correct-scientific-figure

# Correct Scientific Figure Act as the Corrector. Diagnose each Reviewer finding and produce an executable correction plan. Do not draw and do not approve your own plan; return it to the selected backend Drawer, then require a fresh Reviewer pass. ## Preserve the agreed change scope Before applying the recipes below, bind the accepted reference/source and the user's allowed changes. For a micro-edit, list the exact objects and properties to change and the layout/style to preserve. A global finding may justify proposing a redesign, but does not authorize one: put split/merge/re-layout operations in a separate proposal and obtain the user's agreement first. Report source errors even when outside scope, without silently rewriting a faithful reproduction. Use scoped regression for local fixes; do not require unrelated regions to be redesigned before delivering an otherwise verified local correction. When the Reviewer supplies an A/B/C publication-aesthetic finding, read [Publication Aesthetic Review](../audit-scientific-figure/references/publication-aesthetic-review.md) completely before producing corrections. When a finding concerns the global silhouette, reading spine, focal hierarchy, role-to-shape mapping, connector prominence, anti-dashboard motifs, or a failed visual-grammar receipt, also read [Fundamental Visual Grammar](../design-scientific-figure/references/fundamental-visual-grammar.md) completely. Treat these as upstream design defects. Replace the composition or grammar before changing palette, corner radius, shadow, font family, or decorative finish. When a finding concerns hand-drawn fidelity, fake sketch effects, handwriting legibility, doodle competition, highlighter use, double outlines, or rough connector geometry, also read [Hand-drawn Technical Style](../design-scientific-figure/references/hand-drawn-technical-style.md) completely. Correct the smallest style layer that caused the defect. Preserve exact semantic connectors and already approved geometry; never answer weak hand-drawn fidelity by adding global random jitter or raster texture. When a finding concerns manuscript fidelity, equation operands, evidence scope, training/inference boundaries, or visible-edge reconstruction, read [Manuscript-to-Figure Workflow](../design-scientific-figure/references/manuscript-to-figure-workflow.md) completely before producing corrections. ## Required inputs Use: - backend and current object inventory; - region and stable object names/ids; - Reviewer category, severity, evidence, and acceptance condition; - aesthetic class A/B/C, exact location, cognitive impact, and expected visual effect when the publication gate applies; - current renderer image and reference crop when available; - design or reconstruction specification; - raster declarations and grouping/z-order. If a finding lacks an identifiable object, first request a narrower inspection; never replace the whole panel as a shortcut. ## Diagnose before prescribing Classify the root cause as one or more of: - incorrect text or scientific topology; - wrong geometry, alignment, spacing, scale, or margin; - text-frame or font-metric mismatch; - wrong connector type, site, route, lane, endpoint clearance, or z-order; - incorrect grouping or layer order; - raster crop too broad, raster not atomic, or reconstructable overlay left inside an image; - palette, hierarchy, or reference-correspondence mismatch. - weak focal hierarchy, accidental whitespace, underscaled primary content, mismatched visual mass, or cosmetic-only style variation. - an upstream `parse`, `spec`, `retrieval`, `direction`, `draw`, or `review` deviation in manuscript-to-figure work. Prefer the smallest change set that fixes the root cause and preserves already approved objects. For manuscript-derived work, identify the earliest stage at which the correct fact or relation was lost. If the manuscript extraction or frozen contract is wrong, update that upstream artifact before prescribing slide operations, then rebuild only the affected downstream objects. Do not conceal an upstream omission with a terminal label, color cue, nearby prose, or raster replacement. For a class-A global composition, visual-center, style-mixture, or proportion failure in an authorized redesign, the smallest sufficient fix may be a region-level or whole-slide re-layout. If that exceeds the agreed change scope, propose it separately rather than executing it as a micro-edit. For a crowded overview or failed reader reconstruction, read [Overview Narrative](../design-scientific-figure/references/overview-narrative.md). Repair the abstraction map and level assignment before squeezing objects. Move routine operations into linked readable expansions; keep external interfaces, conditions and exact inverse/update semantics visible. For missing renderer or masked-view evidence, prescribe the missing export rather than changing the figure or issuing a pass. ## Emit an object-level plan For every finding, return: ```text correction_id: stable id finding_id: source finding backend: powerpoint | drawio region: stable region id objects: exact names/ids root_cause: concise diagnosis operations: ordered backend tool calls with exact target values