anthropics/skills · skills/canvas-design/SKILL.md
canvas-design
“Poster-making skill with real taste, no rendering tools, and a made-up quote from the user”
What it does
Turns a request for a poster or art piece into two files. First a short 'design movement' manifesto saved as .md, then a single-page PDF or PNG that expresses it, followed by a polishing pass. Most of the file is about aesthetics and craft. It never says how to draw anything.
- When the agent uses it
- When the user asks for a poster, a piece of art, a design or another static visual, delivered as a .png or .pdf.
- Who it is for
- For people who want striking, art-directed one-pagers. Skip it if you need on-brand layouts, literal content, or a predictable rendering pipeline.
- What it costs
- 85 lines, about 3.2k tokens once the agent loads it.
Create beautiful visual art in .png and .pdf documents using design philosophy. You should use this skill when the user asks to create a poster, piece of art, design, or other static piece. Create original visual designs, never copying existing artists' work to avoid copyright violations.
What it tells the agent to do
- Name a 1–2 word design movement and write a 4–6 paragraph philosophy on space, color, scale and composition; save it as .md
- Deduce a subtle, niche reference from the request to weave invisibly into the piece
- Render one page as PDF or PNG: repeating patterns, a limited palette, sparse thin type, fonts from ./canvas-fonts
- Check that nothing overlaps or falls off the canvas and that there are proper margins
- Take a second pass that refines what exists instead of adding new shapes or effects
- If more pages are requested, make distinct variations in the same PDF or as several PNGs
Lines worth reading
Straight from the file, with why each one matters.
line 3use this skill when the user asks to create a poster, piece of art, design, or other static piece
A clear trigger with real request words, though 'design' alone could catch almost anything.
line 48**Emphasize craftsmanship REPEATEDLY**
This comes one line after 'Avoid redundancy'. The file then follows its own advice by repeating the craftsmanship pep talk four more times.
line 96Think like a jazz musician quoting another song
A good image for the hidden-reference idea: only those who know will catch it.
line 124If the instinct is to call a new function or draw a new shape, STOP
A sharp, usable rule for the polish pass: refine what is there, don't pile on.
line 122The user ALREADY said "It isn't perfect enough.
The skill invents a user complaint to push the agent harder. It works as a prompt trick, but the user never said it.
Watch out for
- Medium
It puts words in the user's mouth. The agent is told the user already complained, which blurs what the user actually asked for.
line 122The user ALREADY said "It isn't perfect enough.
- Low
It fetches fonts from the internet with no named source and without asking first.
line 110Download and use whatever fonts are needed to make this a reality.
- Low
User instructions are treated as loose inspiration, so the output may ignore concrete requirements such as text, size or content.
line 23it should not constrain creative freedom
The scorecard
- TriggerSays when to use it7/10
Says what and when with poster/art words; 'design' is broad, copyright clause wastes space
- FocusOne clear job8/10
One job: a philosophy, then a static art piece
- LeanLight to load6/10
Short, but heavy on repeated craftsmanship exhortations and capitals
- ConcreteSteps you can follow3/10
No library, script or code; the only real check is overlap and margins
- SafeSafe to run7/10
Fake user quote and unsourced font downloads; nothing destructive
What it does well
- The philosophy-first step gives the render a coherent visual direction instead of generic clip-art layouts.
- The polish pass rule of refining instead of adding counters the usual AI habit of piling on effects.
- Explicit layout check: nothing overlaps, nothing falls off the page, proper margins.
How it could be better
Name the rendering tool and give a script
The agent is told to make a museum-grade PDF or PNG but never told with what, so results depend on guesswork.
Add## Rendering Render with <library, e.g. Python + reportlab or Pillow>. Start from `<scripts/render_template.py>` and run: `python <scripts/render_template.py> --out <output.png> --size <width>x<height>` Then open the output and confirm no element crosses the <N>px margin.
Replace the invented user quote with an honest rule
Telling the agent the user said something they did not is misleading and can override what the user really wants.
Add## FINAL STEP Before delivering, do one refinement pass: tighten spacing, alignment and color without adding new elements. Ask yourself: "How can I make what's already here more of a piece of art?"
Use local fonts first; ask before downloading
Unscoped downloads pull files from unknown sources and break offline use.
AddUse fonts from `./canvas-fonts`. If none fit, ask the user before downloading, and only from <trusted source, e.g. Google Fonts>.
Respect explicit user requirements
Treating every request as loose inspiration risks dropping required text, sizes or content.
AddTreat explicit requirements (text, dimensions, colors, content) as fixed. Use creative freedom only for what the user left open.
Kin reviews against Anthropic’s Extend Claude with skills and agentskills.io’s the Agent Skills standard. It reads SKILL.md only, so a script beside it can still do things the file does not say.