40 ad backgrounds on gpt-image-2.5: $0.99 low, $2.23 mid, $8.90 high

Forty ad background variants on Sume's gpt-image-2.5 cost $0.99 at low quality and 1K, $2.23 at medium and 2K, and $8.90 at high and 4K. Those are 40 times $0.02475, $0.055625 and $0.2225. The tier is the biggest lever, so decide how sharp the background needs to be before you generate all 40.

The three tiers

Sume's catalog lists gpt-image-2.5 as tiered by quality and size: low at 1K is $0.02475, medium at 2K is $0.055625 and high at 4K is $0.2225 (read 2026-10-09). The model accepts quality auto, low, medium, high, xhigh and max, and if you omit quality the default is high, so an unspecified request is the expensive one.

Custom sizes need both edges to be multiples of 16 with a maximum edge of 3,840, an aspect ratio of at most 3:1 and between 655,360 and 8,294,400 pixels.

Which tier for an ad background

A background sits behind a product cutout and is often blurred or darkened, so fine detail is less visible. Start at low to settle composition across all 40 for $0.99, then regenerate the 5 you will ship at high: 5 times $0.2225 is $1.11. The two-stage total is $2.10 instead of $8.90.

Set background to opaque for a plate that will sit behind a cutout. Use transparent only for elements that must be composited, and note that the product itself is better produced from your own photo with a reference edit than invented from a prompt.

Keeping a series consistent

Use the same prompt skeleton with one variable changed per variant, such as the surface and the light direction, and keep a log of the prompt next to each result. Reference images, up to 16 on this model, can anchor a brand palette. The result arrives as a durable media.sume.com artifact that you can pass to later steps.

A practical note

A background batch also needs a review rule. Check each plate for stray text, because image models sometimes paint letters into signage and shelves, and for hands or objects that would collide with the product cutout. Reject plates where the horizon or the light direction conflicts with your product photo. A plate with the right mood but the wrong light direction can be regenerated with the light named in the prompt. Keep the rejected count: if you reject 10 of 40 at low quality, the effective cost per usable plate is $0.99 divided by 30, about 3.3 cents.

Before you scale

Every price in this post is a Sume list price read from the public catalog on 2026-10-09, and the arithmetic is shown so you can redo it with your own counts. Rates can change, so re-read the catalog before a large batch and run a small test first. Sume bills the job's captured amount, and the job result tells you what was used, so compare the first run's receipt with your estimate before you scale the work to the full set.