Every generated post can get a featured image automatically — a matching stock photo from a free provider, or (with Pro) a unique AI-generated image.
Choosing an image source
Go to AI Content Writer → Settings → API Settings → Image Settings and pick an Image Source:
| Source | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pexels | Free API | High-quality stock photos matched to the post title |
| Unsplash | Free API | Editorial-style stock photography |
| Pixabay | Free API | Large free photo library |
| DALL·E (Pro) | OpenAI API usage | A unique image generated for each post’s exact topic — no stock photo reuse |
Paste the matching API key below the selector (DALL·E uses the ChatGPT/OpenAI key you’ve already saved) and click Test Connection to verify.
How it works in the pipeline
When a campaign post’s content is finished and the campaign’s Generate Thumbnail option is on:
- An image is fetched (or generated) for the post’s title.
- It’s sideloaded into your media library and set as the featured image.
- Alt text is filled in from the image’s description (or the post title) — good for accessibility and image SEO.
- The photographer credit is stored as the image caption and the source URL saved in meta — keeping you compliant with the stock services’ attribution terms.
For Instant Generation, you get a visual picker instead: a grid of matching images to choose from before the post is finished.
DALL·E specifics (Pro)
- Images are generated at 1792×1024 (wide, blog-header format) with a photorealistic, no-text-in-image prompt built from the post title.
- Each image costs OpenAI API credits (roughly $0.08 at current DALL·E 3 pricing) — one image is generated per post.
- Developers can customize the image prompt with the
aicwp_image_promptfilter — see the Developer Reference.
Turning images off
- Globally: Settings → General → Enable Image Generation.
- Per campaign: the Generate Thumbnail checkbox on the campaign.