Image generation (Skill V3)

This skill is not “generate a pretty picture”. It is a plate that executes the brief. Overlay type stays on the board (create_text). Kernel still Decide → Paint → Observe → Review. This skill owns how the bitmap is specified.

Helper: may load with a surface (poster_craft / landing_page / …). It does not replace them.

Process (mandatory order)

DESIGN BRIEF
 → VISUAL THESIS
 → COMPOSITION
 → MATERIAL
 → LIGHTING
 → IMAGE

Do not jump to a prompt until thesis, crop, material, and light are named.

1. Brief → thesis

Reuse P0 design_brief. The image must argue visual_thesis and show visual_hero. Style DNA (material / lighting / imagery) is the prompt spine — not “cinematic, 8k, masterpiece”.

2. Composition (in the plate)

Pick crop and focal before generating:

• What is in frame vs left to overlay type / vector chrome
• One primary subject; quiet bands where titles will sit
• Camera: distance, angle, what is cut off

If the board composition is center_hero, the plate should not also scream a second hero in the corner.

3. Material → lighting → image

Name both in the prompt (from Style DNA):

Slot	Ask
Material	jade / aged steel / paper / cloth / skin / glass / …
Lighting	direction, hardness, color of light, what it reveals
Medium	photo / illustration / grain print / quiet 3D — one

Then emit create_image (hydrate). Simple geometry that stays crisp may stay vector instead — crude shape piles are not atmosphere.

4. Forbidden: baked title

Do not render titles, slogans, watermarks, or UI chrome inside the bitmap unless the user explicitly asks for text in the picture (lettering-as-image, packaging, neon sign, 书法字形).

Default: overlay catalog type on a quiet band. Lettering plates are the exception, not the habit.

5. Honesty

Unless the user asks, do not invent logos, prices, phones, or readable fake copy in the pixels.

6. Cutout vs full-bleed

• Full-bleed atmosphere: keep the plate; type sits on quiet zones.
• Product / lettering on a colored board: cutout so no leftover white box.

Hard rules

1. Brief + thesis before generate.
2. Composition + material + lighting in the prompt — not style-spam adjectives.
3. No baked titles unless explicitly requested.
4. Anti-slop: unjustified purple-blue glass postcard heroes fail Review.

Done when

• Plate matches thesis at a glance (subject + material + light)
• Room for overlay type (or user-requested in-image lettering only)
• No invented on-image copy

Related

Surfaces via Decide (poster_craft, landing_page, banner_ad, …) · icon_set for many marks · foundations via extends