Paper Illustration: Multi-Stage Claude-Supervised Figure Generation
Generate publication-quality illustrations using a multi-stage workflow with Claude as the STRICT supervisor/reviewer.
Core Design Philosophy
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MULTI-STAGE ITERATIVE WORKFLOW │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ User Request │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Claude │ ◄─── Step 1: Parse request, create initial prompt │
│ │ (Planner) │ │
│ └──────┬──────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Gemini │ ◄─── Step 2: Optimize layout description │
│ │ (gemini-3-pro)│ - Refine component positioning │
│ │ Layout │ - Optimize spacing and grouping │
│ └──────┬──────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Gemini │ ◄─── Step 3: CVPR/NeurIPS style verification │
│ │ (gemini-3-pro)│ - Check color palette compliance │
│ │ Style │ - Verify arrow and font standards │
│ └──────┬──────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Paperbanana │ ◄─── Step 4: Render final image │
│ │ (gemini-3- │ - High-quality image generation │
│ │ pro-image) │ - Internal codename: Nano Banana Pro │
│ └──────┬──────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Claude │ ◄─── Step 5: STRICT visual review + SCORE (1-10) │
│ │ (Reviewer) │ - Verify EVERY arrow direction │
│ │ STRICT! │ - Verify EVERY block content │
│ └──────┬──────┘ - Verify aesthetics & visual appeal │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ Score ≥ 9? ──YES──► Accept & Output │
│ │ │
│ NO │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ Generate SPECIFIC improvement feedback ──► Loop back to Step 2 │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Constants
- IMAGE_MODEL =
gemini-3-pro-image-preview— Paperbanana (Nano Banana Pro) for image rendering - REASONING_MODEL =
gemini-3-pro-preview— Gemini for layout optimization and style checking - MAX_ITERATIONS = 5 — Maximum refinement rounds
- TARGET_SCORE = 9 — Minimum acceptable score (1-10) — RAISED FOR QUALITY
- OUTPUT_DIR =
figures/ai_generated/— Output directory - API_KEY_ENV =
GEMINI_API_KEY— Environment variable
Optional: Style reference (— style-ref: <source>, opt-in)
Lets the user steer structural figure conventions (caption length, panel-count distribution, figure-to-table ratio in the parent paper) toward a reference paper. Default OFF — when the user does not pass — style-ref, do nothing differently from before.
Only when — style-ref: <source> appears in $ARGUMENTS, run the helper FIRST, before generating prompts:
# Resolve $STYLE_HELPER via the canonical strict-safe chain (see
# shared-references/integration-contract.md §2). Policy A — gate:
# unresolved helper means --style-ref cannot be satisfied, so abort.
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)" || exit 1
if [ -z "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && [ -f .aris/installed-skills.txt ]; then
ARIS_REPO=$(awk -F'\t' '$1=="repo_root"{print $2; exit}' .aris/installed-skills.txt 2>/dev/null) || true
fi
if [ -z "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && [ -f "$HOME/.aris/repo" ]; then
ARIS_REPO=$(cat "$HOME/.aris/repo" 2>/dev/null) || true
fi
STYLE_HELPER=".aris/tools/extract_paper_style.py"
[ -f "$STYLE_HELPER" ] || STYLE_HELPER="tools/extract_paper_style.py"
[ -f "$STYLE_HELPER" ] || { [ -n "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && STYLE_HELPER="$ARIS_REPO/tools/extract_paper_style.py"; }
[ -f "$STYLE_HELPER" ] || {
echo "ERROR: extract_paper_style.py not resolved at .aris/tools/, tools/, \$ARIS_REPO/tools/, or via ~/.aris/repo." >&2
echo " Fix: rerun bash tools/install_aris.sh or smart_update.sh (refreshes ~/.aris/repo), export ARIS_REPO, or copy the helper to tools/." >&2
echo " --style-ref cannot be satisfied; aborting." >&2
exit 1
}
STYLE_STATUS=0
CACHE=$(python3 "$STYLE_HELPER" --source "<source>") || STYLE_STATUS=$?
case "$STYLE_STATUS" in
0) ;; # use $CACHE/style_profile.md as structural guidance
2) echo "warning: style-ref skipped (missing optional dep)" >&2 ;;
3) echo "error: --style-ref source failed; aborting illustration" >&2 ; exit 1 ;;
*) echo "error: helper failed unexpectedly; aborting illustration" >&2 ; exit 1 ;;
esac
Sources accepted: local TeX dir / file, local PDF, arXiv id, http(s) URL. Overleaf URLs/IDs are rejected — clone via /overleaf-sync setup <id> first and pass the local clone path.
