# Visual content Human Guide

## What This Is For
Guides visual content planning and creation across website, social media, email, and other channels. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for content production: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Visual content agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for visual content.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Visual content guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **When to use images**: By content type and format
- **Specs by context**: Website vs social vs email
- **Platform image specs**: X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
- **Repurposing**: One visual → multiple formats and channels
- **Visual-first planning**: Content calendar with image planning
- **Context**: Article, social post, infographic, email, landing page
- **Channels**: Which platforms will use this visual
- **Repurposing**: Will this visual be adapted for other formats?
- **Plan images in content calendar**: Don't add visuals as afterthought; visuals drive engagement
- **Batch by theme**: Create visuals for a topic cluster or campaign together for consistency
- **Repurposing column**: In calendar, note which core piece becomes which visual format for which channel
- **Asset library**: Organize by campaign/theme; tag for reuse

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Scope, Initial Assessment, When to Use Images, Website vs Social vs Email, Platform Image Specs (Social), Visual Repurposing, Visual-First Content Planning, Format-Specific Notes, Infographics, Social Post Images.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- | **Email** | Inline-friendly; avoid heavy images; alt for blocked | **email-marketing** |
- **Plan images in content calendar**: Don't add visuals as afterthought; visuals drive engagement

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Visual content human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the kostja94/marketing-skills skill entry for `visual-content`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Content: Visual Content

Guides visual content planning and creation across website, social media, email, and other channels. Images are needed not just for websites—social posts, infographics, and repurposed content all require visuals. Visual-first planning in content calendars improves engagement; cross-channel consistency and repurposing maximize ROI.

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

## Scope

- **When to use images**: By content type and format
- **Specs by context**: Website vs social vs email
- **Platform image specs**: X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
- **Repurposing**: One visual → multiple formats and channels
- **Visual-first planning**: Content calendar with image planning

## Initial Assessment

**Check for project context first:** If `.claude/project-context.md` or `.cursor/project-context.md` exists, read Section 12 (Visual Identity) for brand consistency.

Identify:
1. **Context**: Article, social post, infographic, email, landing page
2. **Channels**: Which platforms will use this visual
3. **Repurposing**: Will this visual be adapted for other formats?

---

## 1. When to Use Images

| Content Type | Visual Need | Notes |
|--------------|-------------|-------|
| **Article / Blog** | Hero image, in-article images, screenshots | See **image-optimization** for web (alt, WebP, LCP) |
| **Social post** | Single image, carousel, or link preview | Platform-specific specs below |
| **Infographic** | Primary format; data visualization | Repurpose to social (cropped), blog (full) |
| **Case study** | Customer photo, results chart, logo | Repurpose to LinkedIn carousel, blog |
| **Product update** | Screenshot, feature graphic | Changelog, email, social |
| **Email** | Header image, inline graphics | Keep lightweight; many clients block images |
| **Landing page** | Hero, trust badges, screenshots | See **hero-generator**, **image-optimization** |

---

## 2. Website vs Social vs Email

| Context | Priority | Skill |
|---------|----------|-------|
| **Website** | Alt text, WebP, LCP, responsive, lazy loading | **image-optimization** |
| **Social posts** | Platform dimensions, aspect ratio, file size | **Platform skills** (X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) |
| **OG / Twitter Cards** | 1200×630, 1200×675 for link previews | **open-graph**, **twitter-cards** |
| **Email** | Inline-friendly; avoid heavy images; alt for blocked | **email-marketing** |

---

## 3. Platform Image Specs (Social)

| Platform | Post Image | Stories / Reels | Profile | Notes |
|----------|------------|-----------------|---------|-------|
| **X (Twitter)** | 1200×675 (16:9), 800×800 | — | 400×400 | See **twitter-x-posts** |
| **LinkedIn** | 1200×627, 1200×1200; carousel up to 20 | — | 400×400 | See **linkedin-posts**; vertical preferred on mobile |
| **Pinterest** | 1000×1500 (2:3) | — | 165×165 | Alt text ~25% more impressions; see **pinterest-posts** |
| **Instagram** | 1080×1350 (4:5), 1080×1080 | 1080×1920 (9:16) | 320×320 | 4:5 outperforms square on feed |
| **Facebook** | 1200×630, 1080×1080 | 1080×1920 | 320×320 | |
| **YouTube** | Thumbnail 1280×720 | — | 800×800 | |

**General**: 1080px width works across most platforms; vertical (4:5, 9:16) outperforms square on mobile-first feeds. Keep critical elements (logo, text) in safe center—platforms may crop.

---

## 4. Visual Repurposing

**Principle**: One core visual → multiple crops/formats → multiple channels.

| Core Visual | Adaptations | Channels |
|-------------|-------------|----------|
| **Infographic** | Full (blog), cropped sections (Instagram, LinkedIn carousel), square (X) | Blog, LinkedIn, Instagram, X |
| **Case study graphic** | Hero (blog), single slide (LinkedIn), story (Instagram) | Blog, LinkedIn, Instagram |
| **Product screenshot** | Hero (landing), post (X, LinkedIn), email header | Website, social, email |
| **Quote graphic** | Square (X, LinkedIn), 4:5 (Instagram) | X, LinkedIn, Instagram |

**Workflow**: Design at largest needed size; export platform-specific crops. Use consistent colors, fonts, logo placement (see **brand-visual-generator**).

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