Cover Image Generator

Generate elegant cover images for articles with 4-dimensional customization.

Usage

# Auto-select all dimensions based on content
/baoyu-cover-image path/to/article.md

# Quick mode: skip confirmation, use auto-selection
/baoyu-cover-image article.md --quick

# Specify dimensions
/baoyu-cover-image article.md --type conceptual --style blueprint
/baoyu-cover-image article.md --text title-subtitle --mood bold

# Visual only (no title text)
/baoyu-cover-image article.md --no-title

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

# Direct input with options
/baoyu-cover-image --style notion --aspect 1:1 --quick
[paste content]

Options

Option	Description
--type <name>	Cover type: hero, conceptual, typography, metaphor, scene, minimal
--style <name>	Cover style (see Style Gallery)
--text <level>	Text density: none, title-only, title-subtitle, text-rich
--mood <level>	Emotional intensity: subtle, balanced, bold
--aspect <ratio>	16:9 (default), 2.35:1, 4:3, 3:2, 1:1, 3:4
--lang <code>	Title language (en, zh, ja, etc.)
--no-title	Alias for --text none
--quick	Skip confirmation, use auto-selection for missing dimensions

Four Dimensions

Dimension	Controls	Values	Default
Type	Visual composition, information structure	hero, conceptual, typography, metaphor, scene, minimal	auto
Style	Visual aesthetics, colors, technique	20 built-in styles	auto
Text	Text density, information hierarchy	none, title-only, title-subtitle, text-rich	title-only
Mood	Emotional intensity, visual weight	subtle, balanced, bold	balanced

Dimensions can be freely combined. Example: --type conceptual --style blueprint --text title-only --mood subtle creates a calm technical concept visualization.

Type Gallery

Type	Description	Best For
hero	Large visual impact, title overlay	Product launch, brand promotion, major announcements
conceptual	Concept visualization, abstract core ideas	Technical articles, methodology, architecture design
typography	Text-focused layout, prominent title	Opinion pieces, quotes, insights
metaphor	Visual metaphor, concrete expressing abstract	Philosophy, growth, personal development
scene	Atmospheric scene, narrative feel	Stories, travel, lifestyle
minimal	Minimalist composition, generous whitespace	Zen, focus, core concepts

Auto Type Selection

When --type is omitted, select based on content signals:

Signals	Type
Product, launch, announcement, release, reveal	hero
Architecture, framework, system, API, technical, model	conceptual
Quote, opinion, insight, thought, headline, statement	typography
Philosophy, growth, abstract, meaning, reflection	metaphor
Story, journey, travel, lifestyle, experience, narrative	scene
Zen, focus, essential, core, simple, pure	minimal

Style Gallery

Style	Description
elegant (default)	Refined, sophisticated
blueprint	Technical schematics
bold-editorial	Magazine impact
chalkboard	Chalk on blackboard
dark-atmospheric	Cinematic dark mode
editorial-infographic	Visual storytelling
fantasy-animation	Ghibli/Disney inspired
flat-doodle	Pastel, cute shapes
intuition-machine	Technical, bilingual
minimal	Ultra-clean, zen
nature	Organic, earthy
notion	SaaS dashboard
pixel-art	Retro 8-bit
playful	Fun, whimsical
retro	Halftone, vintage
sketch-notes	Hand-drawn, warm
vector-illustration	Flat vector
vintage	Aged, expedition
warm	Friendly, human
watercolor	Soft hand-painted

Style definitions: references/styles/

Auto Style Selection

When --style is omitted, select based on content signals:

Signals	Style
Architecture, system design	blueprint
Product launch, marketing	bold-editorial
Education, tutorial	chalkboard
Entertainment, premium	dark-atmospheric
Tech explainer, research	editorial-infographic
Fantasy, children	fantasy-animation
Technical docs, bilingual	intuition-machine
Personal story, emotion	warm
Zen, focus, essential	minimal
Fun, beginner, casual	playful
Nature, wellness, eco	nature
SaaS, dashboard	notion
Workflow, productivity	flat-doodle
Gaming, retro tech	pixel-art
Knowledge sharing	sketch-notes
Creative proposals	vector-illustration
History, exploration	vintage
Lifestyle, travel	watercolor
Business, professional	elegant

