Image Card Series Generator

Break down complex content into eye-catching image card series with multiple style options.

Usage

# Auto-select style and layout based on content
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md

# Specify style
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --style notion

# Specify layout
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --layout dense

# Combine style and layout
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --style notion --layout list

# Specify palette (override style colors)
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --style notion --palette macaron

# Use preset (style + layout + optional palette shorthand)
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --preset knowledge-card

# Preset with override
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --preset poster --layout quadrant

# Preset with palette override
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --preset hand-drawn-edu --palette warm

# Direct content input
/baoyu-image-cards
[paste content]

# Direct input with options
/baoyu-image-cards --style bold --layout comparison
[paste content]

# Non-interactive (for scheduled tasks / automation)
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --yes
/baoyu-image-cards posts/ai-future/article.md --yes --preset knowledge-card

Options

Dimensions

Style × Layout can be freely combined, with optional palette override. Example: --style notion --layout dense creates an intellectual-looking knowledge card with high information density. Add --palette macaron to swap colors to soft pastels while keeping notion's rendering style.

Or use presets: --preset knowledge-card → style + layout in one flag. See Style Presets.

Palette behavior:

• No --palette → style uses its built-in colors (or its default_palette if defined)
• --palette macaron → overrides any style's colors with macaron palette
• Palette replaces colors only; style rendering rules (line treatment, elements, textures) stay unchanged
• Some styles declare a default_palette (e.g., sketch-notes defaults to macaron)

Style Gallery

Detailed style definitions: references/presets/<style>.md

Preset Gallery

Quick-start presets by content scenario. Use --preset <name> or recommend during Step 2.

Knowledge & Learning:

Lifestyle & Sharing:

Impact & Opinion:

Trend & Entertainment:

Poster & Editorial:

Full preset definitions: references/style-presets.md

Layout Gallery

Detailed layout definitions: references/elements/canvas.md

Palette Gallery

Optional color override. Replaces style's built-in colors while preserving rendering rules.

Detailed palette definitions: references/palettes/<palette>.md

Auto Selection

Outline Strategies

Three differentiated outline strategies for different content goals:

Strategy A: Story-Driven (故事驱动型)

Strategy B: Information-Dense (信息密集型)

Strategy C: Visual-First (视觉优先型)

File Structure

Each session creates an independent directory named by content slug:

image-cards/{topic-slug}/
├── source-{slug}.{ext}             # Source files (text, images, etc.)
├── analysis.md                     # Deep analysis + questions asked
├── outline-strategy-a.md           # Strategy A: Story-driven
├── outline-strategy-b.md           # Strategy B: Information-dense
├── outline-strategy-c.md           # Strategy C: Visual-first
├── outline.md                      # Final selected/merged outline
├── prompts/
│   ├── 01-cover-[slug].md
│   ├── 02-content-[slug].md
│   └── ...
├── 01-cover-[slug].png
├── 02-content-[slug].png
└── NN-ending-[slug].png

Slug Generation:

1. Extract main topic from content (2-4 words, kebab-case)
2. Example: "AI工具推荐" → ai-tools-recommend

Conflict Resolution: If image-cards/{topic-slug}/ already exists:

• Append timestamp: {topic-slug}-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS
• Example: ai-tools exists → ai-tools-20260118-143052

Source Files: Copy all sources with naming source-{slug}.{ext}:

• source-article.md, source-photo.jpg, etc.
• Multiple sources supported: text, images, files from conversation

Workflow

Progress Checklist

Copy and track progress:

Image Card Series Progress:
- [ ] Step 0: Check preferences (EXTEND.md) ⛔ BLOCKING (--yes: use defaults if not found)
  - [ ] Found → load preferences → continue
  - [ ] Not found → run first-time setup → MUST complete before Step 1 (--yes: skip setup, use defaults)
- [ ] Step 1: Analyze content → analysis.md
- [ ] Step 2: Smart Confirm ⚠️ REQUIRED (--yes: auto-confirm Path A)
  - [ ] Path A: Quick confirm → generate recommended outline
  - [ ] Path B: Customize → adjust then generate outline
  - [ ] Path C: Detailed → 3 outlines → second confirm → generate outline
- [ ] Step 3: Generate images (sequential)
- [ ] Step 4: Completion report

