graphic-slide-deck

Graphic Slide Deck

Generate a professionally designed HTML slide deck from a brief, content notes, or an existing file. Output is a single self-contained HTML file -- opens in any browser, no build tools.

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Critical rules -- non-negotiable:

1. Every slide MUST fit within 100vh. No scrolling inside slides. Content overflows → split into two slides.
2. ALL font sizes and spacing MUST use clamp(). Never fixed px/rem on anything that scales.
3. Single self-contained HTML: all CSS/JS inline. Zero external dependencies except font CDN link.
4. Never dump HTML in chat. Save to file, show summary only.
5. No generic AI slop aesthetics -- check against the DO NOT USE list in references/style-presets.md.

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Step 1: Brief Intake

Need three things to start. If all three present in the message: skip to Step 2.

If any missing, ask exactly:

"To get started, I need three things:

1. Purpose -- what is this deck for? (investor pitch / sales call / conference talk / internal presentation / onboarding / other)
2. Audience -- who will see it? (VCs, prospects, your team, executives, conference room, LinkedIn)
3. Topic or content -- paste notes, a URL, a brief description, or upload a file"

Wait for all three before continuing.

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Step 2: Complete Intake

Ask all questions in one message, grouped by category. User can skip any -- defaults apply.

"A few questions before I start:

Content

1. Key message -- single sentence the audience must remember after leaving
2. Slide count -- Short (5-10) / Medium (10-20) / Long (20+)?
3. Content source -- All content ready / Rough notes (I'll structure) / Topic only (I'll draft)?
4. Existing assets -- Any images, screenshots, or logos to include? (yes + paths / no)

Design 5. Style -- midnight-editorial / matt-gray / clean-slate / brutalist / mint-pixel-corporate / product-minimal / magazine-red / soft-cloud / "show me options" 6. Aspect ratio -- 16:9 (1920×1080, default) / 1:1 (1080×1080, LinkedIn) 7. Inline editing -- should text be editable in-browser after export? (Yes / No)

Output 8. Output format -- HTML only / HTML + PDF / HTML + PDF + deploy to URL 9. Deck name -- slug for file/folder naming (e.g. "q2-investor-pitch"); I'll derive if skipped"

Defaults if skipped:

Question	Default
Key message	derived from purpose + topic
Slide count	12
Content source	topic only
Existing assets	none
Style	clean-slate
Aspect ratio	16:9
Inline editing	No
Output format	HTML + PDF
Deck name	derived from topic slug

If style = "show me options": Generate 3 single-slide HTML previews (one for each of 3 different style presets that fit the deck's purpose). Save to .claude-design/previews/style-a.html, style-b.html, style-c.html. Open each: open .claude-design/previews/style-a.html etc. Ask user to pick before Step 3.

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Step 2.5: Internal Design Direction (not shown to user)

From Step 2 answers, determine before Step 3:

Visual character (derived from style, or inferred if not specified):

• midnight-editorial or magazine-red → dark-editorial
• clean-slate or product-minimal → light-minimal
• matt-gray → neutral-professional
• brutalist → bold-expressive
• mint-pixel-corporate or soft-cloud → fresh-corporate
• Style not specified: investor pitch → midnight-editorial; sales → clean-slate; conference → brutalist or midnight-editorial; internal → matt-gray

ONE unmissable slide -- identify before Step 3:

• Investor pitch → stat-highlight (traction/metrics slide)
• Sales deck → stat-highlight (ROI/results slide)
• Conference talk → quote-callout or stat-highlight (key insight)
• Internal presentation → closing-cta (decision/recommendation slide)

Layout selection bias -- note the 2-3 most relevant layouts for this deck type to prioritize in Step 3.

Never ask the user for design direction -- derive it entirely from their answers.

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Step 3: Structure Design

Read references/layout-library.md before planning.

Plan the full slide sequence. Assign a layout type from the 13 in references/layout-library.md to each slide.

Deck type → typical structure:

Investor pitch (12 slides):

1. [title-hero] Company + tagline
2. [section-divider] The Problem
3. [text-full] Problem detail
4. [text-left-image-right] Solution overview
5. [image-full] Product screenshot
6. [stat-highlight] Traction -- unmissable slide
7. [comparison-table] vs. competitors
8. [timeline] Roadmap
9. [text-full] Team
10. [stat-highlight] Market size
11. [text-left-image-right] Business model
12. [closing-cta] The ask

Sales deck (8-10 slides):

1. [title-hero]
2. [quote-callout] Prospect pain point
3. [text-left-image-right] Solution
4. [image-grid] Product screenshots
5. [stat-highlight] ROI/results -- unmissable
6. [comparison-table] vs. alternatives
7. [text-full] Implementation / next steps
8. [closing-cta]