Text Dimension

Value	Title	Subtitle	Tags	Use Case
none	-	-	-	Pure visual, no text
title-only	✓ (≤8字)	-	-	Simple headline (default)
title-subtitle	✓	✓ (≤15字)	-	Title + supporting context
text-rich	✓	✓	✓ (2-4)	Information-dense

Full guide: references/dimensions/text.md

Auto Text Selection

When --text is omitted, select based on content signals:

Signals	Text Level
Visual-only, photography, abstract, art	none
Article, blog, standard cover	title-only
Series, tutorial, technical with context	title-subtitle
Announcement, features, multiple points, infographic	text-rich

Default: title-only

Mood Dimension

Value	Contrast	Saturation	Weight	Use Case
subtle	Low	Muted	Light	Corporate, thought leadership
balanced	Medium	Normal	Medium	General articles (default)
bold	High	Vivid	Heavy	Announcements, promotions

Full guide: references/dimensions/mood.md

Auto Mood Selection

When --mood is omitted, select based on content signals:

Signals	Mood Level
Professional, corporate, thought leadership, academic, luxury	subtle
General, educational, standard, blog, documentation	balanced
Launch, announcement, promotion, event, gaming, entertainment	bold

Default: balanced

Compatibility Matrices

Type × Style

	elegant	blueprint	notion	warm	minimal	watercolor	bold-editorial	dark-atmospheric
hero	✓✓	✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓✓	✓✓
conceptual	✓✓	✓✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✗	✓	✓
typography	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓✓
metaphor	✓✓	✗	✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✓
scene	✓	✗	✗	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓
minimal	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓	✓	✗	✓

Type × Text

	none	title-only	title-subtitle	text-rich
hero	✓	✓✓	✓✓	✓
conceptual	✓✓	✓✓	✓	✓
typography	✗	✓	✓✓	✓✓
metaphor	✓✓	✓	✓	✗
scene	✓✓	✓	✓	✗
minimal	✓✓	✓✓	✓	✗

Type × Mood

	subtle	balanced	bold
hero	✓	✓✓	✓✓
conceptual	✓✓	✓✓	✓
typography	✓	✓✓	✓✓
metaphor	✓✓	✓✓	✓
scene	✓✓	✓✓	✓
minimal	✓✓	✓✓	✗

✓✓ = highly recommended | ✓ = compatible | ✗ = not recommended

File Structure

Each session creates an independent directory named by content slug:

cover-image/{topic-slug}/
├── source-{slug}.{ext}    # Source files (text, images, etc.)
├── prompts/cover.md       # Generation prompt
└── cover.png              # Output image

Slug Generation:

1. Extract main topic from content (2-4 words, kebab-case)
2. Example: "The Future of AI" → future-of-ai

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

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

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

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

Workflow

Progress Checklist

Copy and track progress:

Cover Image Progress:
- [ ] Step 0: Check preferences (EXTEND.md) ⚠️ REQUIRED if not found
- [ ] Step 1: Analyze content
- [ ] Step 2: Confirm options (4 dimensions) ⚠️ REQUIRED unless --quick or all specified
- [ ] Step 3: Create prompt
- [ ] Step 4: Generate image
- [ ] Step 5: Completion report

Flow

Input → [Step 0: Preferences/Setup] → Analyze → [Confirm: 4 Dimensions] → Prompt → Generate → Complete
                                                      ↓
                                              (skip if --quick or all dimensions specified)

Step 0: Load Preferences (EXTEND.md) ⚠️

Purpose: Load user preferences or run first-time setup. Do NOT skip setup if EXTEND.md not found.

