1 model, and it’s now one of the image engines powering Envato ImageGen behind the scenes.

You won’t see a new toggle or model picker. Instead, ImageGen quietly routes certain requests through GPT Image 1.5 so you get better color, lighting, text, and edits without changing how you work.

Here’s what GPT Image 1.5 is, how it evolves OpenAI’s image offering, and what it unlocks for Envato subscribers.

What is GPT Image 1.5?

GPT Image 1.5 is OpenAI’s latest flagship image generation and editing model. It’s designed to:

  • Produce more realistic, balanced images
  • Follow complex instructions more reliably
  • Make precise edits while preserving what matters in your original
  • Render text and layout far more cleanly than earlier versions

Compared to GPT Image 1, it’s faster, more intentional, and much more suited to production work, especially for marketing, branding, and e-commerce visuals.

For Envato subscribers, this means ImageGen can now rely on GPT Image 1.5 when your prompt or use case requires that extra level of realism, detail, or typographic control.

How GPT Image 1.5 evolves OpenAI’s image models

GPT Image 1.5 is essentially GPT Image 1 grown up and ready for the real world. 

Key improvements include:

1. More natural color and lighting

The model handles:

  • Skin tones and product colors are more accurate
  • Light direction and contrast with better realism
  • Depth and dimensionality with better tonal balance

Result: images look less “AI-ish” and more like something you’d be happy to ship in a campaign or client pitch.

2. Stronger text rendering

Earlier AI models struggled with dense or small text. GPT Image 1.5 is a big step forward for:

  • Infographics and diagrams
  • UI and wireframe mockups
  • Posters, ads, and packaging with typographic hierarchy

You can still expect some quirks (it’s AI, not InDesign), but the model is far more capable of producing readable, structured text inside the image.

3. Better instruction following

GPT Image 1.5 does a much better job with prompts that have:

  • Many objects and relationships
  • Grids and structure (e.g., “6×6 grid with specific items per row”)
  • Multi-step instructions in one go

For Envato subscribers, this means fewer retries and generations that more closely match what you described.

How GPT Image 1.5 enhances ImageGen

You don’t need to flip a switch. ImageGen simply uses GPT Image 1.5 as one of the models under the hood when it’s the best fit for what you’re asking.

Here’s where you’re most likely to feel the difference.

ImageGen UI showing an image created with GPT Image 1.5

1. More publish-ready images out of the box

Because GPT Image 1.5 handles lighting, color, and detail so well, your generations are more likely to be:

  • Client-ready with minor tweaks
  • On-brand without heavy retouching
  • Usable in campaigns, mockups, and decks right away

Less “fix this in Photoshop”, more “drop it into the layout”.

2. Better visuals for brand and marketing work

GPT Image 1.5 is particularly strong for:

  • Hero visuals for landing pages and ads
  • Social campaigns that mix imagery and type
  • E-commerce imagery with realistic products and environments

As we continue to extend it into editing workflows in ImageEdit, you’ll also see improvements in logo and brand consistency across variations.

3. Cleaner text inside your designs

If you’re using ImageGen for:

  • Simple infographics
  • Conceptual UI screens
  • Posters and ad comps with text

GPT Image 1.5 helps ImageGen generate clearer, more legible text blocks and layouts. You’ll still refine typography in your design tools, but your starting point is now much closer to the real thing.

How Envato subscribers benefit (without changing your workflow)

A quick recap of what this means in practice:

  • No extra settings: You don’t manually choose GPT Image 1.5. ImageGen uses it when it’s the best internal option.
  • Better quality by default: More realistic lighting, less weird color, stronger text, just by writing the same kind of prompts you already use.
  • Stronger fit for professional use cases: GPT Image 1.5 makes ImageGen even more suitable for marketing, branding, product, and content teams that require consistent, dependable output.
  • One tool, multiple engines: GPT Image 1.5 sits alongside other top-tier models within ImageGen (such as Nano Banana Pro, Seedream 4.5, FLUX.2 Pro, etc.), providing a best-of-stack in one place.

Tips for getting the best out of GPT Image 1.5 in ImageGen

You don’t need a new playbook, but a few tweaks can help:

  1. Be specific about light and color
    • “Soft window light from the left, warm tone”
    • “Cool studio lighting, high contrast, deep shadows”
  2. Describe text clearly
    • “Poster with the headline ‘Summer Edit’ at the top, smaller subheading below, logo in the bottom right.”
  3. Call out structure and relationships
    • “Three products in a row on a marble surface, camera straight-on, subtle reflection under each item.”
  4. Iterate with small adjustments
    Refine instead of rewriting the entire prompt every time. GPT Image 1.5 is good at respecting continuity when your edits are clear and focused.

GPT Image 1.5 + Envato ImageGen: FAQs


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