How to print an image from ChatGPT

Way 1: inside ChatGPT, with the plugin

MyImage2Life is in ChatGPT’s list of plugins. You add it once:

1. Open ChatGPT and go to Plugins.
2. Search for MyImage2Life and add it.
3. In a chat, type @MyImage2Life and say what you’d like printed, for example: “a poster of a fox in a misty forest, 50 x 70 cm”.

A product, a size and your country help, but you can leave them out: the plugin will ask. In the chat you see the design, then the print proof and the price with shipping to your country. You pay on a payment page, and nothing is printed until you have paid. If you already have an image, add it to the chat and ask to put it on a product.

Whether ChatGPT offers plugins depends on your plan and your country. All the steps, including for Claude, are on MyImage2Life in ChatGPT and Claude.

Way 2: download the image and upload it

This works with any print shop. What matters most is that you save the original file:

• On a computer: click the image and use the download button.
• On a phone: tap the image and choose save.

Don’t take a screenshot. It only has your screen’s pixels, often cuts off part of the image, and gets compressed again. And don’t send the image to yourself through WhatsApp first: it gets shrunk on the way.

Then upload the file to the print shop and choose a size that suits the number of pixels.

How big is a ChatGPT image?

ChatGPT makes images in three shapes: 1024 x 1024 (square), 1536 x 1024 (landscape) and 1024 x 1536 (portrait). That’s sharp on a screen, but small on paper. This is how far it goes:

	Square 1024 x 1024	Portrait 1024 x 1536
Razor-sharp up close (300 ppi)	9 x 9 cm	9 x 13 cm
Good from a metre away (150 ppi)	17 x 17 cm	17 x 26 cm
Upscaled, from a metre (150 ppi)	35 x 35 cm	35 x 52 cm
Upscaled, from a few steps (120 ppi)	43 x 43 cm	43 x 65 cm

Landscape is the same, turned on its side. “Upscaled” here means doubled in width and height with an AI upscaler. That makes a portrait image look good on an A2 poster (42 x 59.4 cm) when you stand a few steps back. For A1 and A0, a ChatGPT image is too small, even upscaled. A table for every poster size is in how big can you print an AI image.

Ask ChatGPT for an image made for print

A few words in your request make a better print:

• Say portrait or landscape. A portrait image of 1024 x 1536 has a 2:3 ratio, exactly that of 20 x 30, 40 x 60 and 60 x 90 cm. An A-size is a little shorter, so about 6% comes off the long side. For a square canvas or poster, ask for a square image.
• Leave room at the edges. Every print loses a few millimetres when it’s trimmed, and on canvas a strip of a few centimetres wraps around the frame. Ask for the subject in the middle with some space around it.
• Skip the text. AI can still misspell longer text, and text near the edge gets cut off. Ask for an image without text; a name or a date can be added neatly later.
• Edge to edge. ChatGPT sometimes draws a frame, a white border or a room with the poster on the wall. Ask for just the image, right to the edges.

An example: “A portrait image, 2:3 ratio, of a fox in a misty forest at sunrise. Watercolour, soft colours. No text, no frame, the fox in the middle with space around it.”

What won’t be printed

Brands, logos and well-known characters from films, cartoons and games can’t simply be printed, even if ChatGPT drew them for you. Having made the image yourself doesn’t free the character: the rights belong to the owner. That’s why we don’t print them, and neither do many other print shops. The same goes for someone else’s photo or artwork. Instead, describe what you like about the character, such as the colours, the mood or the kind of animal, and have something original made.

Not sure about your own image?

Choose the file in the print size checker. You see for each size whether it prints sharp, with and without upscaling, and the image stays on your own device.