press-print ยท diff
git:20260908.7305762 to git:20260909.d8affb3
88 added, 18 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: press-print
description: >-
- Transform a user-supplied photograph into a text-free Press-Print image: a source-aware contemporary
- editorial print reconstruction using selective photography, halftone or duotone treatment, flat graphic
- fields, controlled collage, modernist hierarchy, and print texture. Use when the user asks for Press-Print,
- editorial print reconstruction, halftone collage, print-modernist image transformation, or wants a photo
- rebuilt into a bold non-photographic printed composition. Preserve semantic identity and source-defining
- structural anchors. Avoid fabricated text, arbitrary decorative geometry, blanket halftone, generic vintage
- poster styling, and filter-only transformations. Image-only v1.0.
+ Transform a user-supplied photograph into a Press-Print image without adding new typography: a source-aware
+ contemporary editorial print reconstruction using selective photography, halftone or duotone treatment,
+ flat graphic fields, controlled collage, modernist hierarchy, and print texture. Use when the user asks for
+ Press-Print, editorial print reconstruction, halftone collage, print-modernist image transformation, or wants
+ a photo rebuilt into a bold non-photographic printed composition. Preserve semantic identity, source-defining
+ structural anchors, and source text when it materially contributes to scene identity. Never invent replacement
+ text, filler copy, headlines, labels, captions, pseudo-text, or decorative typography. Image-only v1.0.1.
---
# Press-Print
Press-Print is a source-aware visual reconstruction system for transforming photographs into contemporary print-driven compositions.
Its governing principle is:
> Preserve semantic identity, not visual completeness.
Treat the source photograph as evidence and raw material, not as a finished composition that merely needs a filter.
+ A second governing rule applies whenever text is visible in the source:
+
+ > Source text is content. New typography is generation.
+
+ Existing source text may be selectively retained when it contributes to scene identity. Newly invented typography is outside the Press-Print v1.0.1 system.
+
## Use this skill when
- Use Press-Print when the user wants a supplied image transformed into a bold, graphic, layered, printed, editorial composition with a clearly non-photographic result.
+ Use Press-Print when the user wants a supplied image transformed into a bold, graphic, layered, printed composition with a clearly non-photographic result.
Typical source categories include:
- cities and streets
- architecture
- transport and infrastructure
- landscape
- public interiors
- retail environments
- people and performance
- objects and cultural artifacts
## Do not use this skill when
- Do not use Press-Print when the user asks for:
+ Do not use Press-Print when the user's primary goal is:
- photorealistic enhancement
- faithful restoration
- subtle color grading
- watercolor or painterly conversion
- generic vector illustration
- typography-led poster design
+ - event, exhibition, campaign, or promotional poster design
+ - headline/date/body-copy driven editorial layout
+ - general graphic design from scratch
- historical or antique imitation
- Typography is intentionally excluded from v1.0. Do not invent captions, place names, dates, slogans, labels, or decorative text.
+ When Press-Print is explicitly invoked for an out-of-scope typography-led task, do not silently turn it into a general poster-design tool. If a source photograph is present, offer the supported alternative: reconstruct the photograph while adding no new typography.
+ ## Source text policy
+
+ Before generating, inspect the source for visible text and classify it by role.
+
+ ### A. Incidental text
+
+ Examples include distant advertising, tiny labels, background copy, or text that is not important to scene identity.
+
+ It may be:
+
+ - cropped
+ - obscured
+ - simplified
+ - reduced into texture
+ - left partially unreadable inside a retained photographic fragment
+
+ Exact preservation is not required.
+
+ ### B. Scene-identifying text
+
+ Examples include station signage, road signs, storefront names, directional labels, entrance signs, or location markers that help identify the scene.
+
+ Prefer to retain this text as part of source imagery when feasible.
+
+ Do not translate, rewrite, duplicate, enlarge, or promote it into a new design element.
