Press Release: Introducing Geppetto – Merch.ai’s AI Image Engine for Promotional Product Industry

May 11, 2026

Press Release: Merch.ai Launches Geppetto, an AI-Powered Product Image Creator Built Exclusively for the Promotional Products Industry

New tool generates photorealistic, fully branded and editable product imagery in minutes, eliminating days of production work from photographers and designers.

Merch.ai, a platform purpose-built for the promotional products industry, today announced the launch of Geppetto, a proprietary AI-powered image creation tool that enables promotional products distributors and suppliers to generate photorealistic, fully branded product imagery directly from a simple text prompt.

Geppetto is the first AI imaging tool designed specifically for the accuracy demands of the promotional products industry where a misplaced logo, an incorrect zipper, or a distorted imprint area can undermine a client presentation before it begins.

“The promotional products industry has always run on the power of a great presentation,” said Nick Lateur, VP of Revenue at Merch.ai. “But for too long, creating an impactful presentation or lookbook meant outsourcing to a designer, waiting on product photography, or spending days building something from scratch. Geppetto changes all of that, and it does it instantly”

A Purpose-Built Solution for a Precision Industry

Unlike general-purpose AI image tools, Geppetto is built on a proprietary meta-prompt engine that translates simple user inputs into complex, industry-optimized outputs to deliver accurate product sizing, true-to-life recreation, and precise imprint area detection. The tool is compatible with PromoStandards catalog items as well as custom products.

Key features of Geppetto include:

  • Automatic Imprint Placement. Geppetto’s AI detects product imprint areas and applies customer logos automatically, eliminating the manual design work that has historically slowed down the presentation process.
  • Custom AI Models. Users can build custom AI models that reflect diverse, on-brand identities, and will soon be able to upload a real person’s photo to place them directly into any scene.
  • Full Creative Freedom. Any product, any environment, any aesthetic. Users can fine-tune specific areas of an image to create variations without starting over.
  • Lookbook Integration. Every image created in Geppetto flows directly into merch.ai’s existing PDF Lookbook tool, enabling users to move from image creation to client-ready lifestyle image presentation within a single platform.

Addressing Both Sides of the Industry

Geppetto is designed to serve two distinct audiences within the promotional products ecosystem.

For Distributors, Geppetto eliminates the bottleneck between a client concept and a winning presentation. A distributor can now show a prospect a photorealistic image of their logo on a specific product, in a specific setting, tailored to their industry, even before a single sample has been ordered.

For Suppliers, Geppetto provides a scalable solution for product photography and catalog imagery. Suppliers can generate consistent, high-quality product visuals across their full line without the time and expense of traditional photography, and apply branding templates automatically for distributor-facing marketing.

Part of the Merch.ai Platform

Geppetto launches as the newest addition to the merch.ai platform, which also includes a PDF Lookbook tool and Presentation builder designed to help promotional products professionals create, present, and sell more effectively at every stage of the client relationship.

Geppetto is available as a standalone tool within merch.ai with full integration to the PDF Custom Lookbook builder available for existing merch.ai platform users.

About Merch.ai

Merch.ai is a platform built for the promotional products industry that generates photorealistic, fully branded marketing and sales asset imagery. Designed for distributors, suppliers, and the professionals who serve them, merch.ai combines AI technology with deep industry knowledge to help promo professionals present, sell, and scale more effectively.

Click to Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Geppetto recreate products properly? I've used other AI tools and they tend to change products or change small but important details.

This is exactly why we built Geppetto. Generic AI image tools aren’t built for the promotional products industry, and it shows. They distort imprint areas, get proportions wrong, invent details that don’t exist, and drop the ball on the small things that matter most to your clients.

Geppetto was purpose-built for this industry. Our proprietary meta-prompt engine understands promotional products, including product construction, imprint zones, sizing ratios, and material details. When you input a product, Geppetto works to render it accurately, because we know that a missing zipper or a stretched logo isn’t a “close enough” situation. It’s a lost deal.

Can I upload my own product images and my client's actual logo file, or does Geppetto only work with products already in a catalog?

Both. Geppetto works with PromoStandards (integration COMING SOON) catalog items and with your own product images, so you’re never limited to what’s already in a database.

For logos, Geppetto accepts virtually any art file format, including: .jpg, .png, .ai, .eps, .svg, and .webp

Vector files and high-resolution art will always produce the sharpest results, but if your client sends you something less than perfect, we can still work with it. Upload it, and Geppetto will do its best to apply it cleanly to the product.

How much do I need to know about prompting or AI to get a good result? if I type something simple like "Employee Appreciation Event or Golf Outing" is that enough to get a usable image, or do I need to learn a whole new skill set?

You don’t need to know anything about AI or design to get a great result with Geppetto. That’s the whole point.

Our proprietary meta-prompt engine does the heavy lifting behind the scenes. You type something simple, a product, a setting, a vibe, and Geppetto translates that into a complex, industry-optimized image generation command automatically. The technical expertise is built into the platform so you don’t have to bring it yourself.

Type what you’re picturing. Geppetto handles the rest.

If I create an image and something's slightly off, or the background isn't right, or I just want to add or remove something, can I fix just that one thing or do I have to start the whole image over from scratch?

You never have to start over. Geppetto includes an AI Edit tool that gives you two ways to refine an image:

1. Select a specific area to highlight exactly what you want to change, and prompt Geppetto to make a change to that specific part of the image.

2. Use the dropdown: Choose from general categories like background, setting, or model to make broader adjustments quickly.

So if the product is perfect but the background isn’t reading right, change the background. If everything looks great but you want to remove a person in the background, no problem. Fine-tune as much or as little as you need, no starting from scratch.

How does model creation work? If I want to feature a person holding or wearing the product, can I use a real person in my images?

In Geppetto, you create your model by describing the person you want in the image, including age, style, look, setting, and more. Want a young professional in a modern office? A construction worker on a job site? An athlete outdoors? Just describe them and Geppetto will generate a realistic, on-brand model for your scene.

This gives you complete creative control to match the model to your client’s industry, audience, and brand identity, without needing a photo shoot or a stock photo library.

Once I create images in Geppetto, can I use them to create a lookbook or presentation?

Yes, and it’s seamless. Every image you create in Geppetto can flow directly into your merch.ai PDF Lookbook tool. From there, you can drop your images into a custom branded lookbook template and build a client-ready presentation without ever leaving the platform.

Lookbook integration is live and available now. You’ll need an active subscription to the merch.ai PDF Lookbook tool to access this feature, but if you’re already using it, Geppetto plugs right in.

How is Geppetto priced? is it per image, a monthly subscription, or does it come bundled with my existing merch.ai plan? And is there a limit to how many images I can create?

Geppetto is available as a standalone tool and is priced on a credit-based model. Each image you generate costs a set number of credits, and edits to existing images cost a slightly lower amount, so you’re only paying for what you use.

The cost per image and per edit amounts to pennies on the dollar, making it the most cost-effective ways to produce professional, branded product imagery in the industry.

Geppetto can be added to your existing merch.ai account or purchased on its own. [Contact us / See pricing page link] for current credit packages and plan options.