figure-styling-skills-index

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:

1. OutputType recipes — self-contained recipes for default-agent use (SKILL.md + one recipe file).
2. 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.

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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

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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)

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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

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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.