Research posters are a critical medium for scientific communication at conferences, symposia, and academic events. This skill provides comprehensive guidance for creating professional, visually appealing research posters using LaTeX packages. Generate publication-quality posters with proper layout, typography, color schemes, and visual hierarchy.
Fetches latex-posters from davila7/claude-code-templates and configures it for Cursor.
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Research posters are a critical medium for scientific communication at conferences, symposia, and academic events. This skill provides comprehensive guidance for creating professional, visually appealing research posters using LaTeX packages. Generate publication-quality posters with proper layout, typography, color schemes, and visual hierarchy.
When to Use This Skill
This skill should be used when:
Creating research posters for conferences, symposia, or poster sessions
Designing academic posters for university events or thesis defenses
Preparing visual summaries of research for public engagement
Converting scientific papers into poster format
Creating template posters for research groups or departments
Designing posters that comply with specific conference size requirements (A0, A1, 36×48", etc.)
Building posters with complex multi-column layouts
Integrating figures, tables, equations, and citations in poster format
Visual Enhancement with Scientific Schematics
⚠️ MANDATORY: Every research poster MUST include at least 2-3 AI-generated figures using the scientific-schematics skill.
This is not optional. Posters are primarily visual media - text-heavy posters fail to communicate effectively. Before finalizing any poster:
Create publication-quality images with proper formatting
Review and refine through multiple iterations
Ensure accessibility (colorblind-friendly, high contrast)
Save outputs in the figures/ directory
When to add schematics:
Research methodology flowcharts for poster content
Conceptual framework diagrams
Experimental design visualizations
Data analysis pipeline diagrams
System architecture diagrams
Biological pathway illustrations
Any complex concept that benefits from visualization
For detailed guidance on creating schematics, refer to the scientific-schematics skill documentation.
Core Capabilities
1. LaTeX Poster Packages
Support for three major LaTeX poster packages, each with distinct advantages. For detailed comparison and package-specific guidance, refer to references/latex_poster_packages.md.
beamerposter:
Extension of the Beamer presentation class
Familiar syntax for Beamer users
Excellent theme support and customization
Best for: Traditional academic posters, institutional branding
tikzposter:
Modern, flexible design with TikZ integration
Built-in color themes and layout templates
Extensive customization through TikZ commands
Best for: Colorful, modern designs, custom graphics
baposter:
Box-based layout system
Automatic spacing and positioning
Professional-looking default styles
Best for: Multi-column layouts, consistent spacing
2. Poster Layout and Structure
Create effective poster layouts following visual communication principles. For comprehensive layout guidance, refer to references/poster_layout_design.md.
Common Poster Sections:
Header/Title: Title, authors, affiliations, logos
Introduction/Background: Research context and motivation
Methods/Approach: Methodology and experimental design
Results: Key findings with figures and data visualizations
% Include graphics package\usepackage{graphicx}% Simple figure\includegraphics[width=0.8\linewidth]{figure.pdf}% Figure with caption in tikzposter\block{Results}{\begin{tikzfigure}\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{results.png}\end{tikzfigure}}% Multiple subfigures\usepackage{subcaption}\begin{figure}\begin{subfigure}{0.48\linewidth}\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{fig1.pdf}\caption{Condition A}\end{subfigure}\begin{subfigure}{0.48\linewidth}\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{fig2.pdf}\caption{Condition B}\end{subfigure}\end{figure}
7. Color Schemes and Themes
Provide professional color palettes for various contexts:
Academic Institution Colors:
Match university or department branding
Use official color codes (RGB, CMYK, or LaTeX color definitions)
Scientific Color Palettes (color-blind friendly):
Viridis: Professional gradient from purple to yellow
ColorBrewer: Research-tested palettes for data visualization
IBM Color Blind Safe: Accessible corporate palette
% Sans-serif fonts recommended for posters\usepackage{helvet}% Helvetica\usepackage{avant}% Avant Garde\usepackage{sfmath}% Sans-serif math fonts% Set default to sans-serif\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}
Text Sizing:
% Adjust text sizes for visibility\setbeamerfont{title}{size=\VeryHuge}\setbeamerfont{author}{size=\Large}\setbeamerfont{institute}{size=\normalsize}
Emphasis and Highlighting:
Use bold for key terms: \textbf{important}
Color highlights sparingly: \textcolor{blue}{highlight}
Boxes for critical information
Avoid italics (harder to read from distance)
9. QR Codes and Interactive Elements
Enhance poster interactivity for modern conferences:
QR Code Integration:
\usepackage{qrcode}% Link to paper, code repository, or supplementary materials\qrcode[height=2cm]{https://github.com/username/project}% QR code with caption\begin{center}\qrcode[height=3cm]{https://doi.org/10.1234/paper}\\\small Scan for full paper
\end{center}
Digital Enhancements:
Link to GitHub repositories for code
Link to video presentations or demos
Link to interactive web visualizations
Link to supplementary data or appendices
10. Compilation and Output
Generate high-quality PDF output for printing or digital display:
Compilation Commands:
# Basic compilationpdflatex poster.tex
# With bibliographypdflatex poster.tex
bibtex poster
pdflatex poster.tex
pdflatex poster.tex
# For beamer-based posterslualatex poster.tex # Better font supportxelatex poster.tex # Unicode and modern fonts
Ensuring Full Page Coverage:
Posters should use the entire page without excessive margins. Configure packages correctly:
beamerposter - Full Page Setup:
\documentclass[final,t]{beamer}\usepackage[size=a0,scale=1.4,orientation=portrait]{beamerposter}% Remove default beamer margins\setbeamersize{text margin left=0mm, text margin right=0mm}% Use geometry for precise control\usepackage[margin=10mm]{
✓
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Stakeholder Communication
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
›Access to product documentation and roadmap tools (Jira, Notion, etc.)
›Understanding of product management frameworks (RICE, Jobs-to-be-Done, etc.)
›Stakeholder contact information and communication channels
Time Estimate
30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Steps
1Install product management skill
2Start with user story generation for known feature
3Progress to competitive analysis: research 2-3 competitors
4Use for roadmap prioritization: apply RICE/ICE scoring
5Draft stakeholder communications and refine based on feedback
6Build template library for recurring PM tasks
7Share effective prompts with product team
Common Pitfalls
⚠Not validating competitive research—verify facts before sharing
⚠Accepting user stories without involving engineering team
⚠Over-relying on frameworks without qualitative judgment
⚠Not customizing outputs to company culture and communication style
⚠Skipping stakeholder validation of generated requirements
Best Practices
✓ Do
+Validate research and competitive analysis with real data
+Collaborate with engineering when generating technical requirements
+Customize frameworks and templates to your company context
+Use skill for first drafts, refine with stakeholder input
+Document successful prompt patterns for PM tasks
+Combine AI efficiency with human judgment and intuition
✗ Don't
−Don't publish competitive analysis without fact-checking
−Don't finalize user stories without engineering review
−Don't make prioritization decisions solely on AI scoring
−Don't skip customer validation of generated requirements
−Don't ignore company-specific context and culture
💡 Pro Tips
★Provide context: company goals, constraints, customer feedback
★Ask for alternatives: 'Show 3 ways to prioritize this roadmap'
★Request stakeholder-specific formatting: 'Executive summary vs. engineering spec'
★Use skill for 70% generation + 30% customization to company needs
When to Use This
✓ Use when
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
Learning Path
1Basic: user stories, feature specs, status updates