Conference talk (15-20 slides): title-hero → section-dividers → text-full slides → image-full → stat-highlight or quote-callout (unmissable) → timeline → closing-cta

Internal presentation (8-12 slides): title-hero → text-full (context) → stat-highlight (current state) → two-column-text (options) → comparison-table → text-full (recommendation) → closing-cta (the decision -- unmissable)

Output the proposed structure as a numbered list with [layout-type] in brackets. Example:

Proposed structure (12 slides, midnight-editorial style):

1. [title-hero] DataPulse -- Revenue decisions in 5 minutes
2. [section-divider] The Problem
...
12. [closing-cta] The ask + [email protected]

Does this structure work, or should I adjust any slides?

Wait for confirmation before Step 4.

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Step 4: Content Draft

Write per-slide copy in sequence. Plain text only -- no HTML yet.

Copy rules per layout:

• title-hero: headline (6 words max) + subtitle (1 sentence) + optional pill badge text
• section-divider: 2-4 word section label only
• text-full: heading (5 words max) + 4-6 bullets OR 2 paragraphs (never both on same slide)
• text-left-image-right / image-left-text-right: heading + 3-4 bullets + [IMAGE: description]
• two-column-text: 2 column headings + max 3 bullets each
• image-full: [IMAGE: description] + optional caption (10 words max)
• image-grid: up to 6 [IMAGE: description] placeholders with short captions
• stat-highlight: 2-4 metrics written as NUMBER | label (e.g. 3× | faster close). ZERO body copy.
• quote-callout: quote (30 words max) + attribution (name, title)
• comparison-table: column headers (3 max) + 4-6 row labels + cell content (1-3 words each)
• timeline: 3-6 milestones (label + date + 1-line description)
• closing-cta: headline (5 words max) + CTA action text + contact info (email + URL -- both required)

Forbidden words (in all copy, no exceptions): "powerful", "seamless", "game-changing", "leverage", "innovative", "revolutionary", "transform", "cutting-edge", "robust", "unlock", "scalable" (as filler adjective).

Copy philosophy: Fragments are fine. Numbers beat adjectives. Every word earns its place.

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Step 5: HTML Generation

Read ALL before generating any HTML:

This skill's references:

• references/design-system.md
• references/layout-library.md
• references/style-presets.md
• references/animation-guide.md

frontend-slides cross-references (read these exact files):

• /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/frontend-slides/viewport-base.css -- include FULL contents verbatim inside <style> block
• /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/frontend-slides/html-template.md -- SlidePresentation class, keyboard nav, inline editing system
• /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/frontend-slides/animation-patterns.md -- entrance animations, background effects, interactive effects

Generation rules:

1. Single self-contained HTML. All CSS and JS inline. Font CDN <link> is the only external reference.
2. Include the FULL verbatim contents of viewport-base.css inside the <style> block -- do not paraphrase or shorten it.
3. Fonts from Google Fonts or Fontshare only. Font choices come from the chosen preset in references/style-presets.md.
4. Use the SlidePresentation class from html-template.md. Implement full keyboard navigation (arrows, space, page up/down), touch/swipe, progress bar, and nav dots. navDotsContainer.innerHTML = "" before building nav dots -- never skip this.
5. If inline editing opted-in: implement the full inline editing system from html-template.md including exportFile(). The exportFile() function MUST strip contenteditable, body.edit-active, and .active/.show classes before capturing outerHTML.
6. Aspect ratio:
   • 16:9 (default): slides are width: 100vw; height: 100vh
   • 1:1 (LinkedIn): add --slide-height: min(100vh, 100vw) CSS custom property and use it on .slide
7. Every slide section MUST use class="slide" -- required for export-pdf.sh's slide detection.
8. Add a comment before each slide: /* === SLIDE N: LAYOUT-TYPE === */
9. Apply the ONE unmissable slide from Step 2.5 with maximum visual weight -- largest typography, most animation, the style preset's signature element at full intensity. All other slides are compositionally quieter.
10. No images provided → use CSS-generated visuals (gradient meshes, geometric shapes, grid patterns from animation-patterns.md). This is a first-class path, not a fallback.

Typography discipline:

• Stat numbers: clamp(3.5rem, 12vw, 9rem) -- a metric that fills a third of the slide reads authoritative
• Hero headline: clamp(2.5rem, 8vw, 6rem) at minimum. Never size down for safety.
• Never use fixed px/rem on any element the user will see. Clamp everything.

CSS gotcha from viewport-base.css: Never write -clamp(), -min(), -max() directly in CSS. Wrap in calc(-1 * clamp(...)).