Use Bash to check EXTEND.md existence (priority order):

# Check project-level first
test -f .baoyu-skills/baoyu-cover-image/EXTEND.md && echo "project"

# Then user-level (cross-platform: $HOME works on macOS/Linux/WSL)
test -f "$HOME/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-cover-image/EXTEND.md" && echo "user"

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

┌───────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Result │ Action │ ├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Found │ Read, parse, display preferences summary (see below) → Continue to Step 1 │ ├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Not found │ ⚠️ MUST run first-time setup (see below) → Then continue to Step 1 │ └───────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Preferences Summary (when EXTEND.md found):

Display loaded preferences:

Preferences loaded from [project/user]:
• Watermark: [enabled/disabled] [content if enabled]
• Type: [preferred_type or "auto"]
• Style: [preferred_style or "auto"]
• Text: [preferred_text or "title-only"]
• Mood: [preferred_mood or "balanced"]
• Aspect: [default_aspect]
• Quick mode: [enabled/disabled]
• Language: [language or "auto"]

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:

Q1: Watermark

header: "Watermark"
question: "Watermark text for generated cover images?"
options:
  - label: "No watermark (Recommended)"
    description: "Clean covers, can enable later in EXTEND.md"

Q2: Preferred Type

header: "Type"
question: "Default cover type preference?"
options:
  - label: "Auto-select (Recommended)"
    description: "Choose based on content analysis each time"
  - label: "hero"
    description: "Large visual impact - product launch, announcements"
  - label: "conceptual"
    description: "Concept visualization - technical, architecture"

Q3: Preferred Style

header: "Style"
question: "Default cover style preference?"
options:
  - label: "Auto-select (Recommended)"
    description: "Choose based on content analysis each time"
  - label: "elegant"
    description: "Refined, sophisticated - professional business"
  - label: "notion"
    description: "SaaS dashboard - productivity/tech content"

Q4: Default Aspect Ratio

header: "Aspect"
question: "Default aspect ratio for cover images?"
options:
  - label: "16:9 (Recommended)"
    description: "Standard widescreen - YouTube, presentations, versatile"
  - label: "2.35:1"
    description: "Cinematic widescreen - article headers, blog posts"
  - label: "1:1"
    description: "Square - Instagram, WeChat, social cards"
  - label: "3:4"
    description: "Portrait - Xiaohongshu, Pinterest, mobile content"

Note: More ratios (4:3, 3:2) available during generation. This sets the default recommendation.

Q5: Quick Mode

header: "Quick"
question: "Enable quick mode by default?"
options:
  - label: "No (Recommended)"
    description: "Confirm dimension choices each time"
  - label: "Yes"
    description: "Skip confirmation, use auto-selection"

Q6: Save Location

header: "Save"
question: "Where to save preferences?"
options:
  - label: "Project (Recommended)"
    description: ".baoyu-skills/ (this project only)"
  - label: "User"
    description: "~/.baoyu-skills/ (all projects)"

After setup: Create EXTEND.md with user choices, then continue to Step 1.

Full setup details: references/config/first-time-setup.md

EXTEND.md Supports: Watermark | Preferred type | Preferred style | Preferred text | Preferred mood | Default aspect ratio | Quick mode | Custom style definitions | Language preference

Schema: references/config/preferences-schema.md

Step 1: Analyze Content

Read source content, save it if needed, and perform 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
2. Read source content
3. Content analysis:
   • Extract: topic, core message, tone, keywords
   • Identify visual metaphor opportunities
   • Detect content type (technical/personal/business/creative)
4. Language detection:
   • Detect source content language
   • Note user's input language (from conversation)
   • Compare with language preference in EXTEND.md

Step 2: Confirm Options ⚠️

Purpose: Validate all 4 dimensions + aspect ratio.

