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How to analyze multiple images with OpenAI

Q: How to analyze multiple images with OpenAI

Use the OpenAI Python SDK's client.chat.completions.create method with a model that supports image inputs like gpt-4o. Pass multiple images as image_url or base64-encoded data in the messages array to analyze them in one request.

Quick answer

Use the OpenAI Python SDK's client.chat.completions.create method with a model that supports image inputs like gpt-4o. Pass multiple images as image_url or base64-encoded data in the messages array to analyze them in one request.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
OpenAI API key (free tier works)
pip install openai>=1.0

Setup

Install the OpenAI Python SDK and set your API key as an environment variable.

Run pip install openai>=1.0 to install the SDK.
Set your API key in your shell: export OPENAI_API_KEY='your_api_key_here' (Linux/macOS) or setx OPENAI_API_KEY "your_api_key_here" (Windows).

bash

pip install openai>=1.0

Step by step

This example shows how to analyze multiple images by sending them as separate messages with image_url content to the gpt-4o model. The response will contain analysis for each image.

python

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(api_key=os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"])

# List of image URLs to analyze
image_urls = [
    "https://example.com/image1.png",
    "https://example.com/image2.jpg"
]

# Prepare messages with images
messages = []
for idx, url in enumerate(image_urls, 1):
    messages.append({
        "role": "user",
        "content": f"Analyze this image #{idx}",
        "image_url": {"url": url}
    })

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=messages
)

# Print the analysis for each image
for i, choice in enumerate(response.choices, 1):
    print(f"Analysis for image #{i}:")
    print(choice.message.content)
    print("---")

output

Analysis for image #1:
Description, objects detected, or other insights about image1.png
---
Analysis for image #2:
Description, objects detected, or other insights about image2.jpg
---

Common variations

Use base64-encoded images by replacing image_url with image_base64 in the message.
Switch to gpt-4o-mini for faster, cheaper analysis with slightly less detail.
Use asynchronous calls with asyncio for concurrent image analysis.

python

import os
import asyncio
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(api_key=os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"])

async def analyze_images_async(image_urls):
    messages = [{
        "role": "user",
        "content": f"Analyze this image #{i+1}",
        "image_url": {"url": url}
    } for i, url in enumerate(image_urls)]

    response = await client.chat.completions.acreate(
        model="gpt-4o",
        messages=messages
    )
    for i, choice in enumerate(response.choices, 1):
        print(f"Async analysis for image #{i}:")
        print(choice.message.content)
        print("---")

image_urls = ["https://example.com/image1.png", "https://example.com/image2.jpg"]
asyncio.run(analyze_images_async(image_urls))

output

Async analysis for image #1:
Description, objects detected, or other insights about image1.png
---
Async analysis for image #2:
Description, objects detected, or other insights about image2.jpg
---

Troubleshooting

If you get an authentication error, verify your OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable is set correctly.
If images fail to load, check that URLs are publicly accessible and use HTTPS.
For large images or many images, watch for token limits and split requests accordingly.

✅

Key Takeaways

Use the OpenAI Python SDK with gpt-4o to analyze multiple images in one request.
Pass images as image_url or base64 in separate messages within the messages array.
Handle large batches by splitting requests to avoid token limits and use async calls for concurrency.

Verified 2026-04 · gpt-4o, gpt-4o-mini

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