How to get an OpenAI API key.

Sign in at platform.openai.com with any OpenAI account. API access is billed separately from ChatGPT: a ChatGPT subscription does not pay for API calls, and API credit does not pay for ChatGPT. If you only ever used the chat app, this is a new setup rather than a switch.

• Open the API keys page and confirm the organization and project shown at the top. A key belongs to one project, so a key from the wrong project fails against a model you can otherwise use.
• Create a secret key and copy it straight into a password manager. OpenAI shows the full value once, at creation, and never again.
• If you lose or expose a key, create a replacement, test it, then revoke the old one. Do not edit a key in place; there is no such thing.

This is the step most people miss. OpenAI gates its GPT Image models, gpt-image-2 included, behind API organization verification. Open Settings, then Organization, then General, and use Verify Organization. Verification is either business details (legal name, registered address, tax or registration number) or a government photo ID with a live capture, and one person can verify one organization. Access can take a few minutes to propagate after approval. OpenAI's image-generation guide →

• The OpenAI API is prepaid. Requests fail until the organization holds credit, and there is no free image tier to fall back on.
• Add credit under Settings, Billing. The smallest first purchase is $5, and auto-recharge also starts at $5. Purchased credits expire after one year and are not refundable, so buy in the size you will actually use. OpenAI's prepaid billing guide →
• Set an organization or project spend limit under Settings, Limits. It is the cheapest safety net there is.

• In Photoshop, open the Creator MAX panel and click the gear icon (top-right of the plugin), then Manage API keys.
• Paste the key into the OpenAI field and hit Save. Creator MAX checks it against OpenAI's models endpoint, so a bad key tells you immediately instead of failing on your first generation.
• Out of the box the panel shows Google only. Open Manage models and switch OpenAI on, or GPT Image 2 will not appear in the picker.
• The Remove key link replaces the input once a key is stored, so you can swap or wipe it anytime.

OpenAI bills you directly for every generation. We never touch the transaction, never mark it up, and never add a Bielfor rate limit. GPT Image 2 is token-metered rather than flat-priced per image, so the number moves with quality and output dimensions. Current standard rates:

• Image output: $30.00 per 1M tokens
• Image input: $8.00 per 1M tokens ($2.00 cached)
• Text input: $5.00 per 1M tokens ($1.25 cached)
• In practice, medium quality lands around 4 to 11 cents per image across the supported output dimensions

Creator MAX shows the USD cost of a generation in the panel, so the metering is visible before you run it rather than at month end. Exact current numbers on OpenAI's pricing page.

No. The key is stored in Photoshop's secure preferences on your machine and used only by your local plugin instance to call OpenAI. No key, prompt, or image ever passes through a Bielfor server.

Not by default. OpenAI states that data sent to the API is not used to train its models unless you explicitly opt in, and that API inputs and outputs may be retained for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring before deletion. Client work has its own confidentiality terms, so read the current policy rather than taking our summary of it: OpenAI's API data usage policies →

• A 401 with invalid_api_key means the key is mistyped, revoked, or belongs to a different organization or project. Copy it again from the API keys page and check for a leading or trailing space.
• A 429 with insufficient_quota or a depleted credit balance is a billing state, not a rate limit. Add credit, then retry.
• A 429 that mentions requests or tokens per minute is a real rate limit. Wait out the retry window rather than replacing a working key.
• A 403 or a model-not-found on GPT Image 2 usually means organization verification is incomplete or has not propagated yet. Check Settings, Organization, General before touching the key.
• OpenAI's error-code reference →

One key is enough to start, and you can add the others later. How to get a Gemini API key covers Google's Nano Banana models, and how to get an xAI API key covers Grok Imagine Image.

Email support@bielfor.com with a screenshot of the error and we'll unblock you, usually same day.