+
+ ### C. Identity-critical text
+
+ Examples include a primary station name, brand name, book title, artwork title, major wayfinding label, or other wording whose exact identity materially matters.
+
+ Preserve its original language, wording, spelling, and semantic role whenever feasible.
+
+ Treat it as protected image content, not editable typography.
+
+ ### D. Text-dominant source
+
+ Examples include posters, menus, magazine covers, packaging fronts, book covers, or signage where typography occupies a large part of the source.
+
+ Press-Print may crop, partially obscure, layer, or retain the original text as source imagery, but must not redesign the source into a new typography system.
+
+ Do not newly typeset, translate, rewrite, duplicate, invent, or relocate source text as a fresh headline, caption, label, or body-copy system.
+
+ ### Text preservation fallback
+
+ If exact source text cannot be preserved reliably, crop, obscure, simplify, or retain it as photographic texture rather than inventing approximate replacement text.
+
+ Never replace uncertain source text with guessed wording, misspelled reconstructions, pseudo-text, or invented translations.
+
+ Do not interpret the word "editorial" as permission to add editorial typography. Press-Print editoriality comes from composition, cropping, hierarchy, image-state contrast, texture, and print treatment.
+
## Core procedure
Before generating, analyze the source silently and perform these five operations.
### 1. Identify structural anchors
Identify 1 to 3 source-defining structures that make the scene recognizable.
Examples:
- coastline curve
- distinctive tower silhouette
- crossing pattern
- roofline
- window grid
- railway direction
- tree canopy
- figure pose
- row of lanterns
- shelf rhythm
+ - identity-critical source signage
Preserve these clearly enough to retain the source identity.
- Do not confuse transformation with destruction of the source's most distinctive geometry.
+ Do not confuse transformation with destruction of the source's most distinctive geometry or identity-bearing text.
### 2. Disassemble
Break the source into meaningful visual components rather than processing it as one intact image.
Possible components include:
- main subject
- background structure
- skyline
- architecture
- people
- vegetation
- water
- roads
- windows
- - signage as shape only
+ - source signage
- repeated patterns
- light and shadow masses
Complex images will usually support 3 to 7 components. Simpler sources may use fewer. Do not force fragmentation without compositional purpose.
### 3. Recompose
- Rebuild the components into a new editorial hierarchy.
+ Rebuild the components into a new hierarchy.
Possible operations:
- aggressive crop
- scale shift
- partial isolation
- overlap
- displacement
- interrupted continuity
- selective repetition
- compressed depth
- enlarged structural fragment
- quiet negative-space field
The original camera composition must not remain fully intact.
+ Do not turn retained source text into a new headline or typographic focal point merely to make the composition feel designed.
+
### 4. Reassign visual states
Assign different parts of the image to different visual states.
**PHOTOGRAPHIC**
- Retain limited recognizable detail where it is valuable.
+ Retain limited recognizable detail where it is valuable, especially when exact source text or identity-bearing detail needs protection.
**PRINTED**
Convert selected regions into halftone, duotone, high-contrast, or offset-print-like treatment.
**GRAPHIC**
Convert selected regions into flat fields, silhouettes, simplified geometry, or abstracted structural forms.
**COLLAGED**
Use cut, layered, torn, shifted, or interrupted fragments when they strengthen hierarchy.
Do not apply one uniform treatment to the whole image.
### 5. Reduce and hierarchize
Remove, flatten, group, or silence secondary information.
The final image should have:
- dominant zones
- secondary zones
- quiet zones
Do not preserve every object, every surface, every edge, or every tonal transition.
## Source-derived graphics rule
Graphic intervention should emerge from structures already present in the source whenever possible.
Derive shapes from:
- architecture
- coastlines
- roads
- windows
- shadows
- vegetation
- railings
- signs
- repeated structures
- clothing or figure silhouettes
Do not invent arbitrary circles, suns, triangles, stripes, or decorative blocks merely to make the image feel designed.
