EthoClaw ethoclaw-paper-figure-layout

Auto-layout folders of result images into a paper-like PDF (LaTeX) with captions derived from filenames and optional heatmap+colorbar grouping. Use when the user says: use images in this folder to help with layout/generate paper figures/arrange figures into PDF by folder grouping; or when there are many PNG/JPG figures that need consistent captions and pagination.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/penciler-star/EthoClaw

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/penciler-star/EthoClaw "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/ethoclaw-paper-figure-layout" ~/.claude/skills/penciler-star-ethoclaw-ethoclaw-paper-figure-layout && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/ethoclaw-paper-figure-layout/SKILL.md

source content

Paper Figure Layout

Auto-generate a Nature-Communications-ish compact multi-panel figure PDF from a directory of images.

What it does

Default (recommended): compact multi-panel

Compact, figure-like layout (not one-page-per-image)
Subpanel letters
```
a, b, c…
```
aligned in reading order
Figure title above panels (
```
Fig. X | Title
```
)
Per-panel descriptions below ("a …; b …; c …")
Sensible defaults: if the user doesn’t specify, pick 1 representative image per type
- "type" = (nested) subfolder under the input root, e.g.
```
heatmap_velocity/
```
  ,
```
radar/group_means/
```

Legacy: foldered dump

Groups by subfolder: each subfolder becomes a section.
Captions from filenames: underscores/dashes become spaces.
Stable pagination: uses one-column LaTeX blocks (no fragile two-column floats).

Quick start

Compact multi-panel (default)

python3 scripts/layout_results_foldered.py \
  --input "/path/to/2_results" \
  --output "/path/to/out.pdf" \
  --title "Results"

Defaults (can override):

```
--mode compact
```
```
--max-per-type 1
```
```
--cols 2
```
```
--panels-per-figure 6
```

Default representative logic:

```
--max-per-type 1
```
means: keep 1 representative per inferred subtype, not just 1 file for the whole folder.
Example: if a folder contains
```
x-Axis
```
,
```
y-Axis
```
,
```
z-Axis
```
, the default compact layout should keep all 3 because they are three subtypes of the same figure family.

Useful override:

```
--max-per-type 0
```
→ include all images from each type/folder instead of representative selection.

Special handling:

If a folder contains
```
colorBar
```
/
```
color_bar
```
plus heatmaps, the layout bundles them into one panel:
- up to 3 heatmaps + 1 shared colorbar side-by-side
- the colorbar is rendered narrow instead of occupying a full panel by itself

Legacy foldered

python3 scripts/layout_results_foldered.py \
  --input "/path/to/2_results" \
  --output "/path/to/out.pdf" \
  --title "Results" \
  --mode foldered

Outputs

A single PDF at
```
--output
```
.

Notes

The TypeTex LaTeX compiler environment often defaults to
```
xelatex
```
via latexmk, but
```
xelatex
```
may be missing. The script supplies a
```
.latexmkrc
```
that forces
```
pdflatex
```
.

Resources

```
scripts/layout_results_foldered.py
```
— the generator.
```
assets/naturecomm_figures.tex
```
— the Nature-Communications-ish preamble used by the generator.