Flow

Input → [--yes?] ─┬─ Yes → [Step 0: Load or defaults] → Analyze → Auto-confirm → Generate → Complete
                   │
                   └─ No → [Step 0: Preferences] ─┬─ Found → Continue
                                                   │
                                                   └─ Not found → First-Time Setup ⛔ BLOCKING
                                                                  │
                                                                  └─ Complete setup → Save EXTEND.md → Continue
                                                                                                          │
                    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                    ↓
            Analyze → [Smart Confirm] ─┬─ Quick: confirm recommended → outline.md → Generate → Complete
                                       │
                                       ├─ Customize: adjust options → outline.md → Generate → Complete
                                       │
                                       └─ Detailed: 3 outlines → [Confirm 2] → outline.md → Generate → Complete

Step 0: Load Preferences (EXTEND.md) ⛔ BLOCKING

Purpose: Load user preferences or run first-time setup.

--yes mode: If EXTEND.md found → load it. If not found → use built-in defaults (no watermark, style/layout auto-select, language from content). Do NOT run first-time setup, do NOT create EXTEND.md, do NOT ask any questions. Proceed directly to Step 1.

CRITICAL (interactive mode only): If EXTEND.md not found, MUST complete first-time setup before ANY other questions or steps. Do NOT proceed to content analysis, do NOT ask about style, do NOT ask about layout — ONLY complete the preferences setup first.

Check EXTEND.md existence (priority order):

# macOS, Linux, WSL, Git Bash
test -f .baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md && echo "project"
test -f "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md" && echo "xdg"
test -f "$HOME/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md" && echo "user"

# PowerShell (Windows)
if (Test-Path .baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md) { "project" }
$xdg = if ($env:XDG_CONFIG_HOME) { $env:XDG_CONFIG_HOME } else { "$HOME/.config" }
if (Test-Path "$xdg/baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md") { "xdg" }
if (Test-Path "$HOME/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md") { "user" }

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐ │ Path │ Location │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤ │ .baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md │ Project directory │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤ │ $HOME/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-image-cards/EXTEND.md │ User home │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────┘

┌───────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Result │ Action │ ├───────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Found │ Read, parse, display summary → Continue to Step 1 │ ├───────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Not found │ ⛔ BLOCKING: Run first-time setup ONLY (see below) → Complete and save EXTEND.md → Then Step 1 │ └───────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

First-Time Setup (when EXTEND.md not found):

Language: Use user's input language or saved language preference.

Use AskUserQuestion with ALL questions in ONE call. See references/config/first-time-setup.md for question details.

EXTEND.md Supports: Watermark | Preferred style/layout | Custom style definitions | Language preference

Schema: references/config/preferences-schema.md

Step 1: Analyze Content → analysis.md

Read source content, save it if needed, and perform deep analysis.

Actions:

1. Save source content (if not already a file):
   • If user provides a file path: use as-is
   • If user pastes content: save to source.md in target directory
   • Backup rule: If source.md exists, rename to source-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md
2. Read source content
3. Deep analysis following references/workflows/analysis-framework.md:
   • Content type classification (种草/干货/测评/教程/避坑...)
   • Hook analysis (爆款标题潜力)
   • Target audience identification
   • Engagement potential (收藏/分享/评论)
   • Visual opportunity mapping
   • Swipe flow design
4. Detect source language
5. Determine recommended image count (2-10)
6. Auto-recommend best strategy + style + layout + palette based on content signals
7. Save to analysis.md

Step 2: Smart Confirm ⚠️

Purpose: Present auto-recommended plan, let user confirm or adjust.

