document-design

name	Document design
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a proposal", "design a report", "make a one-pager", "build a PDF", "create a newsletter", "design slides", "make event materials", "design a flyer", or needs help with print-ready HTML documents. Provides brand configuration, CSS patterns for print layout, and document design best practices.
version	1.0.0

Document design

Create professional, print-ready HTML documents that export to PDF with customizable branding.

Brand configuration

Before creating documents, check for brand configuration in .claude/pdf-playground.local.md. If found, use those settings. If not, use sensible defaults or ask the user for their brand colors.

Reading brand config

Look for .claude/pdf-playground.local.md in the project root. Parse the YAML frontmatter:

---
brand:
  name: "Organization Name"
  tagline: "Tagline"
  website: "https://example.com"
  email: "[e-mail]"

colors:
  primary: "#CA3553"
  secondary: "#000000"
  background: "#FFFFFF"
  text: "#2d2a28"
  muted: "#666666"

fonts:
  heading: "Playfair Display"
  body: "Source Sans 3"

style:
  headingCase: "sentence"
  useOxfordComma: true
---

Default brand values

If no config exists, use these defaults:

• Primary color: #CA3553 (red)
• Secondary color: #000000 (black)
• Heading font: Playfair Display
• Body font: Source Sans 3
• Heading case: sentence case

Core principles

1. Print-first design: All documents target 8.5" × 11" letter size with proper margins
2. Brand compliance: Use colors and fonts from brand configuration
3. Sentence case by default: Unless brand config specifies "title" case
4. Clean exports: Documents must render correctly when printed to PDF

CSS variables

Generate CSS variables from brand config:

:root {
    --primary: [colors.primary];
    --secondary: [colors.secondary];
    --background: [colors.background];
    --text: [colors.text];
    --muted: [colors.muted];

    /* Derived colors */
    --primary-dark: [darken primary by 15%];
    --gray-100: #f5f4f2;
    --gray-200: #e8e6e3;
}

Print CSS fundamentals

Page setup

@page {
    size: 8.5in 11in;
    margin: 0;
}

@media print {
    body {
        -webkit-print-color-adjust: exact !important;
        print-color-adjust: exact !important;
    }
    .page {
        page-break-after: always;
        page-break-inside: avoid;
    }
}

Fixed page dimensions

.page {
    width: 8.5in;
    height: 11in;
    padding: 0.5in 0.75in;
    padding-bottom: 1in; /* Space for footer */
    position: relative;
    box-sizing: border-box;
    overflow: hidden;
}

Fixed footers

.page-footer {
    position: absolute;
    bottom: 0.4in;
    left: 0.75in;
    right: 0.75in;
    font-size: 9pt;
    border-top: 1px solid var(--gray-200);
    padding-top: 0.1in;
    background: var(--background);
}

Footer clearance (critical)

Content overlapping or touching the footer is a recurring issue.

Preferred layout — grid rows auto 1fr auto:

.page {
    display: grid;
    grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto;
    overflow: hidden;
}

This makes the header and footer take their natural height, and the content fills the remaining space. No magic-number calc() needed — the footer clearance is structural.

Required safeguards:

1. Use grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto on the page so content automatically gets the space between header and footer
2. Set overflow: hidden on the content container to prevent text bleeding past its bounds
3. Include padding-bottom: 0.3in (minimum) inside the content area as a buffer
4. Never use hardcoded height: calc(...) with magic numbers for header/footer heights — they drift when padding or font sizes change
5. After rendering, always screenshot and visually verify the bottom of the page before delivering
6. If content overflows, reduce content — never shrink the footer gap. Tighten the header first if you need more room.

Typography patterns

Font loading

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=[heading-font]:wght@400;600;700&family=[body-font]:wght@400;500;600;700&display=swap');

body {
    font-family: '[body-font]', Arial, sans-serif;
    font-size: 11pt;
    line-height: 1.6;
    color: var(--text);
}

h1, h2, h3 {
    font-family: '[heading-font]', Georgia, serif;
    font-weight: 700;
}

Heading styles

.section-title {
    font-size: 26pt;
    color: var(--secondary);
    margin-bottom: 0.25in;
}

.section-title::after {
    content: '';
    display: block;
    width: 0.5in;
    height: 3px;
    background: var(--primary);
    margin-top: 0.12in;
}

Common components

Cover page header

<header class="cover-header">
    <div class="logo-bar">
        <div class="logo-primary">[brand.name]</div>
    </div>
    <div class="cover-title-block">
        <div class="cover-eyebrow">[Document type] • [Date]</div>
        <h1 class="cover-title">[Title in configured case]</h1>
    </div>
</header>

Budget table

.budget-table thead {
    background: var(--secondary);
    color: white;
}

.budget-table tbody tr:last-child {
    background: var(--primary);
    color: white;
    font-weight: 700;
}

Highlight box

.highlight-box {
    background: linear-gradient(135deg, var(--primary) 0%, var(--primary-dark) 100%);
    color: white;
    padding: 0.3in;
}

Document creation workflow

1. Check for brand config in .claude/pdf-playground.local.md
2. Load template from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/
3. Apply brand settings to CSS variables and content
4. Customize content based on user requirements
5. Save HTML file in current working directory
6. Offer preview with Playwright browser tools

PDF export instructions

1. Open the HTML file in Chrome
2. Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on Mac)
3. Set "Destination" to "Save as PDF"
4. Set "Margins" to "None"
5. Enable "Background graphics"
6. Save the file

Additional resources

Templates

Pre-built templates in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/:

• proposal-template.html
• report-template.html
• onepager-template.html
• newsletter-template.html
• slides-template.html
• event-template.html

Brand examples

Example brand configurations in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/brands/:

• default.yaml - Default brand settings
• ccm.yaml - Center for Cooperative Media
• example-newsroom.yaml - Sample newsroom config

Reference files

For detailed CSS patterns: references/css-patterns.md