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canvas-designby Anthropic

Canvas Design Skill.

A Claude Code and Codex skill for image work: original posters and static visual pieces delivered as PNG or PDF.

  • Images & Generative Art
  • PNG / PDF
Download OpenDesignView usage guide
anthropics/skills · skills/canvas-design/SKILL.mdSKILL.md
--- name: canvas-design description: Create beautiful visual art in .png and .pdf documents using design philosophy. You should use this skill when the user asks to create a poster, piece of art, design, or other static piece. Create original visual designs, never copying existing artists' work to avoid copyright violations. --- ## DESIGN PHILOSOPHY CREATION ## CANVAS CREATION ## FINAL STEP ## MULTI-PAGE OPTION
Front matter and section headings read from the upstream file on 2026-09-14 · 11,937 characters in full

01 What it does

What the canvas-design Skill Does in Claude Code and Codex

Summary, workflow and outputs, all read from the skill's SKILL.md.

From the SKILL.mdRead 2026-09-14 · not a recorded run

In the Skill's Own Terms

Canvas-design generates original visual art as PNG or PDF files by first creating a design philosophy—an aesthetic movement expressed through form, space, color, and composition—then expressing that philosophy visually on a single-page canvas. The skill treats design as creating art objects, not decorated documents, with text used sparingly as a visual accent rather than for explanation.

It emphasizes craftsmanship that appears meticulously labored over by someone at the top of their field, embedding subtle conceptual references that enhance depth without announcing themselves. The output is museum or magazine quality work that rewards sustained viewing through systematic repetition, layered patterns, and intentional restraint.

What it produces

  • A markdown file containing the 4-6 paragraph design philosophy that names the aesthetic movement and articulates its visual expression.
  • A single-page PDF or PNG file (or multi-page if requested) expressing the philosophy visually with minimal text, repeating patterns, and expert craftsmanship.
See the example prompt ↗

How It Works

  1. 01
    Write a Design Philosophy

    Name an aesthetic movement in 1-2 words and articulate it in 4-6 paragraphs that capture visual essence through space, form, color, scale, rhythm, composition, and visual hierarchy.

  2. 02
    Deduce the Subtle Reference

    Identify the conceptual thread from the original request as a niche reference embedded within the art itself—sophisticated and intuitive rather than literal, providing the soul woven invisibly into form and color.

  3. 03
    Express on Canvas

    Create a single-page PDF or PNG using the philosophy as foundation, with repeating patterns, perfect shapes, dense accumulation of marks, sparse clinical typography, and a limited cohesive color palette.

  4. 04
    Refine for Pristine Craftsmanship

    Take a second pass to polish the existing composition without adding more graphics, making it more cohesive with the art and ensuring flawless formatting where nothing overlaps and every detail is perfect.

02 Find your fit

When to Use the canvas-design Skill

Use the canvas-design skill in Claude Code or Codex when the job is image work of this kind. Fit and limits below are taken from the skill's own file.

Good Fit

  • Creating posters, pieces of art, designs, or other static pieces when the user explicitly requests them.
  • Projects requiring museum or magazine quality work with abstract philosophical design expressed through systematic visual language.
  • Multi-page creative projects like coffee table books where each page is a unique twist on the original design philosophy.

Know the Boundaries

  • Creating documents with decoration rather than pure art objects.
  • Work that requires lengthy text or explanatory paragraphs to communicate ideas.

What to Provide

  • Subtle input or instructionsSome subtle input from the user that serves as a foundation but should not constrain creative freedom.
  • Request for additional pagesIf the user requests multiple pages, the skill creates more creative pages along the same design philosophy bundled in the same PDF or multiple PNGs.

03 Inside the skill

Rules the canvas-design Skill Gives Claude Code and Codex

8 concrete instructions, defaults and limits the SKILL.md sets for the agent — the part of the file that changes the result.

  1. Text Is Minimal and visual-only

    Text must be sparse, essential-only, and integrated as a visual element—never lengthy paragraphs. Information lives in design, not paragraphs.

  2. Nothing Overlaps or Falls Off Page

    All text, graphics, and visual elements must have breathing room and clear separation, contained within canvas boundaries with proper margins.

  3. Emphasize Expert Craftsmanship Repeatedly

    The philosophy must stress multiple times that the final work should appear as though it took countless hours to create, was labored over with care, and comes from someone at the absolute top of their field.

  4. Avoid Redundancy in Philosophy

    Each design aspect should be mentioned once in the 4-6 paragraph philosophy.

  5. Never Copy Existing Artists' Work

    Create original visual designs to avoid copyright violations. The skill is for creating original art, not reproducing existing work.

  6. Output Only Design Files

    Output only markdown files for the philosophy, and PDF or PNG files for the visual expression. No other file types are produced.

  7. Sophisticated Approach Even for Pop Culture

    For any type of content, even requests for movie, game, or book material, the approach should still be sophisticated art, never cartoony or amateur.

  8. Use Fonts from canvas-fonts Directory

    Search the ./canvas-fonts directory and download whatever fonts are needed.