Strict rules (full contract in tools/extract_paper_style.py docstring):
- Use
style_profile.mdto align caption length and figure density with the reference paper. The CVPR/ICLR/NeurIPS visual standards above still take precedence —--style-refonly refines length-and-density tendencies, never image content. - Never copy figure content, color palettes, or specific design elements from anything reachable through the cache. The visual design comes from the user's prompt, not the reference.
- Never pass
— style-ref(or the cache contents) to the Claude vision-checker / Gemini reasoning-checker sub-agents when they score the generated image — the image must be judged on its own merits.
CVPR/ICLR/NeurIPS Top-Tier Conference Style Guide
What "CVPR Style" Actually Means:
Visual Standards
- Clean white background — No decorative patterns or gradients (unless subtle)
- Sans-serif fonts — Arial, Helvetica, or Computer Modern; minimum 14pt
- Subtle color palette — Not rainbow colors; use 3-5 coordinated colors
- Print-friendly — Must be readable in grayscale (many reviewers print papers)
- Professional borders — Thin (2-3px), solid colors, not flashy
Layout Standards
- Horizontal flow — Left-to-right is the standard for pipelines
- Clear grouping — Use subtle background boxes to group related modules
- Consistent sizing — Similar components should have similar sizes
- Balanced whitespace — Not cramped, not sparse
Arrow Standards (MOST CRITICAL)
- Thick strokes — 4-6px minimum (thin arrows disappear when printed)
- Clear arrowheads — Large, filled triangular heads
- Dark colors — Black or dark gray (#333333); avoid colored arrows
- Labeled — Every arrow should indicate what data flows through it
- No crossings — Reorganize layout to avoid arrow crossings
- CORRECT DIRECTION — Arrows must point to the RIGHT target!
Visual Appeal (Professional Academic Style)
Goal: Balanced — neither conservative nor flashy
✅ Visual elements to include:
- Subtle gradient fills — Elegant gradients within the same color family (light to dark), not flashy multi-color
- Rounded corners — Rounded rectangles (6-10px radius), modern but not exaggerated
- Clear visual hierarchy — Differentiate layers through size and color depth
- Consistent color coding — Unified color scheme (3-4 main colors)
- Internal structure — Show sub-components within larger modules (e.g., layer structure inside an Encoder)
- Professional typography — Clear labels, appropriate font size hierarchy
✅ Suggested color palette (academic professional):
- Inputs: Soft green (#10B981 / #34D399)
- Encoders: Professional blue (#2563EB / #3B82F6)
- Fusion: Elegant purple (#7C3AED / #8B5CF6)
- Outputs: Warm orange (#EA580C / #F97316)
- Arrows: Black or dark gray (#333333 / #1F2937)
- Background: Pure white (#FFFFFF), no patterns
❌ Excessive decorations to avoid:
- ❌ Rainbow color schemes
- ❌ Heavy drop shadows
- ❌ 3D effects / perspective
- ❌ Excessive gradients (multi-color flashy)
- ❌ Clip art / cartoon icons
- ❌ Decorative patterns in background
- ❌ Glowing effects
- ❌ Too many small icons
✓ Ideal visual effect:
- Looks professional and clear at first glance
- Has moderate visual appeal without being distracting
- Aligns with CVPR/NeurIPS paper aesthetic standards
- Print-friendly (clearly recognizable in grayscale)
- Looks like a carefully designed academic diagram, not a PowerPoint template
What to AVOID (CRITICAL)
- ❌ Rainbow color schemes (too many colors)
- ❌ Thin, hairline arrows (arrows must be THICK)
- ❌ Unlabeled connections
- ❌ Plain boring rectangles (add some visual interest)
- ❌ Over-decorated with shadows/glows/icons (too flashy)
- ❌ Small text that's unreadable when printed
- ❌ WRONG arrow directions — This is UNACCEPTABLE!
