Short answer: Claude cannot make a photo or an illustration by itself; Anthropic's help center says so (Can Claude produce images?). It can draw diagrams and charts in code, and it can ask an image service to make a picture through a connector. This page uses Dora's connector, because we have checked it and can show what it made. The default image model, Nano Banana 2, costs 10 coins an image, roughly $0.10 to $0.20, paid with Dora coins, not your Claude plan.
Three ways to get an image out of Claude
| Way | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| An image connector | A real picture (photo-like or illustrated) shown in the chat | Illustrations, product shots, icons, backgrounds, edits of your photo |
| Claude draws in code | SVG or HTML: diagrams, charts, simple shapes | Diagrams, charts, flat graphics you can edit |
| Claude writes the prompt | Text you paste into another image tool | When you already use another image tool |
Before you start
- A Claude plan with custom connectors. Anthropic lists Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise; Free is limited to one custom connector (Claude Help Center).
- A Dora account with coins. You can create it when Claude asks you to sign in. Coins come from a plan or a pack (pricing).
Step by step
- Open the connector form. In Claude, go to Customize, then Connectors, click + Add and choose Add custom connector. The button on Dora's Claude page opens the same form and copies the address.
- Paste the address. Name it Dora, paste https://doravideo.com/mcp, click Continue, leave the sign-in settings as they are and click Add.
- Sign in. Sign in to Dora with Apple, Google or email. If you already use Dora, use the same account.
- Switch it on in a chat. In a chat, click +, open Connectors and check that Dora is on.
- Ask for the image. Describe it in normal words, with the shape you want (square, vertical or horizontal). Add “tell me the cost first and wait for my confirmation” if you want to approve it before it is made.
On Team and Enterprise plans an Owner adds the connector for the organisation and each member connects it. Full setup, with a button that opens the form: Dora for Claude; other assistants: Dora connectors.
What to ask for
- Say what it is for. “An app icon”, “a background for an App Store screenshot with room for a headline at the top”, “a product shot from above”. The use decides the shape and the empty space.
- Name the shape. Square for icons and posts, vertical 9:16 for stories and phone screens, horizontal for web headers.
- Say what you do not want. “No text, no logos, no people” keeps stray letters and brand marks out.
- Keep the details few. In our longest prompt below, three small details were lost.
- Starting from your own photo: give Claude a public https link to it. Dora's guide tested links; attaching a photo to the chat was not tested there.
Four images made this way, with the exact prompts
These came from Dora's connector called from Claude, between June and October 2026, and are kept in Dora's records with their prompt and cost. None was made for this page. We picked them to show different uses, including one where the model missed part of the prompt.
Exact prompt:
iOS app icon, flat vector, minimal, centered, no text, no letters. A single rounded photo frame shape with a keyhole cut out of its center, the keyhole revealing a soft gradient of a landscape behind it. Deep navy background with a bright cyan and blue gradient inside the photo shape. Clean geometric, high contrast, unmistakable at 60 pixels, Apple App Store icon style, square, no rounded corner mask.
Exact prompt:
Vertical background illustration for an App Store screenshot of a calm meditation app about building a daily habit, soft painterly premium style like Calm/Headspace: a gentle sunrise over soft rolling hills with a winding stone path made of small round stepping stones, a few small flowers, soft peach and warm light blending into teal and aqua (#7FD3C9). The TOP 35% is an almost empty pale sunrise sky reserved for a headline. The center is calm and low-detail (a phone mockup goes on top); detail on the edges and the bottom. No text, no letters, no logos, no phone, no people.
Exact prompt:
Aesthetic vertical flatlay shot from directly above, luxury beauty vanity on white marble: elegant unbranded skincare bottles, a gold compact, a crystal perfume, pearl earrings, fresh peonies and a silk ribbon, soft morning window light, gold accents, clean rich beauty aesthetic, subtle film grain, editorial. No text, no watermark, no logos.
Exact prompt:
Extreme close-up macro insert of a hand holding a sharpened goose-quill writing Latin court records on aged cream parchment by candlelight. The parchment shows gothic Latin script in dark brown ink, and in the lower-right margin a tiny faint pencil-and-ink sketch of a pig is visible. Beside the parchment on the wooden writing desk: a small clay inkwell with dark ink, a red wax seal stamp, a few loose quills. Warm candle glow from the upper left, a single candle flame visible at the edge of frame creating soft golden light, shallow depth of field with the script in sharp focus. Photorealistic, cinematic, 35mm macro lens, vertical 9:16, no anachronisms, no modern objects.
What it costs
| Image model in Dora's connector | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Z-Image | 1 | Cheapest, from text only |
| Nano Banana | 4 | Also edits a reference photo at the same price |
| GPT Image 2 | 6 | OpenAI's image model |
| Nano Banana 2 | 10 | The default; can take a reference photo; more at higher resolution |
| Nano Banana Pro | 18 | Best at keeping a face from a photo; 24 at 4K |
A coin costs about $0.01 on Dora's weekly plan and about $0.02 on the yearly one (pricing, 2 November 2026), so a default image is roughly $0.10 to $0.20. The four images above were charged 8 coins each, the price before 2 November. With no coins, nothing is made and nothing is charged; if a generation fails, the coins go back. For the same costs in ChatGPT, see ChatGPT video generator cost.
Without a connector
Let Claude draw it in code
Claude can build diagrams, charts and interactive visuals in HTML and SVG right in the chat, and adjust them when you ask (a beta on Claude web and desktop, per Anthropic). Ask for “an SVG of…” when you want a flowchart, a chart, a simple logo shape or a flat illustration you can edit. It will not look like a photo.
Let Claude write the prompt
Describe the image you want and ask Claude for a detailed prompt for the image tool you already use, with the shape, the light, what to leave out and where to keep empty space. Then paste it there. Prices are that tool's.
Videos too
The same connector makes videos; they come back as a link rather than inside the chat. The default video model is Seedance 2 Mini. Steps, real tests and costs: how to make videos in Claude. On iPhone, the same account and coins work in the Dora app.
Sources
- Claude Help Center, Can Claude produce images? and Custom visuals in chat, checked 2 November 2026.
- Claude Help Center, Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP, checked 2 November 2026.
- Dora for Claude, Dora pricing and Dora's connector model list, read on 2 November 2026.
- Dora's generation records for the four images: model, settings, coins and prompt.
Disclosure: Saga Labs, which publishes this site, makes Dora. The four images were made with Dora; costs are Dora's own, read on 2 November 2026.
Questions people ask
Can Claude make images?
Not by itself: Anthropic's help center says Claude does not generate photos or illustrations the way image tools do. It can draw diagrams and charts in HTML and SVG, and with an image connector such as Dora it can ask an image service to make a picture and show it in the chat.
Is there a Claude AI image generator?
Not built in. You add one as a connector under Customize, then Connectors, Add custom connector. With Dora the address is https://doravideo.com/mcp.
How much does an image in Claude cost?
Your Claude plan does not pay for it. With Dora the default image model, Nano Banana 2, is 10 coins, roughly $0.10 to $0.20; the cheapest model is 1 coin.
Does it work on the free Claude plan?
Anthropic lists custom connectors on Free, limited to one. You still need coins in your Dora account.
Can Claude make an SVG?
Yes. Ask for an SVG and Claude writes it in the chat; it suits diagrams, charts, icons and flat shapes, not photos.
Can I edit my own photo?
Give Claude a public https link to the photo and say what to change. Dora's guide tested links; attaching a photo to the chat was not tested.