/skills/ppt-master/references/image-layout-patterns.md

Image-Text Layout Patterns

A vocabulary registry of ways images can be placed on a slide. The point of this file is to expand the mental list of options so that when you reach for an image layout, you do not default to the same three patterns (left/right, top/bottom, full-bleed cover).

Every entry has a name plus a short technical hint. Common techniques get a single line. Less obvious or easily forgotten techniques get a short paragraph — not a full tutorial, but enough that a model unfamiliar with the project can implement it without guessing. This is a registry, not a teaching document; no use-case prescriptions, no decision tables.

Numbers are stable identifiers, not sequence. The file is split into Part 1 — Primary Structures (#1–#19, #38–#56, #73–#81) and Part 2 — Modifier Layers (#20–#37, #57–#72). Numbers jump within each Part because Primary structures were grouped first; existing references to #38, #48, etc. anywhere in the project still resolve correctly.

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Core Principle — Two Layers

Almost every pattern below is an instance of one underlying split:

The image carries atmosphere, world-building, emotional weight. Native SVG shapes carry information, data, editable text.

This is the single most underused move in image-heavy decks. The default reflex is to place image and text in adjacent rectangles. The far more powerful move — especially for content-rich pages — is to let the image be the canvas (often full-bleed) and draw native vector elements (annotation cards, flow nodes, KPI tiles, leader lines, network diagrams, dashboards) directly on top.

Anything that must be editable, numerically accurate, contain Chinese, or be styled to the deck's exact palette belongs in the SVG layer regardless of what the image looks like underneath.

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Part 1 — Primary Structures

Pick one or more of these as the page's bones. Cross-primary combinations are encouraged (see Composition Guidance).

Container Layouts (where the image sits)

1. Full-bleed background with floating title — <image x=0 y=0 width=1280 height=720 preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid slice"/> + scrim <rect> for legibility + overlay <text>.

2. Left-third image + right text body — <image x=0 y=0 width=~427 height=720> on the left; text area in the remaining width; optional right-edge gradient fade for smooth transition.

3. Right-third image + left text body — mirror of #2.

4. Right image bleeding off the canvas edge — <image> width extended past viewBox; text on left with a rightward gradient fade so the image emerges from the text area without a visible boundary.

5. Top-band image + bottom multi-column text — <image x=0 y=0 width=1280 height=~340> at the top + bottom-fade gradient + 2–3 evenly spaced text columns below.

6. Bottom-band image + top title + middle text — mirror of #5 with the image at the bottom and a top-fade gradient.

7. Top-and-bottom symmetric split — image occupies 50% (top or bottom) with a divider line or thin gradient band separating the halves.

8. Z-pattern serpentine — three rows, image on the left in rows 1 and 3, on the right in row 2 (or alternating). Each row roughly 1/3 canvas height; visual flow zigzags down the page.

9. 3×3 grid with central image — nine cells; center cell holds the image, the other 8 hold text blocks, color swatches, or small data widgets.

10. Centered image with radial callouts pointing outward — image (often circular via clipPath) at canvas center; multiple <line> leader lines + small <circle> endpoints + offset text labels in surrounding space.

11. Diagonal split with directional gradient (not hard polygon cut) — full-bleed <image> (do NOT hard-clip) + overlay <rect fill="url(#grad)"> whose <linearGradient> axis runs along the desired diagonal + a <line> on the diagonal to make the divider visible. The gradient does the "splitting" softly; hard polygon clipping produces ugly stair-step edges on text panels.

12. Faded image as backdrop with oversized overlay text — <image> + heavy semi-transparent <rect fill="bg-color" fill-opacity="0.5–0.7"> over it + huge <text> (80–120px) on top. Image becomes texture; text is the subject.

13. Narrow vertical image strip + giant horizontal title — <image x=0 y=0 width=200–280 height=720> + thick divider <rect> + large <text> (60–90px) in the remaining width.

14. Horizontal banner strip cutting through mid-section — <image y=middle width=1280 height=200–280> with edge fades; text blocks above and below the band.

15. Multi-image montage with bold text spanning across — multiple <image> tiled with 2–4px gaps + large <text> (60–100px) in a darkened band spanning the full montage. The band uses <rect fill-opacity="0.5–0.7"> to keep text legible across all underlying images.

16. Negative-space dominant — small image, mostly whitespace — image and text together occupy less than 40% of the canvas; rest is empty.