Scope
| Figure Type | Quality | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture diagrams | Excellent | Model architecture, pipeline, encoder-decoder |
| Method illustrations | Excellent | Conceptual diagrams, algorithm flowcharts |
| Conceptual figures | Good | Comparison diagrams, taxonomy trees |
Not for: Statistical plots (use /paper-figure), photo-realistic images
Workflow: MUST EXECUTE ALL STEPS
Step 0: Pre-flight Check
# Check API key
if [ -z "$GEMINI_API_KEY" ]; then
echo "ERROR: GEMINI_API_KEY not set"
echo "Get your key from: https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey"
echo "Set it: export GEMINI_API_KEY='your-key'"
exit 1
fi
# Create output directory
mkdir -p figures/ai_generated
Step 1: Claude Plans the Figure (YOU ARE HERE)
CRITICAL: Claude must first analyze the user's request and create a detailed prompt.
Parse the input: $ARGUMENTS
Claude's task:
- Understand what figure the user wants
- Identify all components, connections, data flow
- Create a detailed, structured prompt for Gemini
- Include style requirements AND visual appeal requirements
Prompt Template for Claude to generate:
Create a PROFESSIONAL, VISUALLY APPEALING publication-quality academic diagram following CVPR/ICLR/NeurIPS standards.
## Visual Style: Academic Professional Style
### Goal: Balanced — neither conservative nor flashy
#### DO (should have):
- **Subtle gradients** — Elegant gradients within the same color family (e.g., #2563EB → #3B82F6), not multi-color flashy
- **Rounded corners** — Rounded rectangles (6-10px), modern feel
- **Clear visual hierarchy** — Differentiate layers through size and color depth
- **Internal structure** — Show sub-components within larger modules
- **Consistent color coding** — Unified 3-4 color scheme
- **Professional polish** — Refined but not exaggerated
#### DON'T (should not have):
- ❌ Rainbow/multi-color gradients
- ❌ Heavy drop shadows
- ❌ 3D effects / perspective
- ❌ Glowing effects
- ❌ Excessive decorative icons
- ❌ Plain boring rectangles
#### Ideal effect:
Like a well-designed architecture diagram from a top conference paper — professional, clear, with moderate visual appeal
## Figure Type
[Architecture Diagram / Pipeline / Comparison / etc.]
## Components to Include (BE SPECIFIC ABOUT CONTENT)
1. [Component 1]:
- Label: "[exact text]"
- Sub-label: "[smaller text below]"
- Position: [left/center/right, top/middle/bottom]
- Style: [border color, fill, internal structure]
2. [Component 2]: ...
## Layout
- Direction: [left-to-right / top-to-bottom]
- Spacing: [tight / normal / loose]
- Grouping: [how components should be grouped]
## Connections (BE EXPLICIT ABOUT DIRECTION)
EXACT arrow specifications:
1. [Component A] → [Component B]: Arrow goes FROM A TO B, label it "[data type]"
2. [Component C] → [Component D]: Arrow goes FROM C TO D, label it "[data type]"
...
VERIFY: Each arrow must point to the CORRECT target!
## Style Requirements (CVPR/ICLR/NeurIPS Standard)
### Visual Style
- Color palette: Professional academic colors
- Inputs: Green (#10B981)
- Encoders: Blue (#2563EB)
- Fusion modules: Purple (#7C3AED)
- Outputs: Orange (#EA580C)
- Font: Sans-serif (Arial/Helvetica), minimum 14pt, bold for labels
- Background: Clean white, no patterns
- Blocks: Rounded rectangles (8-12px radius), subtle gradient fill, colored border (2-3px)
- Subtle shadows for depth effect
- Print-friendly (must work in grayscale)
### CRITICAL: Arrow & Data Flow Requirements
1. **ALL arrows must be VERY THICK** - minimum 5-6px stroke width
2. **ALL arrows must have CLEAR arrowheads** - large, visible triangular heads
3. **ALL arrows must be BLACK or DARK GRAY** - not colored
4. **Label EVERY arrow** with what data flows through it
5. **VERIFY arrow direction** - each arrow MUST point to the correct target
6. **No ambiguous connections** - every arrow should have a clear source and destination
### Logic Clarity Requirements
1. **Data flow must be immediately obvious** - viewer should understand the pipeline at a glance
...
[truncated for brevity - full prompt follows same structure]