## Visual language
Aim for:
- - contemporary editorial print sensibility
+ - contemporary editorial print sensibility without generated typography
- bold asymmetry
- strong cropping
- limited color families
- halftone and duotone contrast
- matte printed texture
- controlled collage
- flat color fields
- tactile cut or torn edges
- high-contrast hierarchy
- compressed or interrupted depth
- active negative space
- modern rather than nostalgic visual energy
## Color
Use roughly 3 to 6 major color families.
Prefer a system containing:
- one structural dark
- one light paper-like base
- one or two strong accents
- one supporting hue if needed
Useful families include deep navy, cobalt, off-white, charcoal, black, vermilion, orange-red, muted turquoise, mustard, muted green, and coral.
Reduce the source's photographic color complexity substantially.
## Halftone
Halftone is a selective structural tool, not a blanket effect.
Use it to:
- flatten selected photographic regions
- separate layers
- convert realism into printed information
- create contrast against clean flat zones
Never coat the entire image in the same dot pattern or density.
## Collage
Collage must behave as editorial structure.
Every fragment must have a compositional job.
Avoid:
- scrapbook layouts
- random stickers
- decorative fragments with no structural purpose
- excessive torn edges
- mood-board aesthetics
## Detail hierarchy
**Primary zones** may retain the clearest recognition and strongest contrast.
**Secondary zones** should be grouped, simplified, or partially abstracted.
**Tertiary zones** may be flattened, cropped, converted to texture, or removed.
Do not distribute attention evenly.
## Lighting and space
Replace ordinary photographic realism with graphic tonal organization.
Prefer:
- silhouette
- tonal blocks
- print density
- flat light-dark separation
- selective highlights
- compressed depth
- layered planes
The image should function first as a designed surface and second as a record of physical space.
## Hard constraints
- - No newly invented text.
+ - No newly invented text or typography.
+ - No pseudo-text, filler copy, decorative letters, labels, captions, dates, slogans, metadata, or new words/numbers.
+ - Preserve source text selectively when it materially contributes to scene identity.
+ - Never translate, rewrite, duplicate, enlarge, restyle, or promote source text into a new headline or editorial element.
+ - If source text cannot be reproduced reliably, obscure or crop it rather than hallucinating a replacement.
- Preserve the original aspect ratio unless the user requests another.
- Do not leave the source photograph intact.
- Do not reduce the whole image to one uniform vector treatment.
- Do not use blanket halftone.
- Do not fake antique paper, sepia history, or nostalgia for its own sake.
- Do not introduce arbitrary decorative geometry without a source-derived reason.
- - Do not destroy the source-defining structural anchors.
+ - Do not destroy source-defining structural anchors.
## Failure test
The transformation has failed if it looks like:
- the original photograph plus a print filter
- generic retro poster art
- a clean corporate vector illustration
- a scrapbook collage
- a muddy all-over halftone
- a composition whose key source identity has been lost
- an AI poster dominated by arbitrary circles, suns, stripes, or decorative blocks
+ - a composition containing newly invented headlines, captions, labels, filler copy, pseudo-text, or decorative typography
+ - source text rewritten, translated, duplicated, enlarged into a headline, or replaced with hallucinated approximations
## Success test
- A successful Press-Print result should feel as though a designer disassembled the photograph, retained its most meaningful visual identity, then rebuilt it into a publishable contemporary printed composition.
+ A successful Press-Print result should feel as though a designer disassembled the photograph, retained its most meaningful visual identity, then rebuilt it into a publishable contemporary print-driven image.
The viewer should recognize what the image is about while clearly seeing that the original photograph no longer remains visually complete.
+
+ Important source text should either remain faithfully embedded in source imagery or be deliberately reduced/obscured rather than regenerated incorrectly.
For the full generation prompt, read `prompt/press-print-v1.md`.
For evaluation, read `eval/quality-rubric.md`.