Option	Values	Description
`--art`	ligne-claire (default), manga, realistic, ink-brush, chalk	Art style / rendering technique
`--tone`	neutral (default), warm, dramatic, romantic, energetic, vintage, action	Mood / atmosphere
`--layout`	standard (default), cinematic, dense, splash, mixed, webtoon	Panel arrangement
`--aspect`	3:4 (default, portrait), 4:3 (landscape), 16:9 (widescreen)	Page aspect ratio
`--lang`	auto (default), zh, en, ja, etc.	Output language

Partial Workflow Options

Option	Description
`--storyboard-only`	Generate storyboard only, skip prompts and images
`--prompts-only`	Generate storyboard + prompts, skip images
`--images-only`	Generate images from existing prompts directory
`--regenerate N`	Regenerate specific page(s) only (e.g., `3` or `2,5,8`)

Details: references/partial-workflows.md

Art Styles (画风)

Style	中文	Description
`ligne-claire`	清线	Uniform lines, flat colors, European comic tradition (Tintin, Logicomix)
`manga`	日漫	Large eyes, manga conventions, expressive emotions
`realistic`	写实	Digital painting, realistic proportions, sophisticated
`ink-brush`	水墨	Chinese brush strokes, ink wash effects
`chalk`	粉笔	Chalkboard aesthetic, hand-drawn warmth

Tones (基调)

Tone	中文	Description
`neutral`	中性	Balanced, rational, educational
`warm`	温馨	Nostalgic, personal, comforting
`dramatic`	戏剧	High contrast, intense, powerful
`romantic`	浪漫	Soft, beautiful, decorative elements
`energetic`	活力	Bright, dynamic, exciting
`vintage`	复古	Historical, aged, period authenticity
`action`	动作	Speed lines, impact effects, combat

Preset Shortcuts

Presets with special rules beyond art+tone:

Preset	Equivalent	Special Rules
`--style ohmsha`	`--art manga --tone neutral`	Visual metaphors, NO talking heads, gadget reveals
`--style wuxia`	`--art ink-brush --tone action`	Qi effects, combat visuals, atmospheric elements
`--style shoujo`	`--art manga --tone romantic`	Decorative elements, eye details, romantic beats

Compatibility Matrix

Art Style	✓✓ Best	✓ Works	✗ Avoid
ligne-claire	neutral, warm	dramatic, vintage, energetic	romantic, action
manga	neutral, romantic, energetic, action	warm, dramatic	vintage
realistic	neutral, warm, dramatic, vintage	action	romantic, energetic
ink-brush	neutral, dramatic, action, vintage	warm	romantic, energetic
chalk	neutral, warm, energetic	vintage	dramatic, action, romantic

Details: references/auto-selection.md

Auto Selection

Content signals determine default art + tone + layout (or preset):

Content Signals	Recommended
Tutorial, how-to, programming, educational	ohmsha preset
Pre-1950, classical, ancient	realistic + vintage
Personal story, mentor	ligne-claire + warm
Martial arts, wuxia	wuxia preset
Romance, school life	shoujo preset
Biography, balanced	ligne-claire + neutral

When preset is recommended: Load references/presets/{preset}.md and apply all special rules.

Details: references/auto-selection.md

Script Directory

Important: All scripts are located in the scripts/ subdirectory of this skill.

Agent Execution Instructions:

Determine this SKILL.md file's directory path as SKILL_DIR
Script path = ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/<script-name>.ts
Replace all ${SKILL_DIR} in this document with the actual path

Script Reference:

Script	Purpose
`scripts/merge-to-pdf.ts`	Merge comic pages into PDF

File Structure

Output directory: comic/{topic-slug}/

Slug: 2-4 words kebab-case from topic (e.g., alan-turing-bio)
Conflict: append timestamp (e.g., turing-story-20260118-143052)

Contents:

File	Description
`source-{slug}.{ext}`	Source files
`analysis.md`	Content analysis
`storyboard.md`	Storyboard with panel breakdown
`characters/characters.md`	Character definitions
`characters/characters.png`	Character reference sheet
`prompts/NN-{cover\|page}-[slug].md`	Generation prompts
`NN-{cover\|page}-[slug].png`	Generated images
`{topic-slug}.pdf`	Final merged PDF

Language Handling

Detection Priority:

--lang flag (explicit)
EXTEND.md language setting
User's conversation language
Source content language

Rule: Use user's input language or saved language preference for ALL interactions:

Storyboard outlines and scene descriptions
Image generation prompts
User selection options and confirmations
Progress updates, questions, errors, summaries

Technical terms remain in English.

