General
Is the plugin free?
Yes. The free plugin on WordPress.org includes the full Template Studio, automatic featured images, AI images and stock photos. Image Generator Pro adds Rating, Progress bar and Badge layers, WooCommerce tags and premium designs.
Do I need an API key?
Only for AI images (OpenAI) and stock photos (a free Unsplash, Pexels or Pixabay key). Template images — including automatic featured images — are drawn on your own server with no key and no cost.
Do you charge for AI usage?
No. You use your own OpenAI key and pay OpenAI directly at their prices. The plugin adds no markup and your key stays on your server.
Will it slow down my site?
No. Nothing runs on the front end. Template images are drawn only when a post is saved without a featured image or when you generate one; AI images and stock photos are fetched in the background, so saving never waits.
Is it GDPR-friendly?
Template images never leave your server (unless a template uses a stock or AI photo layer). Stock searches send only search terms; AI generation sends only the prompt. No visitor data is ever sent, and the plugin sets no cookies. If your posts contain personal information, keep it out of your AI Prompt — see Merge Tags.
Does it work on multisite?
Yes. Each site has its own templates, settings and API keys.
Automatic featured images
A post didn’t get a featured image.
Check in order: ① Enable Post Thumbnails (or Page Thumbnails) is ticked under Settings → Automatic Featured Images; ② the post had no featured image when it was saved; ③ with Image template, at least one template is Active (drafts aren’t used); ④ with an AI or stock method, the post is published or scheduled (AI images aren’t made for drafts) and the key works — use Test Connection for stock keys; ⑤ the AI Featured Image panel in the editor — it shows the progress and any error message.
It worked before, but not on this one post.
If someone removed a generated featured image from that post, the plugin respects that and won’t add a new one automatically. Use Generate in the AI Featured Image panel to create one on demand.
Background images take a long time, or never arrive.
Background jobs start right after the save, with Action Scheduler or WP-Cron as a backup. If your host blocks requests from your site to itself, the backup takes over — on low-traffic sites WP-Cron only runs when someone visits. Hook WP-Cron to a real system cron for punctual jobs, or use Generate in the editor panel to make the image straight away.
How do I add featured images to old posts?
Open the post in the block editor and click Generate in the AI Featured Image panel, or just update the post — any post saved without a featured image gets one.
Can it cover products and custom post types?
Automatic generation covers posts and pages. On any post type with featured images — WooCommerce products included — generate on demand from the AI Featured Image panel or the Media Library.
Templates
The title is too small or cut off with "…".
With When the text is long set to Shrink it to fit the box, the text shrinks down to the Smallest size, then ends with "…". Make the text box bigger, lower the Smallest size, or raise Most lines (0 for no limit). Use Preview with → A long title to test.
Letters show as empty boxes.
The font doesn’t contain those characters. The font picker shows which scripts each font covers; for Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and others, upload a .ttf/.otf font that supports your language.
My uploaded font is drawn in the wrong weight.
It’s probably a variable font, which can’t choose a weight when the image is drawn. Upload the static font files instead (e.g. Inter-Bold.ttf).
The image looks slightly different from the canvas.
The canvas closely matches the final image, but your server draws the real one. Click Exact preview to see the image exactly as posts will get it.
Templates don’t render at all / "GD" or "FreeType" error.
Your server’s PHP needs the GD extension with FreeType support. Ask your host to enable it; check under Tools → Site Health → Info → Media Handling. AI images and stock photos work without it.
An old template is listed in Site Health.
It was made before version 1.7.0 and couldn’t be converted to the Studio format without changing how it looks, so it was left as it is. It keeps working; open and save it in the Studio when you’re ready.
AI images
"Incorrect API key" or no images.
Re-paste the full key (after saving only the last 4 characters are shown), and make sure billing is set up on your OpenAI account — image generation needs it.
The request timed out.
High-quality images can take a while. The plugin waits up to 3 minutes; if it still times out, try a lower Image Quality or GPT Image 2.5 Flare.
"You can generate 0 more AI images this hour."
Each user can create a set number of AI images per hour (default 20). Raise or remove it under Settings → AI Service → Hourly Limit per User.
The AI image has garbled text in it.
AI models are bad at drawing text. Keep the default AI Instructions (no text or logos), and put your title on the image with a photo template instead.
The Custom Prompt tab is disabled.
Either no API key is set, or your role isn’t included in Who Can Generate AI Images.
Stock photos
Unsplash stops returning results after a while.
New Unsplash keys are limited to 50 requests an hour until Unsplash approves the app for production. Apply for production access in your Unsplash dashboard, or add a Pexels or Pixabay key too.
Do I have to credit photographers?
The libraries ask you to credit them where you can. The plugin adds the credit to the image caption by default (Settings → Stock Photos → Credit) and always saves it with the image.
Editors & compatibility
Does it work with the Classic Editor, Elementor, Divi or Bricks?
Automatic featured images work with every editor. The editor buttons are for the block editor, but Media → Library → Generate Image opens the same modal for any builder.
Does it work with SEO plugins?
Yes. Generated images are normal Media Library attachments with alt text, so Yoast SEO, Rank Math and AIOSEO use them in Open Graph tags and sitemaps.
I moved a site from a Windows server and old images point to the old folder.
Versions before 1.4.9 saved the full file path on Windows. Back up your database, then remove the old uploads prefix with WP-CLI, e.g. wp search-replace 'C:/sites/example/wp-content/uploads/' '' wp_postmeta --dry-run (run again without --dry-run once it looks right).
Pro
Do I need the free plugin?
Yes — Pro is an add-on. Run free v1.8.0+ and Pro together.
What happens to my templates if my license expires?
They keep working. Pro layers and tags still render; editing Pro layers in the Studio, the premium designs, updates and support need an active license.
My license won’t activate.
See License Activation — the common causes are copy/paste whitespace and used-up site activations.
Still stuck?
Open a support ticket with your WordPress and PHP versions, the plugin version(s), your Generate With method, and any message from the AI Featured Image panel. We read every ticket.