---
title: "Settings : Automatic"
description: "Open **Magic Post Thumbnail → Automatic**. This page has three tabs: **Image Placement**, **Post-Processing Image**, and **Pre-Processing & Developer**. There is no Posts tab. Style lives in Image Placement (not as its own tab). ![Automatic settings — three tabs: Image…"
url: "https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/general-settings/"
updated: "2026-08-16"
category: Setup the plugin
---

# Settings : Automatic

Open **Magic Post Thumbnail → Automatic**. This page has three tabs: **Image Placement**, **Post-Processing Image**, and **Pre-Processing & Developer**. There is no Posts tab. Style lives in Image Placement (not as its own tab).

![Automatic settings — three tabs: Image Placement, Post-Processing Image, Pre-Processing & Developer](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/automatic-tabs.png)

## Image Placement

This tab configures every image that will be inserted into your posts.

- Free version: one image location per post.
- Pro: click **[+] Add an image location** to add as many locations as you need. Use **[-] Delete** to remove a block.

 

### Featured Image / Inline Content

Where the generated image appears:

- **Featured Image** (default) — WordPress featured image.
- **Inline content** — insert the image anywhere in the post. Description: “Inline content” allows you to generate the image anywhere in the content.
- With compatibility enabled (Pro): **FIFU plugin (Featured Image from URL)**, **CMB2 Field**, **ACF Field**, **Meta Box Field**. For CMB2 / ACF / Meta Box, fill in **Field Name**.

When **Inline content** is selected:

- **Image position** — Insert **Before** or **After** the **First** … **Tenth** or **Last** **paragraph (p)**, h2–h6, div, or **link (a)**.
- **Image size** — WordPress image size (thumbnail, medium, large, full, and any custom sizes).

 

### Image Source

Default: **Use the chain defined in Source**. Generation then follows the order saved on the [Source](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/settings-source/) page (for example Bing Images → Openverse → Default image). A reminder under the dropdown shows the current chain: “Source chain: …”

You can instead force a single bank for this location (Bing Images, GPT Image, Openverse, and so on). Pro banks are disabled on the free version.

 

### Search Based on

This is the keyword sent to photo banks, and the `{search}` term inside AI prompts. Options:

- **Title** — **Full title** or **Specific Part**: the first X *first words of the title*. Long titles can return poor results on banks such as Pixabay or Unsplash.
- **Text Analyzer: Full text** — extracts keywords from the whole post. Set **Post Content Language**.
- **Text Analyzer: Previous paragraph** — only with Inline content. Keywords from the paragraph before the image.
- **Text Analyzer: Next paragraph** — only with Inline content. Keywords from the paragraph after the image.
- **Tags** (Pro) — **First tag**, **Last tag**, or **Random tag**.
- **Categories** (Pro) — **First category**, **Last category**, or **Random category**.
- **Custom Field** (Pro) — value of **Custom field Name**.
- **Custom Request** (Pro) — your own query. Drag tokens **Title**, **Category**, **Tag**, **Taxonomy** into the request (for example “This is a simple request including the %%Title%%”). Also set **Category Level** (Child / Parent / Grandparent category), **Taxonomy Slug**, and **Taxonomy Level**. Custom Request is the *keyword*, not the visual style — see [AI style and custom prompts](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/dall%c2%b7e-custom-prompt/).
- **OpenAI Keyword Extractor** (Pro) — extracts keywords from the title. Fill in **OpenAI API Key** and **Number of keywords to extract from title**: **From 1 to 2 words**, **2 words**, or **3 words**.

**Translate to English** — checkbox **Translate**. “The "based on" phrase /keywords will be translated into English. This helps to get better results with most image databases.”

 

### Style

Style is in Image Placement, not a separate tab. It is applied only when generating with an AI bank. Photo banks (Bing, Pexels…) ignore this.

![Image Placement — Image Source, Search Based on, Style and No text on the image](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/automatic-style-1.png)

- **Default**
- **Photorealistic**
- **Illustration**
- **Oil painting**
- **Watercolor**
- **Cinematic**
- **3D render**
- **Minimal**
- **Anime**
- **Custom**

**Custom style** appears when Style is Custom. Placeholder: “e.g. editorial product shot, soft daylight”. Description: “Extra instructions appended to the AI prompt.”

**No text on the image** — “Ask the AI not to render captions, titles or watermarks.”

AI banks: [GPT Image](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/gpt-image/), [Stable Diffusion](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/stable-diffusion/), [Replicate](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/replicate/), [Ideogram](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/ideogram/), [Flux 2](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/flux-2/), [Gemini (Nano Banana)](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/gemini-nano-banana/), [Grok](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/grok/). Details: [AI style and custom prompts](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/dall%c2%b7e-custom-prompt/).

### Image Selection

- **First result**
- **Random result** — useful when many posts share the same Based on value (for example the same category).

 

## Post-Processing Image

![Post-Processing Image — Brand overlay set to Disabled](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/automatic-overlay.png)

- **Image Naming Convention** — filename in the Media Library: **Title**, **Date**, or **Random number**.
- **Overwrite featured images** — checkbox **Overwrite**. Warning: This option will overwrite existing featured images.
- **Image reuse** — checkbox **Enable**. Check for existing images media before downloading new ones to prevent duplicates and save storage space. Reuse is based on filename.
- **Image Modifications** (Pro) — **Flip horizontally** (text on the image will read backwards) and **Crop Image by 10%** (trim 10% from the edges).
- **Brand overlay** — **Disabled** (default), **Title bar**, or **Title and logo**. “Draws a bar with the post title on the generated image. Disabled by default.”
  - **Overlay look** (when Title bar or Title and logo): **Bar color**, **Bar opacity** (%), **Text color**, and checkbox **Also show the first category**.
  - **Overlay logo** (when Title and logo): **Select logo** / **Remove**.
- **Add ALT Attribute to Image** (Pro) — then **Alt Text from**: **Source** or **Text "based_on"**. **ALT Text Translation**: **Translate alt text from english to** a language. See [why alt text matters](https://yoast.com/image-seo-alt-tag-and-title-tag/).
- **Add caption tag on image** — then **Caption Format**: **Image Author**, or **Image Author + Name of Image Bank** (example: *Author Name from Pixabay*).

 

## Pre-Processing & Developer

Enable the "save_post" & "wp_insert_post" hook. Every time you create or update a post, an image will be generated. Warning: Use it precautionary. If you don't understand what it is, disable it.

- **"Save Post" Hook** — then **"Save Post" Hook post type** with **Select all** and each public post type that supports thumbnails.
- **"WP Insert Post" Hook** (Pro) — then **"WP Insert Post" Hook post type**.
- **Strict Search Mode** (Pro) — quotation marks are added to the search term. Warning: This may drastically reduce the number of results.
- **Interval** — pause between generations so **Bing Images** (and other remote banks) are less likely to rate-limit your server. Slider from **No interval** up to a few generations **per minute** or **per hour** (for example 3 / 2 / 1 per minute, or 30 / 15 / 6 / 1 per hour). Use 1 or 2 per minute if you generate in bulk against Bing Images.

Click the large Save button at the bottom of the page after changes.