--- name: pdf-storybook description: "Turn a dense PDF or document into an illustrated, partly animated scrollable web story in Live Canvas, using generate_image, generate_video and canvas assets." version: "1.0.0" metadata: author: CoWork OS Contributors --- # PDF Storybook ## Purpose Turn a dense PDF or document into an illustrated, partly animated scrollable web story in Live Canvas, using generate_image, generate_video and canvas assets. ## Routing - Use when: Use when the user asks to turn a PDF, paper, textbook chapter or report into an illustrated or animated story, storybook, scrollable explainer page or interactive visual web app. - Do not use when: Do not use for plain summaries, slide decks, Word or PDF documents, or videos rendered to MP4; use the summarize, slides, document or video skills instead. - Outputs: A Live Canvas page with chapters, generated pictures and optional clips, plus an exportable folder. - Success criteria: Every chapter's text is grounded in the source, all media loads from canvas assets, and the page scrolls with a working timeline. Goal: turn a dense document (paper, textbook chapter, report) into an illustrated, scroll-driven web story in Live Canvas: one chapter per key idea or period, each with a generated picture, some with a short animated clip, and plain-language text grounded in the source. ## 1. Read the whole source - Call `parse_document` on the file. If the result has `next_start_char`, keep calling with `start_char` until the whole document is read. - If `pdf_extraction.status` is `preview` or `ocr`, tell the user the text is partial and work from what was read. - For figures that matter (charts, diagrams), `read_pdf_visual` can describe specific pages. ## 2. Outline before generating anything - Pick 5-8 chapters that follow the document's own structure (eras, stages, steps or sections). Each chapter gets: a short title, a 1-line label for the timeline (e.g. a date range or step number), 60-120 words rewritten for a general reader, and one visual idea (a single concrete scene, not a collage). - Keep every claim traceable to the source. Do not invent numbers, dates or names. - Pick one art direction for the whole story (medium, palette, lighting, framing), written as one reusable style sentence. ## 3. Create the canvas early - `canvas_create` with the document title. - `canvas_push` the full page layout right away with all chapter text and empty media slots (a soft gradient placeholder per chapter), so the user sees progress while media is generated. ## 4. Generate pictures with one consistent style - Generate chapter 1's picture first with `generate_image` (`aspectRatio: "16:9"`; prompt = scene + style sentence). Pass that file in `referenceImages` for every later picture so palette and rendering stay consistent. - After each picture: `canvas_add_asset` with the returned path, then update that chapter's `` and `canvas_push` again. ## 5. Animate a few chapters - Pick the 2-4 chapters that benefit most from motion. Call `generate_video` with `mode: "image_to_video"`, `referenceImagePath` set to that chapter's picture, and a short motion prompt (camera drift, weather, a figure walking). Keep clips short (`duration` 4-8 s), no on-screen text. - Video jobs run in the background: start them all, keep working, and check with `get_video_generation_job`. - When a clip finishes: `canvas_add_asset`, then swap the chapter's picture for `