Article Illustrator

Smart Article Illustration Skill

Analyze article structure and content, identify positions requiring visual aids, and generate illustrations with flexible style options.

Usage

# Auto-select style based on content
/article-illustrator path/to/article.md

# Specify a style
/article-illustrator path/to/article.md --style warm
/article-illustrator path/to/article.md --style minimal
/article-illustrator path/to/article.md --style watercolor

# Combine with other options
/article-illustrator path/to/article.md --style playful

Options

Style Gallery

Full style specifications in references/styles/<style>.md

Auto Style Selection

When no --style is specified, analyze content to select best style:

File Management

Output Directory

Each session creates an independent directory named by content slug:

illustrations/{topic-slug}/
├── source-{slug}.{ext}    # Source files (text, images, etc.)
├── outline.md
├── outline-{style}.md     # Style variant outlines
├── prompts/
│   ├── illustration-concept-a.md
│   ├── illustration-concept-b.md
│   └── ...
├── illustration-concept-a.png
├── illustration-concept-b.png
└── ...

Slug Generation:

1. Extract main topic from content (2-4 words, kebab-case)
2. Example: "The Future of AI" → future-of-ai

Conflict Resolution

If illustrations/{topic-slug}/ already exists:

• Append timestamp: {topic-slug}-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS
• Example: ai-future exists → ai-future-20260118-143052

Source Files

Copy all sources with naming source-{slug}.{ext}:

• source-article.md (main text content)
• source-photo.jpg (image from conversation)
• source-reference.pdf (additional file)

Multiple sources supported: text, images, files from conversation.

Workflow

Step 1: Analyze Content & Select Style

1. Read article content
2. If --style specified, use that style
3. Otherwise, scan for style signals and auto-select
4. Language detection:
   • Detect source language from article content
   • Detect user language from conversation context
   • Note if source_language ≠ user_language (will ask in Step 4)
5. Extract key information:
   • Main topic and themes
   • Core messages per section
   • Abstract concepts needing visualization

Step 2: Identify Illustration Positions

Three Purposes of Illustrations:

1. Information Supplement: Help understand abstract concepts
2. Concept Visualization: Transform abstract ideas into concrete visuals
3. Imagination Guidance: Create atmosphere, enhance reading experience

Content Suitable for Illustrations:

• Abstract concepts needing visualization
• Processes/steps needing diagrams
• Comparisons needing visual representation
• Core arguments needing reinforcement
• Scenarios needing imagination guidance

Illustration Count:

• Consider at least 1 image per major section
• Prioritize core arguments and abstract concepts
• Principle: More is better than fewer

Step 3: Generate Illustration Plan

# Illustration Plan

**Article**: [article path]
**Style**: [selected style]
**Illustration Count**: N images

---

## Illustration 1

**Insert Position**: [section name] / [paragraph description]
**Purpose**: [why illustration needed here]
**Visual Content**: [what image should show]
**Filename**: illustration-[slug].png

---

## Illustration 2
...

Step 4: Review & Confirm

Purpose: Let user confirm all options in a single step before image generation.

IMPORTANT: Present ALL options in a single confirmation step using AskUserQuestion. Do NOT interrupt workflow with multiple separate confirmations.

1. Generate 3 style variants:

   • Analyze content to select 3 most suitable styles
   • Generate complete illustration plan for each style variant
   • Save as outline-{style}.md (e.g., outline-notion.md, outline-tech.md, outline-warm.md)

2. Determine which questions to ask:

   Question	When to Ask
   Style variant	Always (required)
   Language	Only if source_language ≠ user_language

3. Present options (use AskUserQuestion with all applicable questions):

   Question 1 (Style) - always:

   • Style A (recommended): [style name] - [brief description]
   • Style B: [style name] - [brief description]
   • Style C: [style name] - [brief description]
   • Custom: Provide custom style reference

   Question 2 (Language) - only if source ≠ user language:

   • [Source language] (matches article language)
   • [User language] (your preference)

   Language handling:

   • If source language = user language: Just inform user (e.g., "Prompts will be in Chinese")
   • If different: Ask which language to use for prompts

4. Apply selection:

   • Copy selected outline-{style}.md to outline.md
   • If custom style provided, generate new plan with that style
   • If different language selected, regenerate outline in that language
   • User may edit outline.md directly for fine-tuning
   • If modified, reload plan before proceeding

5. Proceed only after explicit user confirmation

Step 5: Create Prompt Files

Save prompts to prompts/ directory with style-specific details.

All prompts are written in the user's confirmed language preference.

Prompt Format:

Illustration theme: [concept in 2-3 words]
Style: [style name]

Visual composition:
- Main visual: [description matching style]
- Layout: [element positioning]
- Decorative elements: [style-appropriate decorations]

Color scheme:
- Primary: [style primary color]
- Background: [style background color]
- Accent: [style accent color]

Text content (if any):
- [Any labels or captions in content language]

Style notes: [specific style characteristics]

Step 6: Generate Images

Image Generation Skill Selection:

1. Check available image generation skills
2. If multiple skills available, ask user to choose

Generation Flow:

1. Call selected image generation skill with prompt file and output path
2. Generate images sequentially
3. After each image, output progress: "Generated X/N"
4. On failure, auto-retry once
5. If retry fails, log reason, continue to next

Step 7: Update Article

Insert generated images at corresponding positions:

![illustration description]([article-name]/illustrations/illustration-[slug].png)

Insertion Rules:

• Insert image after corresponding paragraph
• Leave one blank line before and after image
• Alt text uses concise description in article's language

Step 8: Output Summary

Article Illustration Complete!

Article: [article path]
Style: [style name]
Generated: X/N images successful

Illustration Positions:
- illustration-xxx.png → After section "Section Name"
- illustration-yyy.png → After section "Another Section"
...

[If any failures]
Failed:
- illustration-zzz.png: [failure reason]

Illustration Modification

Support for modifying individual illustrations after initial generation.

Edit Single Illustration

Regenerate a specific illustration with modified prompt:

1. Identify illustration to edit (e.g., illustration-concept-overview.png)
2. Update prompt in prompts/illustration-concept-overview.md if needed
3. If content changes significantly, update slug in filename
4. Regenerate image
5. Update article if image reference changed

Add New Illustration

Add a new illustration to article:

1. Identify insertion position in article
2. Create new prompt with appropriate slug (e.g., illustration-new-concept.md)
3. Generate new illustration image
4. Update outline.md with new illustration entry
5. Insert image reference in article at specified position

Delete Illustration

Remove an illustration from article:

1. Identify illustration to delete (e.g., illustration-concept-overview.png)
2. Remove image file and prompt file
3. Remove image reference from article
4. Update outline.md to remove illustration entry

File Naming Convention

Files use meaningful slugs for better readability:

illustration-[slug].png
illustration-[slug].md (in prompts/)

Examples:

• illustration-concept-overview.png
• illustration-workflow-diagram.png
• illustration-key-benefits.png

Slug rules:

• Derived from illustration purpose/content (kebab-case)
• Must be unique within article
• When content changes significantly, update slug accordingly

References

Notes

• Illustrations serve to content: supplement information, visualize concepts
• Maintain selected style consistency across all illustrations in one article
• Image generation typically takes 10-30 seconds per image
• Sensitive figures should use cartoon alternatives
• Prompts written in user's confirmed language preference
• Illustration text (labels, captions) should match article language

Extension Support

Custom styles and configurations via EXTEND.md.

Check paths (priority order):

1. .content-gen-skills/article-illustrator/EXTEND.md (project)
2. ~/.content-gen-skills/article-illustrator/EXTEND.md (user)

If found, load before Step 1. Extension content overrides defaults.