17. Picture-in-picture inset — large <image> background + small <image> overlaid inside it with a <rect> frame.

18. Image as full-height sidebar column — narrow <image x=0 y=0 width=~200–280 height=720>; rest of canvas is content area.

19. Image floating in whitespace with thin frame and caption — <image> + thin <rect fill="none" stroke="…"> frame around it + <text> caption below.

Image-as-Canvas + Native Overlay (the most underused family)

This is the family that opens up the largest design space and the one AI is most likely to skip. The shared pattern: image fills the slide (or a large region), native SVG elements are layered on top to carry the actual information. None of the overlay elements need to be generated by the image model — they are vector primitives you draw yourself.

38. Background image + annotation cards with bezier leader lines — full-bleed <image> + 2–4 small info cards (<rect rx> + icon + title + one-line text) placed in the image's calm regions. From each card, draw a bezier <path> ending in a marker-end arrow that points to the specific object in the image being annotated. Card text and leader lines are editable; image is the scene.

39. Background image + flow nodes drawn over the scene — the image is a real or rendered scene (workshop, control room, landscape). On top, draw a dashed <path> route that traces a workflow through the scene, with numbered <circle> nodes at each stop. Each node = number + icon + label. The flow is fully editable; the image is atmosphere.

40. Background image + floating KPI metric cards — full-bleed image (often an operations photo) + dark scrim + multiple <rect> cards in negative-space regions. Each card = icon + small label + large metric number. Image gives context; cards give the data.

41. Background image + measurement lines and module tags (engineering overlay) — used on technical / blueprint / cross-section images. Draw measurement lines with end-caps (<line> + perpendicular ticks) spanning a feature, with a centered label box reading dimensions or part names. Add tagged callouts with <rect> + monospace text. Reads as engineering drawing markup.

42. Background image + glassmorphism UI panels — image is the visual world; on top, draw UI elements (semi-transparent panels, progress arcs, status badges, indicators). Panels use fill-opacity="0.6–0.8" + thin light-color strokes; arcs via <path d="…A…">. Looks like a live dashboard floating above the scene.

43. Background image + native data chart on top — AI image generation cannot produce accurate data charts. Solution: use an AI-generated dashboard image as visual reference only (clearly labeled as such in a caption), and draw the actual chart with native SVG primitives (<line> axes, <path> series, <circle> data points) directly on or next to it. Required marker if exporting: <!-- chart-plot-area: x_min,y_min,x_max,y_max --> inside the chart group.

44. Background image + native network/architecture diagram — same logic as #43 but for structural diagrams. Image provides atmosphere or visual anchor; the actual nodes, connections, and labels are SVG circles, lines, icons, and text — all editable.

45. Background image + numbered hotspots with sidebar legend — small numbered <circle> markers placed on the image at points of interest. A sidebar (left or right) lists "1. … 2. … 3. …" with corresponding descriptions.

46. Background image + bordered "lens" rectangle highlighting a sub-region — full-bleed image + a bordered <rect fill="none" stroke="accent" stroke-width="3"/> framing a sub-region + caption nearby. Frame draws the eye to one detail without occluding the surrounding context.

Multi-Image Compositions

47. Small multiples — 3–6 same-kind images in an evenly spaced row — each in identical container, each with identical caption block underneath (title + one-line description). This is not a generic grid: the identical framing is itself the message — readers compare across panels because the structure is the same. Useful for style comparisons, time-series snapshots, product variations.

48. Side-by-side comparison (before/after, A/B, then/now) — two <image> of equal size in 50/50 split with thin divider <line> and "before" / "after" labels.

49. Asymmetric collage — one large <image> + 2–3 smaller <image> arranged around it; sizes vary, gaps consistent.

50. Tiled grid (2×2, 2×3, 3×3) with equal cells — cell_size = (canvas - total_gap) / cols; consistent gap=2–20px.

51. Mosaic — irregular tile sizes packed together with or without thin gaps; each image clipped to its tile's rect.

52. Image strip / filmstrip — horizontal sequence of <image> elements with thin gaps; same height, varying widths allowed.

53. Vertical image stack — column of <image> aligned by width, shared annotations on one side.

54. Overlapping image stack — <image> elements with overlapping x/y positions; each subsequent one in front (z-order by document order); often combined with slight rotation for layered photo-print look.

55. Diptych split — two images abutting at 50/50 — vertical or horizontal split with optional thin divider <line>.

56. Image triptych — three independent <image> side-by-side, equal widths or 2:1:2 etc. (distinct from #26 baked-in triptych, where the three scenes are inside one image file).

