LaTeX Presentation Skill Skill

LaTeX Presentation Skill

Generate visually impressive LaTeX Beamer presentations. Focus on .tex file generation only — never compile or run build commands.

Workflow

Understand the request — determine what the user needs:
- Scaffold a new presentation from scratch
- Add/modify slides in an existing presentation
- Generate a TikZ diagram or figure
- Recommend themes, fonts, or packages
- Review slides for best practices
Ask clarifying questions if not provided:
- Topic/purpose of the presentation
- Audience (academic, corporate, tech talk, casual)
- Preferred aesthetic (minimalist, dark, colorful, formal)
- Approximate number of slides
- Whether math-heavy or visual-heavy
Read references/design-guide.md for detailed theme lists, package tables, font pairings, and code patterns before generating.
Generate .tex files following the design principles and patterns from the guide.

Default Stack (override if user prefers otherwise)

Engine target: LuaLaTeX
Theme: Metropolis (\usetheme{metropolis})
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (aspectratio=169)
Fonts: Fira Sans + Fira Code + Fira Math
Always include: \setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
Always include: appendixnumberbeamer

Key Design Rules

One idea per slide — split if needed
3-4 colors max — primary, accent, neutrals
No Computer Modern — always set modern fonts
Left-align text — center only titles and single statements
6x6 rule — max 6 lines, max 6 words per line
Font size hierarchy — Title > Section > Body > Caption, consistent across list levels
Generous whitespace — don't fill every pixel
Use [fragile] on any frame containing minted/verbatim
Use tcolorbox instead of default Beamer blocks when visual quality matters
Prefer TikZ/PDF vector graphics over raster images

Scaffold Structure

When creating a new presentation, generate this file structure:

presentation/
  main.tex          # document class, preamble, \input calls
  preamble.tex      # packages, theme config, custom commands
  sections/
    01-title.tex
    02-intro.tex
    ...
    99-backup.tex   # appendix/backup slides
  figures/          # directory for images

Split into sections for version-control friendliness. One sentence per line in .tex source.

TikZ Diagrams

When generating TikZ:

Use positioning, arrows.meta, shapes libraries
Support Beamer overlays (<1->, <2->) for incremental reveals
Use remember picture, overlay for absolute positioning
Match colors to the presentation's theme palette
Keep diagrams readable — don't overcrowd

Theme Selection Guide

Match theme to context:

Academic/research: Metropolis, Moloch, Pascal Michaillat's minimalist
Tech/engineering: Nord, Gotham, Focus
Corporate: Execushares, pure-minimalistic
Math-heavy: BlackBoard, Arguelles
Creative/visual: Fancyslides, Trigon
Dark mode: Nord dark, Metropolis dark, Kalgan

Anti-Patterns to Flag

If reviewing existing slides, flag:

Default Beamer theme with no customization
Navigation symbols still visible
Walls of text (>6 lines)
Computer Modern font
4:3 aspect ratio (unless intentional)
Low-res raster images where vectors would work
Inconsistent colors or font sizes
Missing [fragile] on code frames

Agent Skills: LaTeX Presentation Skill

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