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Step 6: Self-QA

Check every item. Fix every failure -- do not skip.

Viewport and rendering:

• Every .slide has height:100vh; height:100dvh; overflow:hidden
• ALL font sizes and spacing use clamp() -- no fixed px on scaling elements
• No slide overflows at 1280×720 viewport (check against density limits from layout-library.md)
• Images use max-height: min(50vh, 400px)
• Breakpoints for 700px, 600px, 500px viewport heights present (from viewport-base.css)
• prefers-reduced-motion media query present
• No -clamp(), -min(), -max() in CSS -- wrapped in calc(-1 * ...) if negative needed

Structure:

• Slide count matches Step 3 plan
• Every slide uses class="slide"
• Each layout type correctly implemented per references/layout-library.md
• SlidePresentation class present with keyboard nav, touch, progress bar, nav dots
• navDotsContainer.innerHTML = "" before building nav dots
• If inline editing opted-in: exportFile() strips edit-state before capturing outerHTML

Design quality:

• ONE unmissable slide visually dominant -- not buried among equal-weight slides
• Typography hierarchy clear: display >> heading >> body (at least 2:1 size ratio between levels)
• Style preset tokens applied consistently (colors, fonts from references/style-presets.md)
• No slop patterns (check against DO NOT USE list in references/style-presets.md)

Content:

• No forbidden words in any slide copy
• title-hero headline is 6 words or fewer
• stat-highlight has ZERO body copy competing with the numbers
• closing-cta has specific action + contact info (not just "Thank You")

If any check fails: fix inline, then re-run the checklist mentally before proceeding.

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Step 7: Output

Save the main HTML first:

mkdir -p deck/[name]-slides

Write to: deck/[name]-slides/index.html

Open it: open deck/[name]-slides/index.html

Per-slide HTML files (always generate these):

Extract each <section class="slide"> from the main HTML. For each one, create a standalone file with:

• The full <style> block from the main HTML (copied verbatim)
• The individual <section class="slide"> wrapped in a minimal HTML shell
• No SlidePresentation JS (static per-slide viewing, no navigation needed)

Write to: deck/[name]-slides/slide-001.html, slide-002.html, etc. (zero-padded to 3 digits).

If PDF requested:

bash /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/frontend-slides/scripts/export-pdf.sh \
  deck/[name]-slides/index.html \
  deck/[name].pdf

Note: first run installs Playwright automatically (~30-60 seconds). Inform the user.

If deploy requested:

bash /Users/ksd/Desktop/Varnan_skills/frontend-slides/scripts/deploy.sh \
  deck/[name]-slides/

Cleanup: Delete .claude-design/previews/ if style preview files were generated in Step 2.

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Step 8: Summary (no HTML in chat)

Present in chat:

## Slide Deck: [deck name]
Date: [today] | Style: [style] | Slides: [N] | Aspect: [16:9 or 1:1]
Purpose: [purpose] | Audience: [audience]

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### Files
Main:      deck/[name]-slides/index.html
Per-slide: deck/[name]-slides/slide-001.html → slide-0NN.html
PDF:       deck/[name].pdf  [if generated]
Live URL:  [url]  [if deployed]

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### Navigation
Arrow keys / Space / Page Up/Down -- advance slides
Click nav dots -- jump to any slide
Touch / swipe -- works on mobile

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### Customize
Edit :root CSS variables at the top of the file to change colors
Swap the @import font URL to change typography
Remove .reveal class from elements to disable entrance animations

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### Deck Checklist
- [ ] Replace [IMAGE: description] placeholders with real images
- [ ] Verify the metric/quote on slide [N] is accurate (the unmissable slide)
- [ ] Test on your target display size ([1920×1080 or 1080×1080])
- [ ] If presenting live: test keyboard nav in fullscreen mode (F11 / Cmd+Ctrl+F)
- [ ] Replace [QR: url] on closing slide with an actual QR code image

Do not print the HTML in the chat.

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Section Reference

Layout	Use case
title-hero	Opening slide -- large headline + subtext
section-divider	Section break -- bold label, minimal
text-full	Headers + bullets or paragraphs
text-left-image-right	Side-by-side: text + image
image-left-text-right	Side-by-side: image first
two-column-text	Comparisons, pros/cons, before/after
image-full	Full-bleed image + optional caption
image-grid	2×2 or 3×2 image gallery
stat-highlight	2-4 large KPI metrics
quote-callout	Pull quote with attribution
comparison-table	Feature/option comparison grid
timeline	Horizontal or vertical milestones
closing-cta	Final slide -- CTA + contact info