Imported Deck Patterns (image-led promotional pages)

These patterns come from polished image-text decks where photos define the slide skeleton instead of sitting inside generic cards. Treat them as layout vocabulary for travel, product, venue, hospitality, real-estate, event, and brochure-style decks.

73. Full-bleed poster image + side title stack — full-slide image, title stack anchored to the left or lower-left third, no title card. Use native text directly over a calm image region with a subtle scrim only when needed. The title stack can mix huge Latin / display text, local-language title, and small brand/date line.

74. TOC image-navigation cards — 3–5 equal vertical image cards across the page. Each card gets a same-color translucent overlay, large chapter number, chapter title, and one-line summary. The TOC becomes a visual preview of the deck, not a text list.

75. Asymmetric dual-image chapter banner — two images occupy the upper half: one smaller panel and one wide dominant panel, usually left-small / right-wide. The chapter title lives in the lower half with an oversized section number as a background anchor.

76. Mid-page image belt with native text inset — a wide image strip cuts through the middle 45–60% of the slide. Put the key text inside a darker or calmer region of the strip, using native text and a small label, while the top area carries the page heading.

77. Photo mosaic with a text cell — an irregular grid where one grid cell is deliberately reserved for copy and the other cells are photos. The missing photo cell creates hierarchy; do not fill every grid slot just because a grid exists.

78. Ambient banner + evidence photo + text panel — one wide atmospheric image spans the upper portion, a smaller concrete/evidence photo sits below, and a solid color or tinted panel carries the copy on the side. Useful when one image sets mood and another proves the product/place.

79. Ribbon-header image cards — 3 columns, each with a colored ribbon or chevron title above the image, image in the middle, prose below. The ribbon carries category identity; the photo carries evidence; the body copy stays editable.

80. Side hero image + staggered evidence cards — one full-height or near-full-height image occupies a side column. The opposite side uses 2–4 smaller evidence cards placed at staggered vertical positions instead of a rigid grid, producing movement and editorial rhythm.

81. Illustration-as-layout field — a large decorative vector or cutout illustration behaves like an image region: it sets the page's spatial rhythm, while text blocks sit around or inside its calm areas. Use this when a photo would be too literal but the page still needs image-scale visual mass.

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Part 2 — Modifier Layers

Stack any of these freely on top of a Primary structure. Multiple Modifiers per page is the expected case, not the exception.

Non-rectangular Image Shapes

20. Circular crop — <clipPath><circle cx cy r/></clipPath> referenced by <image clip-path="url(#id)"/>.

21. Rounded rectangle crop — <clipPath><rect rx ry/></clipPath>; the rx value controls roundness.

22. Ellipse / oval crop — <clipPath><ellipse cx cy rx ry/></clipPath>.

23. Hexagonal / polygonal crop — <clipPath><polygon points="x1,y1 x2,y2 …"/></clipPath>; remember to keep all vertices inside the image's display rectangle.

24. Custom path crop (blob, arrow, leaf, silhouette) — <clipPath><path d="…"/></clipPath>; allows any curved or organic shape. PowerPoint export translates this to custGeom and survives roundtrip.

25. Layered paper-cut stack — clip each image layer under the image-only contract in shared-standards.md §1.2; draw vector layers directly in their final geometry. A small conditional shadow on each layer can create physical separation.

26. Triptych baked into a single wide image — one wide <image width=1160 height=334> whose internal composition already contains 2–3 scenes. Generate the triptych as one image (not three separate calls) when scene-to-scene consistency matters — the model preserves character identity, lighting continuity, and color grading far more reliably when panels are produced together.

Overlay & Masking Treatments

Crop displacement (HARD rule for text over images). preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid slice" center-crops whatever the source aspect ratio does not cover — when source and display aspects differ, the subject can land under the text column even if the prompt asked for it on the "focal side". Before layering text on a slice-cropped image: estimate the crop from the aspect-ratio difference, and keep the entire text column on the scrim's opaque plateau — text must never start inside a gradient's transition zone. When the subject position is unverified, fall back to an opaque treatment (#30 at high opacity, or a solid panel) instead of a two-stop scrim (#29).

27. Linear gradient mask for text legibility — <linearGradient> in <defs> (set x1/y1/x2/y2 for direction) + overlay <rect fill="url(#grad)">. Most common is top-to-bottom darkening on full-bleed cover images.