04 Put it to work

Install canvas-design in Claude Code or Codex

One npx skills add command, then a first task in your agent and a checklist for the result.

Add canvas-design to Claude Code, Codex or Your Agent

Run in your project; the installer asks which agent to add it to.

Terminal
npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/skills --skill canvas-design

Generic skills CLI form for skills/canvas-design/SKILL.md; the repository may document its own path.

Give the Skill a First Image Work Task

Written in the skill's own terms; replace the bracketed parts with your material.

Starter prompt
Create a poster for [independent film festival] that captures the spirit of [experimental cinema] and [urban renewal]. The piece should feel like it belongs in a contemporary art museum, with minimal text beyond the festival name and dates. I want something that rewards close looking and reflects the sophistication of the programming.

Source: written from the SKILL.md in the skill's own terms.

Check the First Result

What the SKILL.md itself says a correct result looks like:

  • Verify that nothing overlaps and nothing falls off the page—all elements have breathing room and clear separation within canvas boundaries.
  • Confirm the work looks meticulously crafted with countless hours of labor, as though created by someone at the absolute top of their field.
  • Ensure text is minimal, essential-only, and integrated as a visual element rather than explanatory paragraphs.
  • Check that the composition, spacing, color choices, and typography all demonstrate expert-level craftsmanship and flawless formatting.
  • Confirm the work is sophisticated and art-focused even if the subject is pop culture, never cartoony or amateur.

In OpenDesign canvas-design is bundled: Plugins → Skills, pick it in the top bar.

Download OpenDesignRead the quickstart

05 Open source, traceable

Source, License and Verification

Where this page's facts come from, and when they were last checked.

Author
Anthropic
Repository
github.com/anthropics/skills Branch main
Skill file
skills/canvas-design/SKILL.md Content checksum recorded at verification; commit 34040c9
License
Apache-2.0 From skills/canvas-design/LICENSE.txt; SKILL.md says “Complete terms in LICENSE.txt”.
Repository stars
176,183 GitHub snapshot taken 2026-09-14 for the whole anthropics/skills repository, which contains 7 skills in this catalog. Not a rating or usage count for canvas-design.
Verified by OpenDesign
2026-09-14 Source file, path, license text and star count were checked. Bundled in OpenDesign main (checked 2026-08-28); a live run has not been recorded on this page.

Inside the SKILL.md

  1. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY CREATIONInstructions for creating a visual philosophy expressed through form, space, color, and composition with minimal text.
  2. THE CRITICAL UNDERSTANDINGDefines what is received from user, what philosophy is created, and how it gets expressed visually next.
  3. HOW TO GENERATE A VISUAL PHILOSOPHYSteps to name the movement and articulate 4-6 paragraphs on visual essence through space, form, color, scale, rhythm.
  4. PHILOSOPHY EXAMPLESFive condensed example philosophies like Concrete Poetry, Chromatic Language, Analog Meditation showing visual expression approaches.
  5. ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLESCore rules emphasizing visual philosophy, minimal text, spatial expression, artistic freedom, pure design, and expert craftsmanship.
  6. DEDUCING THE SUBTLE REFERENCEIdentify the niche conceptual thread from the request to embed invisibly into form and color as the work's soul.
  7. CANVAS CREATIONExpress philosophy on single-page PDF or PNG using repeating patterns, perfect shapes, sparse typography, limited palette, and museum quality.
  8. FINAL STEPRefine the work without adding graphics—make existing composition more cohesive, crisp, and pristine as a masterpiece.
  9. MULTI-PAGE OPTIONCreate additional pages when requested as unique twists on the philosophy, bundled in same PDF or multiple PNGs.
The Skill's Own Description
“Create beautiful visual art in .png and .pdf documents using design philosophy. You should use this skill when the user asks to create a poster, piece of art, design, or other static piece. Create original visual designs, never copying existing artists' work to avoid copyright violations.”

Front-matter description from SKILL.md. The full file is about 11,937 characters. Read the full file on GitHub.

06 Before you install

Questions About the canvas-design Skill

Answers come from the SKILL.md as read on 2026-09-14, not from a recorded run.

How much text will appear in the final visual design?

Text is always minimal and visual-first, used as a sparse visual accent rather than for explanation. Information lives in design, not paragraphs. The work is 90% visual design and 10% essential text, with font usually thin and design-forward, integrated into the composition rather than overlaid.

How does the skill ensure professional quality?

The skill emphasizes expert craftsmanship repeatedly throughout the process, creating work that looks meticulously labored over by someone at the top of their field. It includes a mandatory refinement step and checks that nothing overlaps, all formatting is flawless, and every detail is perfect with proper margins and breathing room.

Canvas Design

Run canvas-design on a Real Image Work Task.

The canvas-design skill ships inside OpenDesign. Download the app, pick the skill in Plugins → Skills, paste the prompt above, and read the plan before the result.

Download OpenDesignBrowse all skills
Terminal
npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/skills --skill canvas-design