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
/baoyu-article-illustrator path/to/article.md

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

# Combine with other options
/baoyu-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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the specified position

Delete Illustration

Remove an illustration from the 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 the article
• •When content changes significantly, update slug accordingly

References

Notes

• •Illustrations serve the 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. •.baoyu-skills/baoyu-article-illustrator/EXTEND.md (project)
2. •~/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-article-illustrator/EXTEND.md (user)

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