--yes mode: Skip this entire step. Use auto-recommended strategy + style + layout + palette from Step 1 analysis (or --style/--layout/--palette/--preset if provided). Generate outline directly using Path A logic → save to outline.md → proceed to Step 3. No AskUserQuestion calls.

Interactive mode: Do NOT skip.

Auto-Recommendation Logic:

1. Use Auto Selection table to match content signals → best strategy + style + layout + palette
2. Infer optimal image count from content density
3. Load style's default elements from preset (apply palette override if applicable)

Display (analysis summary + recommended plan):

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📋 内容分析
  主题：[topic] | 类型：[content_type]
  要点：[key points summary]
  受众：[target audience]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🎨 推荐方案（自动匹配）
  策略：[A/B/C] [strategy name]（[reason]）
  风格：[style] · 布局：[layout] · 配色：[palette or "默认"] · 预设：[preset]
  图片：[N]张（封面+[N-2]内容+结尾）
  元素：[background] / [decorations] / [emphasis]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Use AskUserQuestion with single question:

Path A: Quick Confirm (Option 1)

Generate single outline using recommended strategy + style → save to outline.md → Step 3.

Path B: Customize (Option 2)

Use AskUserQuestion with adjustable options (leave blank = keep recommended):

1. 策略风格: Current: [strategy + style]. Options: A Story-Driven(warm) | B Information-Dense(notion) | C Visual-First(screen-print). Or specify style directly: cute/fresh/warm/bold/minimal/retro/pop/notion/chalkboard/study-notes/screen-print/sketch-notes. Or use preset: knowledge-card / checklist / tutorial / poster / hand-drawn-edu / etc.
2. 布局: Current: [layout]. Options: sparse | balanced | dense | list | comparison | flow | mindmap | quadrant
3. 配色: Current: [palette or "默认"]. Options: 默认 | macaron | warm | neon
4. 图片数量: Current: [N]. Range: 2-10
5. 补充说明（可选）: Selling point emphasis, audience adjustment, custom color preference, etc.

After response: Generate single outline with user's choices → save to outline.md → Step 3.

Path C: Detailed Mode (Option 3)

Full two-confirmation flow for maximum control:

Step 2a: Content Understanding

Use AskUserQuestion for:

1. Core selling point (multiSelect: true)
2. Target audience
3. Style preference: Authentic sharing / Professional review / Aesthetic mood / Auto
4. Additional context (optional)

After response: Update analysis.md.

Step 2b: Generate 3 Outline Variants

Outline format (YAML front matter + content):

---
strategy: a  # a, b, or c
name: Story-Driven
style: warm  # recommended style for this strategy
palette: ~  # optional palette override (macaron, warm, neon, or ~ for style default)
style_reason: "Warm tones enhance emotional storytelling and personal connection"
elements:  # from style preset, can be customized
  background: solid-pastel
  decorations: [clouds, stars-sparkles]
  emphasis: star-burst
  typography: highlight
layout: balanced  # primary layout
image_count: 5
---

## P1 Cover
**Type**: cover
**Hook**: "入冬后脸不干了🥹终于找到对的面霜"
**Visual**: Product hero shot with cozy winter atmosphere
**Layout**: sparse

## P2 Problem
**Type**: pain-point
**Message**: Previous struggles with dry skin
**Visual**: Before state, relatable scenario
**Layout**: balanced

...

Differentiation requirements:

• Each strategy MUST have different outline structure AND different recommended style
• Adapt page count: A typically 4-6, B typically 3-5, C typically 3-4
• Include style_reason explaining why this style fits the strategy

Reference: references/workflows/outline-template.md

Step 2c: Outline & Style Selection

Use AskUserQuestion with three questions:

Q1: Outline Strategy: A / B / C / Combine (specify pages from each)

Q2: Visual Style: Use recommended | Select preset | Select style | Custom description

Q3: Visual Elements: Use defaults (Recommended) | Adjust background | Adjust decorations | Custom

After response: Save selected/merged outline to outline.md with confirmed style and elements → Step 3.

