Figures4Papers hands-on guide

Chapter 1 · Half an hour to your first “paper-looking” figure

In plain terms: a default Matplotlib plot looks like a receipt from a corner shop—numbers are there, but it doesn’t look finished. Journal figures look more like a flyer from a print shop: clear type, clean margins, and an obvious comparison.

figures4papers is that “flyer style guide.” Give it to the assistant in Cursor and it knows which look to aim for.

This chapter does one thing only: install → ask once → get a PNG. Skip the theory for now.

The install package is free. Later chapters unpack the rules. Keep upstream credit and license notices.

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Where people usually get stuck

1. Not knowing which folder the Skill belongs in;
2. Asking the assistant too loosely, so it returns a webby interactive chart;
3. Looking fine on a big monitor, then going mushy when shrunk into a journal column.

We’ll clear those three gates here.

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1. Install into Cursor (about 5 minutes)

1. Sign in to SkillBazaar, open the free Skill “publication Matplotlib figures,” download the zip.

2. Unzip into your Cursor skills folder, commonly:

   ~/.cursor/skills/figures4papers

   You should see SKILL.md and a references/ folder. If not, the path is wrong.

3. Start a new assistant chat (old chats sometimes remember “just plot anything”). @figures4papers if needed, or say: “Please read the figures4papers Skill.”

Quick check: ask “Can you see figures4papers/SKILL.md?” If it can restate a few rules, you’re installed.

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2. Copy-paste this prompt

Using figures4papers, draw a two-column paper line chart comparing methods A and B accuracy over training epochs 1–10.
Requirements: print-readable font sizes; colorblind-friendly; export a 300 dpi PNG; English caption.

If it misbehaves

If you still get default blue/orange Matplotlib, or a draggable Plotly page, say:

This is a publication matplotlib figure. Follow figures4papers house style. No Plotly, no default seaborn look.

One correction usually wakes it up.

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3. Done checklist

• figures4papers/SKILL.md exists under skills
• You have a PNG (or PDF) that doesn’t look like a raw plt.plot default
• Shrunk to about half a column, axis labels are still mostly readable
• You know what to change next time: chart type / who vs who / export format

Chapter 1 ends here. Later chapters cover layout rules, color roles, common failures, and a submission checklist.

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