Book plates skill
Paints the plates of an illustrated book, its endpaper, map and character portraits, all in the exact style of one reference painting. Use for illustrated books, game art books, storybooks and lore pages.
A SKILL.md for Claude Code, Codex and any agent that reads skills. It’s the craft behind Fil’s Illustrated book workflow, written out so your agent can follow it too.
Install it
Unzip it into your agent’s skills folder. The agent reads its name and description, and the rest only when a task needs it.
curl -fsSL https://fil.design/skills/book-plates.zip -o /tmp/book-plates.zip && unzip -o /tmp/book-plates.zip -d ~/.claude/skillscurl -fsSL https://fil.design/skills/book-plates.zip -o /tmp/book-plates.zip && unzip -o /tmp/book-plates.zip -d ~/.codex/skillsInstall the Book plates skill from https://fil.design/skills/book-plates: unzip https://fil.design/skills/book-plates.zip into your skills folder (~/.claude/skills for Claude Code, ~/.codex/skills for Codex), then read its SKILL.md.The skill
Read first
The style reference wired in sets the look for everything: its palette, brushwork, light and texture, never its scene. Book.md says what each plate shows.
Plates (3:4)
- One moment per plate, painted in exactly the reference's style, palette and brushwork, but a new picture: its own place, composition and camera from Book.md. Never the reference's buildings, objects or layout with a figure added, and no two plates on the same background.
- A clear focal point lit by a source you can see (fire, a lantern, the moon), with atmospheric depth behind it.
- Characters keep their looks from Book.md plate to plate (age, face, eyes, hair, which hand holds what, which shoulder the braid falls on), and so do the things they carry (the lantern or sword exactly as Book.md describes it, held in a hand, never floating).
- Each plate its own pose and camera: a wired plate lends faces and brushwork, never its figure or layout.
- The plates follow Book.md's order as one journey: each a later moment and a new place than the one before.
- No text, border or frame: the plates go onto the page as they are.
Endpaper (3:4)
A tall, sweeping view of the world from high up, epic and busy at the edges and calmer at the top where the title will sit.
Map (3:2)
A hand-drawn map in the book's own ink and palette on aged paper: coastlines, rivers, and the places from Book.md drawn as small landmarks, each named in small hand lettering spelled exactly as Book.md writes it, with the book's title in a cartouche and a compass rose.
Portrait (3:4)
One character at three-quarter length in ink with cross-hatching and a sepia wash on cream paper, holding the thing they're known for.
Avoid
Style drifting between plates, modern objects, readable text in plates, and faces that change.
What it reads
It was written for Fil’s Illustrated book workflow, which wires these into every step. Elsewhere, give your agent the same, or let it ask.
- Book.mdThe world, the characters and what each plate showsBrief
- Style referenceOne painting whose style, palette and brushwork every plate follows.Needed
Questions
What does the Book plates skill do?
Paints the plates of an illustrated book, its endpaper, map and character portraits, all in the exact style of one reference painting. Use for illustrated books, game art books, storybooks and lore pages.
How do I install it in Claude Code?
Download https://fil.design/skills/book-plates.zip and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills, or into a project’s .claude/skills folder, or run the command on this page. Claude Code reads the skill’s description and loads the rest when a request needs it.
Does it work in Codex and other agents?
Yes. Unzip it into ~/.codex/skills for Codex. It’s one SKILL.md file, so any agent that reads skills can use it, and you can paste it into a chat as well.
Do I need Fil to use it?
No. It was written for Fil’s Illustrated book workflow, which wires in Book.md and Style reference: give your agent the same, or let it ask. In Fil, the workflow runs it with the best models and shows the price before anything runs.
Is it free?
Yes. The skill is free to download.
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