Generate Educational Social Media Carousels with GPT-4.1, Templated.io & Google Drive

🎯 Description

Automatically generates, designs, stores, and logs complete Instagram carousel posts.
It transforms a simple text prompt into a full post with copy, visuals, rendered images, Google Drive storage, and a record in Google Sheets.

⚙️ Use case / What it does

This workflow enables creators, educators, or community managers to instantly produce polished, on-brand carousel assets for social media. It integrates OpenAI GPT-4.1, Pixabay, Templated.io, Google Drive, and Google Sheets into one continuous content-production chain.

💡 How it works

1️⃣ Form Trigger – Collects the user prompt via a simple web form.
2️⃣ OpenAI GPT-4.1 – Generates structured carousel JSON: titles, subtitles, topic, description, and visual keywords.
3️⃣ Code (Format content) – Parses the JSON output for downstream use.
4️⃣ Google Drive (Create Folder) – Creates a subfolder for the new carousel inside “RRSS”.
5️⃣ HTTP Request (Pixabay) – Searches for a relevant image using GPT’s visual suggestion.
6️⃣ Code (Get first result) – Extracts the top Pixabay result and image URL.
7️⃣ Templated.io – Fills the design template layers (titles/subtitles/topic/image).
8️⃣ HTTP Request (Download renders) – Downloads the rendered PNGs from Templated.io.
9️⃣ Google Drive (Upload) – Uploads the rendered images into the created folder.
10️⃣ Google Sheets (Save in DB) – Logs metadata (title, topic, folder link, description, timestamp, status).

🔗 Connectors used

• OpenAI GPT-4.1 (via n8n LangChain node)
• Templated.io API (design rendering)
• Pixabay API (stock image search)
• Google Drive (storage + folder management)
• Google Sheets (database / logging)
• Form Trigger (input collection)

🧱 Input / Output

Input:

• User-submitted “Prompt” (text) via form

Output:

• Generated carousel images stored in Google Drive
• Spreadsheet row in Google Sheets containing title, topic, description, Drive URL, status

⚠️ Requirements / Setup

Valid credentials for:

• OpenAI API (GPT-4.1 access)
• Templated.io API key
• Pixabay API key
• Google Drive + Google Sheets OAuth connections
• Existing Google Drive folder ID for RRSS storage
• Spreadsheet with matching column headers (Created At, Title, Topic, Folder URL, Description, Status)
• Published form URL for user prompts

🌍 Example applications / extensions

• Educational themes (mental health, fitness, sustainability).
• Extend to auto-publish to Instagram Business via Meta API.
• Add Notion logging or automated email notifications.
• Integrate scheduling (Cron node) to batch-generate weekly carousels.