preserve: objects/properties that must not change acceptance: measurable rerender and re-audit condition rollback_signal: evidence that the correction harmed an approved area ``` For a manuscript-fidelity finding, also include `earliest_deviation_stage`, the source location or contract id, and the positive or negative relation that must be recoverable from the fresh publication-scale render. For publication-aesthetic findings, preserve the Reviewer's A/B/C class and add `expected_visual_effect`. Prioritize class A first, then class B that blocks the reading path, then class C. If only three changes can be made, choose the three with the largest combined effect on focal hierarchy, canvas utilization, and visual-language consistency; do not spend those slots on decorative polish. Order visual corrections by dependency: scientific contract; global silhouette and primary spine; region proportions and whitespace; role-to-shape grammar and connector lanes; typography and semantic color; expressive finish. When an upstream layer changes, rerender before prescribing dependent micro-adjustments. Order operations by dependency: decomposition and object creation, geometry, text fit, connectors, grouping, z-order, then exact alignment/distribution. ## Equivalent backend operations | Intent | PowerPoint Drawer | draw.io Drawer | |---|---|---| | Move/resize/restyle | `powerpoint_update_shape` | `drawio_live_update_cell` | | Align | `powerpoint_align_shapes` | `drawio_live_align_cells` | | Equal spacing | `powerpoint_distribute_shapes` | `drawio_live_distribute_cells` | | Table dimensions | `powerpoint_update_table_layout` | `drawio_live_update_table_layout` | | Free arrow clearance | redraw with `powerpoint_add_line` clearances | redraw with `drawio_live_add_line` clearances | | Attached relationship | COM/OOXML: `powerpoint_add_connector` with correct sites; Office.js: rebuild its named geometry-backed route and recheck after node movement | `drawio_live_add_edge` with entry/exit and waypoints | | Layer order | `powerpoint_set_z_order` | `drawio_live_set_z_order` | | Atomic image | `powerpoint_add_image` | `drawio_live_add_image` | Use delete/replace operations only for the exact defective object and only when in-place correction cannot express the required result. ## Correction recipes ### Arrowhead or path overlaps a rectangle Identify the intended source/target and boundary sides. Prefer an attached connector for semantic links. Otherwise compute a clean route in a reserved lane and apply start/end clearance. Keep the arrow tip at the intended boundary, the shaft outside fills and labels, and the arrow above backgrounds but below foreground labels when necessary. ### Repeated objects are uneven First make equal-role objects equal in size. Align the intended shared edge/center. Preserve the outer anchors, then distribute equally. Recheck connector attachment after movement. ### Text differs or wraps incorrectly Correct text exactly, then set explicit box bounds, margins, wrapping, alignment, and font metrics. Prefer fixed geometry; do not rasterize the label or let uncontrolled grow-shape behavior move neighboring objects. ### Picture is still composite Reject a broad crop. Split every independent microscopy field, mask, heatmap, photograph, channel, or prediction into a separate atomic image. Recreate titles, method names, borders, grids, legends, arrows, axes, and annotations as editable objects. Require all five raster declarations on each retained image. ### Global correction would damage passed regions Constrain the operation to named objects or one region. If a shared style token is wrong, list every affected object explicitly and preserve already validated geometry. ### Layout is sparse or the primary content is underscaled Identify which empty regions are functional and which are accidental. Remove or compress only accidental gaps, then enlarge or redistribute the primary scientific modules as a coherent group. Preserve outer margins and connector lanes, but do not keep a large empty band merely for visual air. The acceptance render must show a stronger content silhouette and improved readability without new crowding, clipping, or route crossings. Never add decorative backgrounds, filler icons, ornamental cards, or unrelated annotations merely to increase canvas utilization. ### Candidate styles are cosmetic variants Do not fix this by recoloring. Return the affected direction to the Designer and require a different composition skeleton or reading path plus a different focal, evidence-weighting, or shape/line strategy. Preserve the scientific semantic contract while changing the visual argument. ## Regression handoff Return the plan to `$edit-powerpoint-live` or `$recreate-scientific-figure-in-drawio`. After execution, require a fresh renderer image and `powerpoint_audit_figure` or `drawio_live_audit_figure`. Send that evidence to `$audit-scientific-figure`. Do not mark a correction complete until the Reviewer confirms the acceptance condition and no new defect appeared in the affected region or whole figure. For publication-aesthetic corrections, require fresh thumbnail-scale and readable-scale judgments rather than relying only on deterministic structure scores.