Direct Optical Processing

Claude treats images and PDFs as first-class citizens in the messages array. You pass visual data inside content blocks:

• Base64 Images: Provide a source object with type: "base64", media_type (e.g., image/jpeg, image/png, image/gif, image/webp), and raw base64 data.
• PDF Documents: Provide a source object with type: "base64" and media_type: "application/pdf".

Resolution and Token Costs

Claude automatically scales images that exceed maximum bounds. The optimal resolution is up to 1568px on the longest edge. Every image is converted into visual tokens. A typical 1024x768 image costs approximately 1,600 input tokens. Understanding this mapping is essential for managing costs in high-frequency vision applications.

PDF Document Processing

Claude natively supports PDF document ingestion - you can pass multi-page PDF documents directly as content blocks. Each page is processed visually and structurally, making it ideal for contract review, technical specifications, and financial reports.