By id: figure_styling_skills_index name: Figure Styling Skills Index description: | Aesthetic guidelines and output-type recipes for scientific figure production. Supports lightweight default-agent use through SKILL.md + one outputType recipe, with optional venue-specific style guides when requested.
Figure Styling
General scientific figure styling skill for default agents and graph-generation tasks.
This skill has two layers:
- OutputType recipes — self-contained recipes for default-agent use (
SKILL.md+ one recipe file). - Optional style guides — venue- or aesthetic-specific refinement, loaded only when requested.
Lightweight read rule: For normal use, read only this SKILL.md and one outputType recipe. Do not load styles/, quality/, input/, or triage/ unless explicitly needed.
Route by outputType
| outputType | Read | Rendering mode | Use for |
|---|---|---|---|
figure |
figure.md |
code-first | paper figures, data plots, multi-panel figures |
poster |
poster.md |
mixed | academic posters |
graphical-abstract |
graphical-abstract.md |
AI-first | graphical abstracts, TOC figures |
presentation |
presentation.md |
mixed | slide visuals |
flowchart |
flowchart.md |
AI-first | workflow diagrams, process diagrams |
Optional style guides
Read these only when the user explicitly requests a venue/style or a style_id is provided.
If a listed file is not present, continue with the outputType recipe and report the missing file.
| style_id | File | Use for |
|---|---|---|
neurips_diagram |
styles/neurips_diagram.md |
ML methodology diagrams (NeurIPS / ICML / ICLR / CVPR) |
neurips_plot |
styles/neurips_plot.md |
ML/statistical plots (NeurIPS / ICML / ICLR / CVPR) |
nature_figure |
styles/nature_figure.md |
Nature / Cell / Science-style scientific figures |
ieee_figure |
styles/ieee_figure.md |
IEEE journal / conference figures |
color_palettes |
styles/color_palettes.md |
Colorblind-safe palette reference (Paul Tol) |
Scientific visual language
Use concrete visual schemas instead of generic scientific prompts.
Prefer:
- Flat vector scientific illustration
- Clean white or very light background
- Short accurate labels
- Explicit entities and connections
- Editable-looking vector composition
- Journal-grade readability
- Clear module hierarchy
- Restrained scientific palette
Avoid:
- Generic AI art
- Decorative 3D or photorealistic glow
- Fake charts, fake axes, fake data in AI diagrams
- Dense tiny text or unreadable legends
- Abstract boxes without scientific meaning
- Childish cartoon style
- Heavy shadows or decorative gradients
Domain adaptation rule
Do not assume a fixed scientific domain.
When the user provides a domain, instantiate the visual schema with that domain's concrete entities, structures, labels, and relationships.
Examples (not defaults):
- 3D genomics: TAD, chromatin loop, boundary insulation, enhancer, promoter, CTCF/cohesin, Hi-C contact map, genome-browser tracks
- Cell biology: nucleus, mitochondria, ER, Golgi, membrane receptors, signaling pathway
- Immunology: T cell, antigen-presenting cell, receptor, cytokine, immune synapse
- Neuroscience: neuron, synapse, axon, dendrite, action potential
- ML/systems: encoder, decoder, attention, pipeline stage, data flow
These are domain instantiation examples, not default assumptions.
Custom styles
Additional .md style files may be added to styles/ following the existing file structure. Use the matching style_id when requesting a venue or aesthetic style.