Skip Conditions:

Condition	Skipped Questions	Still Asked
--quick flag	Type, Style, Text, Mood	Aspect Ratio (unless --aspect specified)
All 4 dimensions + --aspect specified	All	None
quick_mode: true in EXTEND.md	Type, Style, Text, Mood	Aspect Ratio (unless --aspect specified)
Otherwise	None	All 5 questions

Important: Aspect ratio is ALWAYS asked unless explicitly specified via --aspect CLI flag. User presets in EXTEND.md are shown as recommended option, not auto-selected.

Quick Mode Output (when skipping 4 dimensions):

Quick Mode: Auto-selected dimensions
• Type: [type] ([reason])
• Style: [style] ([reason])
• Text: [text] ([reason])
• Mood: [mood] ([reason])

[Then ask Question 5: Aspect Ratio]

Confirmation Flow (when NOT skipping):

Language: Auto-determined (user's input language > saved preference > source language). No need to ask.

Present options using AskUserQuestion:

Question 1: Type (if not specified via --type)

• Show recommended type based on content analysis + preferred type from EXTEND.md

header: "Type"
question: "Which cover type?"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "[auto-recommended type] (Recommended)"
    description: "[reason based on content signals]"
  - label: "hero"
    description: "Large visual impact, title overlay - product launch, announcements"
  - label: "conceptual"
    description: "Concept visualization - technical, architecture"
  - label: "typography"
    description: "Text-focused layout - opinions, quotes"

Question 2: Style (if not specified via --style)

• Based on selected Type, show compatible styles (✓✓ first from compatibility matrix)
• Format: [style name] - [why it fits this content]

header: "Style"
question: "Which cover style?"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "[best compatible style] (Recommended)"
    description: "[reason based on type + content]"
  - label: "[style2]"
    description: "[reason]"
  - label: "[style3]"
    description: "[reason]"

Question 3: Text (if not specified via --text)

• Based on selected Type, show compatible text levels (✓✓ first from compatibility matrix)

header: "Text"
question: "Text density level?"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "title-only (Recommended)"
    description: "Simple headline, ≤8 characters"
  - label: "none"
    description: "Pure visual, no text elements"
  - label: "title-subtitle"
    description: "Title + supporting context"
  - label: "text-rich"
    description: "Title + subtitle + keyword tags"

Question 4: Mood (if not specified via --mood)

• Based on content analysis, show recommended mood

header: "Mood"
question: "Emotional intensity?"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "balanced (Recommended)"
    description: "Medium contrast and saturation, versatile"
  - label: "subtle"
    description: "Low contrast, muted colors, calm"
  - label: "bold"
    description: "High contrast, vivid colors, dynamic"

Question 5: Aspect Ratio (ALWAYS ask unless --aspect specified via CLI)

Note: Even if user has a preset in EXTEND.md, still ask this question. The preset is shown as the recommended option.

header: "Aspect"
question: "Cover aspect ratio?"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "[user preset or 16:9] (Recommended)"
    description: "[based on preset or default: Standard widescreen, versatile]"
  - label: "2.35:1"
    description: "Cinematic widescreen - article headers, blog posts"
  - label: "4:3"
    description: "Traditional screen - PPT slides, classic displays"
  - label: "3:2"
    description: "Photography ratio - blog articles, Medium posts"
  - label: "1:1"
    description: "Square - Instagram, WeChat moments, social cards"
  - label: "3:4"
    description: "Portrait - Xiaohongshu, Pinterest, mobile-first content"

After response: Proceed to Step 3 with confirmed dimensions.

