posterskill-academic-posters

posterskill — Academic Poster Generator

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

posterskill is a Claude Code skill that generates print-ready, interactive conference posters from your Overleaf paper source. It produces a single self-contained HTML file with a built-in drag-and-drop visual editor — no build step, no server required.

Installation & Setup

git clone git@github.com:ethanweber/posterskill.git poster
cd poster

# Clone your Overleaf paper source
git clone https://git.overleaf.com/YOUR_PROJECT_ID overleaf

# Optional: add reference posters for style matching
cp ~/Downloads/some_reference_poster.pdf references/

Start Claude Code and trigger the skill:

claude

/make-poster

Claude will ask for your project website URL and any formatting specs, then generate a poster/ directory with index.html.

Directory Structure

poster/                  # this repo
├── .claude/
│   └── commands/
│       └── make-poster.md   # the skill command
├── overleaf/            # your cloned Overleaf project
├── references/          # optional reference PDFs for style matching
└── poster/              # generated output
    ├── index.html       # the poster (self-contained)
    └── logos/           # downloaded institutional logos

What Gets Generated

The output poster/index.html is a React app (loaded via CDN) containing:

• CARD_REGISTRY — each card's title, color, and JSX body content
• DEFAULT_LAYOUT — column structure and card ordering
• DEFAULT_LOGOS — institutional logos for the header
• window.posterAPI — programmatic API for layout automation

Visual Editor Features

Open poster/index.html in Chrome to access the built-in editor:

Feature	How to Use
Resize columns	Drag column dividers left/right
Resize cards	Drag row dividers up/down within a column
Swap cards	Click one diamond handle, then another
Move/insert cards	Click a handle, then click a drop zone
Adjust font size	Click A- / A+ buttons in toolbar
Preview print layout	Click Preview button
Export layout	Click Copy Config to get JSON

Programmatic API (window.posterAPI)

Available in the browser console or via Playwright automation:

// Swap two cards by ID
posterAPI.swapCards('method', 'results')

// Move a card to a specific column and position
posterAPI.moveCard('quant', 'col1', 2)

// Resize a column (in mm)
posterAPI.setColumnWidth('col1', 280)

// Set a specific card's height (in mm)
posterAPI.setCardHeight('method', 150)

// Scale all text globally
posterAPI.setFontScale(1.5)

// Measure whitespace waste (lower = better layout)
posterAPI.getWaste()

// Get the current layout as an object
posterAPI.getLayout()

// Get the full config as JSON (paste back to Claude)
posterAPI.getConfig()

// Reset to default layout
posterAPI.resetLayout()

Iteration Workflow

The core loop for refining your poster:

1. Claude generates first draft, opens poster/index.html in your browser
2. You edit in the browser — drag dividers, swap cards, resize columns
3. Click "Copy Config" in the toolbar to export your layout as JSON
4. Paste the JSON back to Claude — it updates DEFAULT_LAYOUT in the HTML
5. Repeat until the layout is perfect
6. Print to PDF: File → Print → Margins: None, Background Graphics: On

Playwright Automation (used internally by Claude)

Claude uses Playwright to automate layout verification. You can use it too:

const { chromium } = require('playwright');

async function optimizePoster() {
  const browser = await chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  
  await page.goto(`file://${__dirname}/poster/index.html`);
  
  // Use the posterAPI to adjust layout programmatically
  const waste = await page.evaluate(() => posterAPI.getWaste());
  console.log('Whitespace waste:', waste);
  
  // Resize a column
  await page.evaluate(() => posterAPI.setColumnWidth('col1', 300));
  
  // Take a screenshot for visual verification
  await page.screenshot({ path: 'poster-preview.png', fullPage: true });
  
  // Generate PDF at print resolution
  await page.pdf({
    path: 'poster.pdf',
    width: '841mm',   // A0 landscape width
    height: '1189mm',
    printBackground: true,
  });
  
  await browser.close();
}

Card Registry Structure

Each card in the poster is defined in CARD_REGISTRY:

const CARD_REGISTRY = {
  abstract: {
    title: "Abstract",
    color: "#f0f4ff",
    body: `
      <p>Your abstract text here. Supports full JSX including
      <strong>bold</strong>, <em>italic</em>, and inline math.</p>
    `
  },
  method: {
    title: "Method",
    color: "#fff8f0",
    body: `
      <img src="figures/pipeline.png" style={{width:'100%'}} />
      <p>Caption describing the pipeline above.</p>
    `
  },
  results: {
    title: "Results",
    color: "#f0fff4",
    body: `
      <table>...</table>
    `
  }
};

Default Layout Structure

const DEFAULT_LAYOUT = {
  columns: [
    {
      id: 'col1',
      widthMm: 280,
      cards: ['abstract', 'method']
    },
    {
      id: 'col2', 
      widthMm: 320,
      cards: ['results', 'quant']
    },
    {
      id: 'col3',
      widthMm: 280,
      cards: ['conclusion', 'references']
    }
  ]
};

Inputs Claude Uses

Input	Where It Comes From	Required
Paper content	overleaf/ directory	Yes
Project website	URL (asked at runtime)	Yes
Reference posters	references/*.pdf	No
Author website	URL for brand matching	No
Formatting specs	Conference URL or text	Asked if missing
Logos	Auto-downloaded to poster/logos/	Auto

Common Patterns

Adding a custom figure card

// In CARD_REGISTRY, add a new card
custom_fig: {
  title: "Qualitative Results",
  color: "#fafafa",
  body: `
    <div style={{display:'grid', gridTemplateColumns:'1fr 1fr', gap:'8px'}}>
      <img src="figures/result1.png" style={{width:'100%'}} />
      <img src="figures/result2.png" style={{width:'100%'}} />
    </div>
    <p style={{fontSize:'0.85em', textAlign:'center'}}>
      Comparison on held-out test scenes.
    </p>
  `
}

Then add it to DEFAULT_LAYOUT:

{ id: 'col2', widthMm: 320, cards: ['results', 'custom_fig'] }

Logos configuration

const DEFAULT_LOGOS = [
  { src: 'logos/university.png', height: 60 },
  { src: 'logos/lab.png', height: 50 },
  { src: 'logos/sponsor.png', height: 45 },
];

Printing to PDF

In Chrome:

1. Open poster/index.html
2. Click Preview to verify layout
3. Ctrl+P / Cmd+P
4. Set Margins: None
5. Enable Background graphics
6. Set paper size to your conference spec (A0, 36×48in, etc.)
7. Save as PDF

Troubleshooting

Poster looks different in print vs browser → Use Chrome (not Firefox/Safari). Enable "Background graphics" in print dialog.

Figures not loading → Ensure figure paths in the HTML are relative to poster/index.html. Claude copies figures to poster/figures/ — verify the directory exists.

Logos not fetched → Claude uses Playwright to download logos from your project website. If it fails, manually copy logo files to poster/logos/ and update DEFAULT_LOGOS paths.

Layout config not updating after paste → Make sure you paste the full JSON from Copy Config — Claude looks for the complete DEFAULT_LAYOUT and DEFAULT_LOGOS objects to replace.

Font too small/large for poster size → Use posterAPI.setFontScale(1.2) in the browser console, or click A+ / A- buttons, then Copy Config and paste to Claude.

Whitespace gaps between cards → Run posterAPI.getWaste() in console to quantify. Use posterAPI.setCardHeight('cardId', heightMm) to tune card heights, or drag row dividers manually.

Example Output

See the Fillerbuster poster (repo) as a live example of posterskill output.