Step 3: Generate Images

With confirmed outline + style + layout:

Visual Consistency — Reference Image Chain: To ensure character/style consistency across all images in a series:

1. Generate image 1 (cover) FIRST — without --ref
2. Use image 1 as --ref for ALL remaining images (2, 3, ..., N)
   • This anchors the character design, color rendering, and illustration style
   • Command pattern: --ref <path-to-image-01.png> added to every subsequent generation

This is critical for styles that use recurring characters, mascots, or illustration elements. Image 1 becomes the visual anchor for the entire series.

For each image (cover + content + ending):

1. Save prompt to prompts/NN-{type}-[slug].md (in user's preferred language)
   • Backup rule: If prompt file exists, rename to prompts/NN-{type}-[slug]-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md
2. Generate image:
   • Image 1: Generate without --ref (this establishes the visual anchor)
   • Images 2+: Generate with --ref <image-01-path> for consistency
   • Backup rule: If image file exists, rename to NN-{type}-[slug]-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png
3. Report progress after each generation

Watermark Application (if enabled in preferences): Add to each image generation prompt:

Include a subtle watermark "[content]" positioned at [position].
The watermark should be legible but not distracting from the main content.

Reference: references/config/watermark-guide.md

Image Generation Skill Selection:

• Check available image generation skills
• If multiple skills available: ask user preference (interactive) or use first available skill (--yes mode)

Session Management: If image generation skill supports --sessionId:

1. Generate unique session ID: cards-{topic-slug}-{timestamp}
2. Use same session ID for all images
3. Combined with reference image chain, ensures maximum visual consistency

Step 4: Completion Report

Image Card Series Complete!

Topic: [topic]
Mode: [Quick / Custom / Detailed]
Strategy: [A/B/C/Combined]
Style: [style name]
Palette: [palette name or "default"]
Layout: [layout name or "varies"]
Location: [directory path]
Images: N total

✓ analysis.md
✓ outline.md
✓ outline-strategy-a/b/c.md (detailed mode only)

Files:
- 01-cover-[slug].png ✓ Cover (sparse)
- 02-content-[slug].png ✓ Content (balanced)
- 03-content-[slug].png ✓ Content (dense)
- 04-ending-[slug].png ✓ Ending (sparse)

Image Modification

IMPORTANT: When updating images, ALWAYS update the prompt file (prompts/NN-{type}-[slug].md) FIRST before regenerating. This ensures changes are documented and reproducible.

Content Breakdown Principles

1. Cover (Image 1): Hook + visual impact → sparse layout
2. Content (Middle): Core value per image → balanced/dense/list/comparison/flow
3. Ending (Last): CTA / summary → sparse or balanced

Style × Layout Matrix (✓✓ = highly recommended, ✓ = works well):

References

Detailed templates in references/ directory:

Elements (Visual building blocks):

• elements/canvas.md - Aspect ratios, safe zones, grid layouts
• elements/image-effects.md - Cutout, stroke, filters
• elements/typography.md - Decorated text (花字), tags, text direction
• elements/decorations.md - Emphasis marks, backgrounds, doodles, frames

Presets (Style presets):

• presets/<name>.md - Element combination definitions (cute, notion, warm...)
• style-presets.md - Preset shortcuts (style + layout + palette combos)

Palettes (Color overrides):

• palettes/<name>.md - Color palette definitions (macaron, warm, neon)

Workflows (Process guides):

• workflows/analysis-framework.md - Content analysis framework
• workflows/outline-template.md - Outline template with layout guide
• workflows/prompt-assembly.md - Prompt assembly guide

Config (Settings):

• config/preferences-schema.md - EXTEND.md schema
• config/first-time-setup.md - First-time setup flow
• config/watermark-guide.md - Watermark configuration

Notes

• Auto-retry once on failure | Cartoon alternatives for sensitive figures
• Use confirmed language preference | Maintain style consistency
• Smart Confirm required (Step 2) - do not skip; detailed mode uses two sub-confirmations

Extension Support

Custom configurations via EXTEND.md. See Step 0 for paths and supported options.