Step 3: Create Prompt

Save to prompts/cover.md:

# Content Context
Article title: [full original title from source]
Content summary: [2-3 sentence summary of key points and themes]
Keywords: [5-8 key terms extracted from content]

# Visual Design
Cover theme: [2-3 words visual interpretation]
Type: [confirmed type]
Style: [confirmed style]
Text level: [confirmed text level]
Mood: [confirmed mood]
Aspect ratio: [confirmed ratio]
Language: [confirmed language]

# Text Elements
[Based on text level:]
- none: "No text elements"
- title-only: "Title: [max 8 chars headline]"
- title-subtitle: "Title: [headline] / Subtitle: [max 15 chars context]"
- text-rich: "Title: [headline] / Subtitle: [context] / Tags: [2-4 keywords]"

# Mood Application
[Based on mood level:]
- subtle: "Use low contrast, muted colors, light visual weight, calm aesthetic"
- balanced: "Use medium contrast, normal saturation, balanced visual weight"
- bold: "Use high contrast, vivid saturated colors, heavy visual weight, dynamic energy"

# Composition
Type composition:
- [Type-specific layout and structure]

Visual composition:
- Main visual: [metaphor derived from content meaning]
- Layout: [positioning based on type and aspect ratio]
- Decorative: [style elements that reinforce content theme]

Color scheme: [primary, background, accent from style, adjusted by mood]
Type notes: [key characteristics from type definition]
Style notes: [key characteristics from style definition]

[Watermark section if enabled]

Content-Driven Design:

• Article title and summary inform the visual metaphor choice
• Keywords guide decorative elements and symbols
• The skill controls visual style; the content drives meaning

Type-Specific Composition:

Type	Composition Guidelines
hero	Large focal visual (60-70% area), title overlay on visual, dramatic composition
conceptual	Abstract shapes representing core concepts, information hierarchy, clean zones
typography	Title as primary element (40%+ area), minimal supporting visuals, strong hierarchy
metaphor	Concrete object/scene representing abstract idea, symbolic elements, emotional resonance
scene	Atmospheric environment, narrative elements, mood-setting lighting and colors
minimal	Single focal element, generous whitespace (60%+), essential shapes only

Title guidelines (when text level includes title):

• Max 8 characters, punchy headline
• Use hooks: numbers, questions, contrasts
• Match confirmed language

Watermark Application (if enabled in preferences): Add to 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

Step 4: Generate Image

Backup Existing Cover (if regenerating): If cover.png already exists in the output directory:

• Rename to cover-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png

Image Generation Skill Selection:

1. Check available image generation skills
2. If multiple skills available, ask user preference
3. Call selected skill with:
   • Prompt file path
   • Output image path: cover.png
   • Aspect ratio parameter

On failure: Auto-retry once before reporting error.

Step 5: Completion Report

Cover Generated!

Topic: [topic]
Type: [type name]
Style: [style name]
Text: [text level]
Mood: [mood level]
Aspect: [ratio]
Title: [title text or "visual only"]
Language: [lang]
Watermark: [enabled/disabled]
Location: [directory path]

Files:
✓ source-{slug}.{ext}
✓ prompts/cover.md
✓ cover.png
[✓ cover-backup-{timestamp}.png (if regenerated)]

Image Modification

Action	Steps
Regenerate	Backup existing → Update prompt → Regenerate with same settings
Change type	Backup existing → Confirm new type → Update prompt → Regenerate
Change style	Backup existing → Confirm new style → Update prompt → Regenerate
Change text	Backup existing → Confirm new text level → Update prompt → Regenerate
Change mood	Backup existing → Confirm new mood → Update prompt → Regenerate
Change aspect	Backup existing → Confirm new aspect → Update prompt → Regenerate

All modifications automatically backup the existing cover.png before regenerating.

Notes

• Cover must be readable at small preview sizes
• Visual metaphors > literal representations
• Title: max 8 chars, readable, impactful
• Two confirmation points: Step 0 (first-time setup if no EXTEND.md) + Step 2 (options) - can skip Step 2 with --quick
• Use confirmed language for title text
• Maintain watermark consistency if enabled
• Check compatibility matrices when selecting combinations
• --no-title is preserved as alias for --text none

References

Dimensions:

• references/dimensions/text.md - Text density dimension
• references/dimensions/mood.md - Mood intensity dimension

Styles: references/styles/<name>.md - Style definitions

Config:

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

Extension Support

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