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One SKILL.md (the playbook) + one starter template. A preview:

Allegorical Engraving Cover

When to use

• You are publishing a book, essay, or long report and want a cover that signals "serious, timeless, crafted" rather than "stock photo with a title"
• You have a theme that lends itself to personification — knowledge, industry, fortune, memory, justice — and want the cover to express it symbolically instead of literally
• You are designing a report or white paper cover for an institution that wants gravitas without looking like a corporate brochure
• You need a cover that works both as a full-size print and as a small store thumbnail, where the title must still read
• You want ornamental borders, cartouches, and engraving texture, but composed with intent rather than pasted on as decoration

Workflow

1. Choose the allegory (input: the work's theme → output: one allegorical concept)
   Pick a single personified figure or scene that stands for the book's central idea: a figure holding a lamp for inquiry, scales for judgment, a loom for industry. One allegory, not a crowd of symbols — a cover with five personifications is a puzzle, not a cover. Write one sentence explaining what the figure represents and why it fits this specific work; if the sentence needs a footnote, the allegory is too obscure.
2. Compose the plate (input: allegorical concept → output: layout sketch)
   Classical engraving covers follow a clear hierarchy: a central figural scene, an ornamental border framing it, and a title cartouche or banner where the lettering lives. Sketch the geometry first — where the figure stands, where the border runs, where the title sits — before any detail work. Keep the title area clean and flat: fine hatching behind lettering kills legibility, so reserve an unhatched cartouche or banner for the words.
3. Draw with engraving grammar (input: layout sketch → output: finished linework)
   Engraving reads through line, not tone: parallel hatching for mid-tones, cross-hatching for shadow, stipple for soft transitions, and white paper left for highlights. Keep line weight consistent within each passage, and let the darkest passages be the figure's shadow side and the border's inner edge — contrast is what gives the plate depth. Avoid photographic shading habits like smooth gradients; in engraving, every tone is built from visible lines, and that visible craft is the point.

Template preview

Allegorical Engraving Cover — Brief Template

Fill this in before any linework. One allegory, one plate.

Work: {book / report title}

Author: {name} | Trim size: {e.g. 6×9 in} | Format: {print / ebook / both}

The allegory

Central figure / scene: {e.g. a figure holding a lamp over an open ledger}

What it represents (one sentence): {the figure stands for … because …}

Border motifs: {e.g. laurel, gear-and-wheat — must echo the theme, not generic ornament}

Plate layout

Thumbnail check (at 200px wide): [ ] title reads · [ ] figure recognizable · [ ] border frames, not clutters

Production

• [ ] Print master: 300 dpi at trim size

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