Workflow

Progress Checklist

Comic Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Setup & Analyze
  - [ ] 1.1 Preferences (EXTEND.md) ⛔ BLOCKING
    - [ ] Found → load preferences → continue
    - [ ] Not found → run first-time setup → MUST complete before other steps
  - [ ] 1.2 Analyze, 1.3 Check existing
- [ ] Step 2: Confirmation - Style & options ⚠️ REQUIRED
- [ ] Step 3: Generate storyboard + characters
- [ ] Step 4: Review outline (conditional)
- [ ] Step 5: Generate prompts
- [ ] Step 6: Review prompts (conditional)
- [ ] Step 7: Generate images ⚠️ CHARACTER REF REQUIRED
  - [ ] 7.1 Generate character sheet FIRST → characters/characters.png
  - [ ] 7.2 Generate pages WITH --ref characters/characters.png
- [ ] Step 8: Merge to PDF
- [ ] Step 9: Completion report

Flow

Input → [Preferences] ─┬─ Found → Continue
                       │
                       └─ Not found → First-Time Setup ⛔ BLOCKING
                                      │
                                      └─ Complete setup → Save EXTEND.md → Continue
                                                                              │
        ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        ↓
Analyze → [Check Existing?] → [Confirm: Style + Reviews] → Storyboard → [Review?] → Prompts → [Review?] → Images → PDF → Complete

Step Summary

Step	Action	Key Output
1.1	Load EXTEND.md preferences ⛔ BLOCKING if not found	Config loaded
1.2	Analyze content	`analysis.md`
1.3	Check existing directory	Handle conflicts
2	Confirm style, focus, audience, reviews	User preferences
3	Generate storyboard + characters	`storyboard.md`, `characters/`
4	Review outline (if requested)	User approval
5	Generate prompts	`prompts/*.md`
6	Review prompts (if requested)	User approval
7.1	Generate character sheet FIRST	`characters/characters.png`
7.2	Generate pages with character ref	`*.png` files
8	Merge to PDF	`{slug}.pdf`
9	Completion report	Summary

Step 7: Image Generation ⚠️ CRITICAL

Character reference is MANDATORY for visual consistency.

7.1 Generate character sheet first:

Backup rule: If characters/characters.png exists, rename to characters/characters-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png

# Use Reference Sheet Prompt from characters/characters.md
npx -y bun ${SKILL_DIR}/../canghe-image-gen/scripts/main.ts \
  --promptfiles characters/characters.md \
  --image characters/characters.png --ar 4:3

Compress character sheet (recommended): Compress to reduce token usage when used as reference image:

Use available image compression skill (if any)
Or system tools: pngquant, optipng, sips (macOS)
Keep PNG format, lossless compression preferred

7.2 Generate each page WITH character reference:

Skill Capability	Strategy
Supports `--ref`	Pass `characters/characters.png` with EVERY page
No `--ref` support	Prepend character descriptions to EVERY prompt file

Backup rules for page generation:

If prompt file exists: rename to prompts/NN-{cover|page}-[slug]-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md
If image file exists: rename to NN-{cover|page}-[slug]-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png

# Example: ALWAYS include --ref for consistency
npx -y bun ${SKILL_DIR}/../canghe-image-gen/scripts/main.ts \
  --promptfiles prompts/01-page-xxx.md \
  --image 01-page-xxx.png --ar 3:4 \
  --ref characters/characters.png

Full workflow details: references/workflow.md

EXTEND.md Paths ⛔ BLOCKING

CRITICAL: 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 art style, do NOT ask about tone — ONLY complete the preferences setup first.

Path	Location
`.canghe-skills/canghe-comic/EXTEND.md`	Project directory
`$HOME/.canghe-skills/canghe-comic/EXTEND.md`	User home

Result	Action
Found	Read, parse, display summary → Continue
Not found	⛔ BLOCKING: Run first-time setup ONLY (references/config/first-time-setup.md) → Complete and save EXTEND.md → Then continue

EXTEND.md Supports: Watermark | Preferred art/tone/layout | Custom style definitions | Character presets | Language preference

Schema: references/config/preferences-schema.md

References

Core Templates:

analysis-framework.md - Deep content analysis
character-template.md - Character definition format
storyboard-template.md - Storyboard structure
ohmsha-guide.md - Ohmsha manga specifics

Style Definitions:

references/art-styles/ - Art styles (ligne-claire, manga, realistic, ink-brush, chalk)
references/tones/ - Tones (neutral, warm, dramatic, romantic, energetic, vintage, action)
references/presets/ - Presets with special rules (ohmsha, wuxia, shoujo)
references/layouts/ - Layouts (standard, cinematic, dense, splash, mixed, webtoon)

Workflow:

workflow.md - Full workflow details
auto-selection.md - Content signal analysis
partial-workflows.md - Partial workflow options

Config:

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

Page Modification

Action	Steps
Edit	Update prompt file FIRST → `--regenerate N` → Regenerate PDF
Add	Create prompt at position → Generate with character ref → Renumber subsequent → Update storyboard → Regenerate PDF
Delete	Remove files → Renumber subsequent → Update storyboard → Regenerate PDF

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

Notes

Image generation: 10-30 seconds per page
Auto-retry once on generation failure
Use stylized alternatives for sensitive public figures
Maintain style consistency via session ID
Step 2 confirmation required - do not skip
Steps 4/6 conditional - only if user requested in Step 2
Step 7.1 character sheet MUST be generated before pages - ensures consistency
Step 7.2 EVERY page MUST reference characters - use --ref or embed descriptions
Watermark/language configured once in EXTEND.md

canghe-comic

Knowledge Comic Creator

Usage

Options

Visual Dimensions