Baoyu Infographic

Infographic Generator

Adapted from baoyu-infographic for Hermes Agent's tool ecosystem.

Two dimensions: layout (information structure) × style (visual aesthetics). Freely combine any layout with any style.

When to Use

Trigger this skill when the user asks to create an infographic, visual summary, information graphic, or uses terms like "信息图", "可视化", or "高密度信息大图". The user provides content (text, file path, URL, or topic) and optionally specifies layout, style, aspect ratio, or language.

Options

Layout Gallery

Full definitions: references/layouts/<layout>.md

Style Gallery

Full definitions: references/styles/<style>.md

Recommended Combinations

Default: bento-grid + craft-handmade

Keyword Shortcuts

When user input contains these keywords, auto-select the associated layout and offer associated styles as top recommendations in Step 3. Skip content-based layout inference for matched keywords.

If a shortcut has Prompt Notes, append them to the generated prompt (Step 5) as additional style instructions.

Output Structure

infographic/{topic-slug}/
├── source-{slug}.{ext}
├── analysis.md
├── structured-content.md
├── prompts/infographic.md
└── infographic.png

Slug: 2-4 words kebab-case from topic. Conflict: append -YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.

Core Principles

• Preserve source data faithfully — no summarization or rephrasing (but strip any credentials, API keys, tokens, or secrets before including in outputs)
• Define learning objectives before structuring content
• Structure for visual communication (headlines, labels, visual elements)

Workflow

Step 1: Analyze Content

Load references: Read references/analysis-framework.md from this skill.

1. Save source content (file path or paste → source.md using write_file)
   • Backup rule: If source.md exists, rename to source-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md
2. Analyze: topic, data type, complexity, tone, audience
3. Detect source language and user language
4. Extract design instructions from user input
5. Save analysis to analysis.md
   • Backup rule: If analysis.md exists, rename to analysis-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

See references/analysis-framework.md for detailed format.

Step 2: Generate Structured Content → structured-content.md

Transform content into infographic structure:

1. Title and learning objectives
2. Sections with: key concept, content (verbatim), visual element, text labels
3. Data points (all statistics/quotes copied exactly)
4. Design instructions from user

Rules: Markdown only. No new information. Preserve data faithfully. Strip any credentials or secrets from output.

See references/structured-content-template.md for detailed format.

Step 3: Recommend Combinations

3.1 Check Keyword Shortcuts first: If user input matches a keyword from the Keyword Shortcuts table, auto-select the associated layout and prioritize associated styles as top recommendations. Skip content-based layout inference.

3.2 Otherwise, recommend 3-5 layout×style combinations based on:

• Data structure → matching layout
• Content tone → matching style
• Audience expectations
• User design instructions

Step 4: Confirm Options

Use the clarify tool to confirm options with the user. Since clarify handles one question at a time, ask the most important question first:

Q1 — Combination: Present 3+ layout×style combos with rationale. Ask user to pick one.

Q2 — Aspect: Ask for aspect ratio preference (landscape/portrait/square or custom W:H).

Q3 — Language (only if source ≠ user language): Ask which language the text content should use.

Step 5: Generate Prompt → prompts/infographic.md

Backup rule: If prompts/infographic.md exists, rename to prompts/infographic-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

Load references: Read the selected layout from references/layouts/<layout>.md and style from references/styles/<style>.md.

Combine:

1. Layout definition from references/layouts/<layout>.md
2. Style definition from references/styles/<style>.md
3. Base template from references/base-prompt.md
4. Structured content from Step 2
5. All text in confirmed language

Aspect ratio resolution for {{ASPECT_RATIO}}:

• Named presets → ratio string: landscape→16:9, portrait→9:16, square→1:1
• Custom W:H ratios → use as-is (e.g., 3:4, 4:3, 2.35:1)

Save the assembled prompt to prompts/infographic.md using write_file.

Step 6: Generate Image

Choose the rendering path based on text fidelity requirements:

A. Prompt-based image generation

Use the image_generate tool with the assembled prompt from Step 5 when the infographic is primarily visual, decorative, or low-text.

• Map aspect ratio to image_generate's format: 16:9 → landscape, 9:16 → portrait, 1:1 → square
• For custom ratios, pick the closest named aspect
• On failure, auto-retry once
• Save the resulting image URL/path to the output directory

B. Deterministic local rendering for text-heavy infographics

When the user asks for a fact-heavy, bilingual/multilingual, educational, data-rich, or label-heavy infographic, prefer deterministic rendering with local tools instead of pure image generation. This avoids common image-model failures: misspelled labels, garbled Chinese, incorrect numbers, missing sections, and inconsistent bilingual text.

Recommended deterministic routes:

• Pillow PNG canvas for fixed-size posters, diagrams, bilingual labels, cards, legends, and simple shapes.
• HTML/CSS → screenshot/PDF for responsive or typography-heavy layouts.
• SVG for vector diagrams, arrows, icons, technical schematics, and scalable posters.

Deterministic rendering workflow:

1. Create a task-specific output folder under the user-preferred output root when known, e.g. ~/.Hermes/workspace/output/<topic-slug>/.
2. Probe usable fonts before rendering. On macOS, check common Chinese-capable fonts such as /System/Library/Fonts/STHeiti Medium.ttc, /System/Library/Fonts/STHeiti Light.ttc, /System/Library/Fonts/Supplemental/Arial Unicode.ttf, or PingFang if present.
3. Write a reproducible generator script (generate_<topic>_infographic.py, .html, or .svg) alongside the final image.
4. Render at explicit high resolution when requested: e.g. 3840×2160 for 4K landscape, 2160×3840 for portrait, or 3000×3000 for square.
5. Verify with tools before delivery: open/read image metadata for dimensions and mode, check file size, and run vision_analyze when available to inspect readability and content completeness.
6. If QA finds missing labels, weak visual hierarchy, crowded bilingual text, or missing caveats/source notes, patch the generator and re-render before final delivery.

Step 7: Output Summary

Report: topic, layout, style, aspect, language, output path, files created.

References

• references/analysis-framework.md — Analysis methodology
• references/structured-content-template.md — Content format
• references/base-prompt.md — Prompt template
• references/layouts/<layout>.md — 21 layout definitions
• references/styles/<style>.md — 21 style definitions

Pitfalls

1. Data integrity is paramount — never summarize, paraphrase, or alter source statistics. "73% increase" must stay "73% increase", not "significant increase".
2. Strip secrets — always scan source content for API keys, tokens, or credentials before including in any output file.
3. One message per section — each infographic section should convey one clear concept. Overloading sections reduces readability.
4. Style consistency — the style definition from the references file must be applied consistently across the entire infographic. Don't mix styles.
5. image_generate aspect ratios — the tool only supports landscape, portrait, and square. Custom ratios like 3:4 should map to the nearest option (portrait in that case).