Figure Studio
Read ../references/figures.md.
Use the bundled planning assets:
- assets/figure-storyboard-template.md
- assets/chart-anti-patterns.md
- assets/caption-rewrite-template.md
Start from the question a figure must answer.
For each figure or table, define:
- reader question,
- data source,
- encodings,
- comparison target,
- caption takeaway,
- failure mode if the data is ambiguous.
Prefer fewer, sharper figures over many weak ones.
Useful outputs:
- figure storyboard for the whole paper,
- caption rewrites,
- plot-type recommendations,
- panel organization for multi-part figures,
- anti-pattern callouts.
Call out when a figure is doing cosmetic work rather than evidentiary work.
If the user has not designed figures yet, start with the storyboard template before recommending plot types.
When specialized visual skills are available, route quantitative results to a data-plotting workflow and mechanisms or architectures to a paper-diagram workflow. Preserve the evidence plan and caption contract during the handoff.
Before delivery, render the actual figure and inspect it. Verify text rendering, overlap, arrow scale, legend and axis readability, panel consistency, and whether the visual units match the paper terminology. File existence or a successful export is not sufficient validation.