# Polish Tables Figures > Polishes LaTeX tables and figures to publication quality. Use when a researcher mentions table formatting, booktabs, figure layout, subfigures, captions, colorblind-safe colors or palettes, cref/cleveref consistency, overfull hbox, column widths, or asks to make tables and figures look professional or camera-ready for a venue (ACM, IEEE, NeurIPS, LNCS, CHI). Converts hline-and-vertical-rule tables to booktabs, sizes columns within the page budget, lays out subfigures with subcaption, applies caption conventions per venue family (table captions above, figure captions below, ACM Description alt-text), fixes ref/cref inconsistencies, and recommends colorblind-safe palettes (Okabe-Ito, Paul Tol) using bundled stdlib-Python linters and palette generators. Edits presentation only — never alters data values, units, or results. - Skill: `shaishavmaisuria/polish-tables-figures` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 8 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add shaishavmaisuria/polish-tables-figures` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/shaishavmaisuria/polish-tables-figures/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Finance & Business - Author: shaishavmaisuria (https://skillmd.com/u/shaishavmaisuria) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/shaishavmaisuria/polish-tables-figures --- # Polish Tables & Figures Turn draft-quality LaTeX floats into the tables and figures reviewers expect to see at ACM / IEEE / NeurIPS-style / LNCS venues: booktabs rules, columns that fit the page budget, clean subfigure layouts, venue-correct captions, consistent `\cref` references, and colorblind-safe colors. Every change is presentation-only; the numbers are sacred. ## When to use - "Make my tables/figures look professional" / "polish for camera-ready" - "Convert this table to booktabs" / "my table is too wide" / "overfull hbox" - "Lay these plots out as subfigures" / "fix my captions" - "Are my figure colors colorblind-safe?" / "pick a palette for this plot" - "Fix my \\ref/\\cref mess" - After `tailor-to-venue`, before `preflight-check`. ## Inputs 1. The main `.tex` file (the one with `\documentclass`); `\input`/`\include` files are followed automatically. 2. Optional: a venue profile `venues/conferences/-.yml` (schema in `venues/schema.yml`) — sets column count and caption conventions. Without one, conventions are inferred from the documentclass. 3. Strongly recommended: a compiled `.log` next to the `.tex` so the column-sizing (overfull box) check can run. ## Process 1. **Resolve venue conventions.** If a venue is named, load its profile (sanity-check with `python3 scripts/venueyaml.py venues/conferences/.yml`). Re-verify format-critical facts against the live `cfp_url` before relying on them: template/documentclass, column count, any stated figure/table rules (minimum font sizes, color/grayscale requirements, accessibility requirements). Profiles are a starting point, never ground truth. 2. **Lint everything first:** ``` python3 scripts/check_floats.py paper.tex \ --venue venues/conferences/-.yml ``` Flags: `--json`, `--strict` (warnings also fail), `--log `, `--overfull-threshold `, `--no-inputs`. Exit codes: 0 clean, 1 findings, 2 bad arguments. The linter covers: booktabs style (`\hline`, `\cline`, vertical rules, double rules, missing package), `\resizebox`/tiny-font scaling, caption position per family, missing `\caption`/`\label`/`\centering`/ACM `\Description`, label-before-caption, deprecated `subfigure` package, `width=\textwidth` in a one-column float at a two-column venue, raster graphics, `[h]`/`[H]` placement, undefined and unreferenced labels, mixed `Figure~\ref` vs `\cref` styles, "Figure \cref" double prefixes, cleveref load order, lowercase `\cref` at sentence start, and Overfull `\hbox` entries from the `.log`. 3. **Fix tables** — work through findings using [references/tables.md](references/tables.md): the mechanical booktabs conversion recipe (it preserves cell content byte-for-byte), then column sizing within the page budget (cut → abbreviate → align numbers → `\tabcolsep` → `tabularx` → `table*` — never `\resizebox`). 4. **Fix figures** — [references/figures.md](references/figures.md): width discipline (`\columnwidth`/`\linewidth`, `figure*` for spans), subfigure layout with `subcaption`, vector formats, font sizes inside plots, float placement. 5. **Fix captions and cross-references** — [references/captions-crossrefs.md](references/captions-crossrefs.md): per-family caption position/style table, self-contained caption writing, and the cleveref setup (load last, `capitalise`, `\cref` vs `\Cref`, one style everywhere). 6. **Fix color** — [references/color-accessibility.md](references/color-accessibility.md). Check the colors actually used in the paper (hex values from TikZ/pgfplots definitions, or sampled from included plots): ``` python3 scripts/palettes.py check 4477AA EE6677 ... # arbitrary colors python3 scripts/palettes.py show okabe-ito --format latex|pgfplots|matplotlib ``` `check` simulates protanopia/deuteranopia/tritanopia and grayscale print, flags confusable pairs (exit 1), and the references file explains redundant encoding (markers + line styles, not color alone). If plots are generated by user scripts (matplotlib/pgfplots), edit the plotting source and ask the user to regenerate — never claim recolored results. 7. **Recompile and re-run the linter** until the verdict is PASS (or every remaining WARN is a deliberate, user-approved choice). Then hand off to `preflight-check` for the full desk-reject lint. ## Output Edited `.tex` (and plotting-script) changes applied in place with a short change log per float: what changed and why, citing the venue convention. Plus the final linter report (PASS / PASS-WITH-WARNINGS / FAIL). No new files unless the user asks for extracted style snippets (e.g. a `colors.tex` palette preamble). ## Adapt to your discipline Conventions here target CS venues (ACM/IEEE/ML/LNCS). Forking for another field: adjust the caption-position conventions in `references/captions-crossrefs.md` and the family mapping in `scripts/check_floats.py` (`convention_label`); the booktabs, sizing, and color guidance is field-agnostic. ## Guardrails - **Never change data**: cell values, units, significant digits, axis scales, error bars, and legends' meanings are untouchable. Reformatting only. If a value looks wrong, tell the user — do not "fix" it. - Never fabricate venue rules. The profile and the live CFP are the only sources; when neither states a rule, label advice as general convention. - Do not regenerate or recolor result plots yourself; edit the user's plotting source and let them re-run it. - Bold-best-result formatting must come from the user's stated criterion, not your reading of which number "looks best". - Citation issues found along the way go to `verify-citations`; submission readiness goes to `preflight-check`. Never submit anything on the user's behalf.