Predict how many tokens a 1092x1092 image costs under Claude's sizing rule

Attempt it

Your team budgets vision spend for a product-photo feature on the Claude API. Claude estimates image tokens as (width in px times height in px) divided by 750, and only downscales images whose long edge exceeds 1568 px. A user uploads a 1092x1092 photo. Predict the approximate token count Claude charges for this image (round to the nearest 10).

Quick reference

TL;DR

Long edge is 1092 px which is below the 1568 px downscale threshold, so the formula applies directly: 1092 times 1092 divided by 750 equals about 1590 tokens.

Memory aid

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Easy to grasp

Imagine a calculator with a simple rule: count the dots in your picture (width times height), then split that count into bundles of 750. Each bundle is one token. The calculator only shrinks the picture first if its longest side is bigger than 1568 dots wide. This picture is 1092 by 1092, so the calculator skips shrinking. Multiply: 1092 times 1092 gives about 1.19 million dots. Divide by 750: about 1590 bundles, which is about 1590 tokens. Knowing this number lets a team set a per-image budget instead of being surprised by the bill at the end of the month.

Key concepts

Multimodal AI

Quick scan · 2–4 min

Everything important, quickly.

4 minutes: check the downscale threshold, apply the area formula, contrast with OpenAI tile pricing, and tie the result to per-feature image budgets.

Real-world examples

Real products, models, and research that use this idea.

Anthropic's vision pricing page documents the width times height divided by 750 formula and the 1568 px downscale point for Claude Opus 4.7 and Sonnet 4.6
OpenAI's GPT-5.5 vision pricing uses a tile-based formula (base tile plus detail tiles), not a single area formula, so cross-provider comparison requires unit conversion
Gemini 3.1 Pro charges multimodal input in dedicated image input units that map back to a tile count
Production document AI products like Mindee and Rossum publish that they downscale to the per-provider sweet spot before sending, reducing cost by 30 to 60 percent without accuracy loss

Interviewer follow-ups

What an interviewer would ask next. Try answering before peeking at the approach.

QHow would you estimate monthly vision spend for a product launch?

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QWhat changes if you swap from Claude to GPT-5.5 mid-launch?

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60-second cheat sheet

The night-before-the-interview bullets. Scan these on the way to the call.

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References

Primary sources. Skim if you want the original framing.