28. Radial gradient vignette — <radialGradient cx cy r> with dark outer stops; overlay <rect>. Focuses attention by darkening the periphery.

29. Two-stop scrim — opaque on text side, transparent on focal side — <linearGradient> with one stop at stop-opacity="0.9" and another at stop-opacity="0". Use when text sits on one side and the image's subject on the other.

30. Flat semi-transparent rectangle overlay — <rect fill="#000" fill-opacity="0.4"/> over the image. Uniform darkening/lightening; simplest scrim.

31. Color-tinted overlay — <rect fill="#brandColor" fill-opacity="0.15–0.25"/>. Pushes a foreign-looking image toward the deck's palette without regenerating it.

32. Multi-stop scrim with hue shift — three-or-more-stop <linearGradient> where stops are different colors (e.g. dark navy → transparent → warm orange). This re-grades the image's color world without regenerating — particularly useful when an AI image came back with the right composition but wrong color temperature.

33. Spotlight mask — clear region surrounded by darkness — cover the canvas with <rect> filled by a <radialGradient> whose inner stop is fully transparent and outer stop is opaque dark. Reads as a flashlight beam on the focal area. Use sparingly — it kills everything outside the spotlight.

34. Gaussian-blur backdrop — blur the background in the source image, then layer sharp SVG content above it. Native filter export maps the supported blur graph to a glow/shadow effect; it does not preserve a blurred-image backdrop.

35. Duotone treatment — two-color mapping of a photograph (e.g. deep navy shadows + warm cream highlights). Bake it into the source image; the native PPT route does not support a runtime duotone filter chain.

36. Drop shadow under image panel — <filter><feDropShadow dx dy stdDeviation flood-color flood-opacity/></filter> applied to the image's container <rect> (or to the <image> itself). Standard depth lift.

37. Inner / outer glow on overlay shape — <filter><feGaussianBlur/><feMerge/></filter> on a shape, or simply a slightly larger blurred <rect> underneath the target.

Image as Texture / Atmosphere

57. Full-bleed image with extreme low opacity as texture wash — full-bleed <image> + overlay <rect fill="bg-color" fill-opacity="0.7–0.85"/> so the image only barely shows through.

58. Image fragment as decorative corner element — small <image> (often with clipPath) placed in one corner; not the focus, just visual seasoning.

59. Image as horizontal divider band — narrow <image height=80–150> placed between two text sections instead of a <line> divider.

60. Image as ambient noise — visible but low contrast; mood-setting only, not informational.

61. Image as watermark behind body content — large <image> at very low opacity behind body text. Use either a pre-baked low-alpha image or a high-opacity overlay <rect> to suppress visibility.

Special Techniques

62. Same image, two references — full view + zoom-callout — reference the same image file twice in two <image> elements: one shows the full scene at normal size; the second uses clipPath (circle or rectangle) plus a larger display size to "zoom into" a sub-region. Connect them with a bezier <path> ending in marker-end; ring the zoom with a <circle stroke> so it reads as a magnifying lens. No special asset needed — the zoom effect comes from same-source-different-display.

63. Transparent PNG sticker / cutout — an RGBA PNG (with alpha channel) placed via standard <image> — no clipPath required, the transparency lives in the file itself. Useful for subjects that should not appear inside a rectangular frame (people cutouts, product shots, decorative motifs floating over backgrounds). Spot illustrations from the sheet→slice pipeline land here: slice_images.py --alpha outputs transparent cutouts (see image-generator.md §4.3), so a sliced element is a ready sticker — never box it in a rectangle. Other sources of transparent PNGs: (a) an AI backend with native transparent output, (b) a chroma-key image stripped separately, (c) a user-supplied asset. A cutout begs for the decorative-placement family — combine with #4 (bleed off the edge), #58 (corner fragment), #66 (fade into background), #69 (slight rotation), or #49 (asymmetric collage); the worst thing to do with a transparent spot is center it in a tidy box.

64. Image with embedded text rendered by the AI — text becomes part of the artwork: decorative lettering, designed title, hand-lettered keyword. Prompt with explicit text content — name the exact characters literally. Use for text that is part of the artwork and will not change. Anything that must be correct or editable goes in the SVG <text> layer (#65).

65. Image with NO text — labels added as native SVG — generate the image with explicit "no text, no letters, no numbers, no signs" instruction (text_policy: none), then place all labels as <text> overlays. The right call when labels will be reworded, must stay exact, or carry data that must stay editable — pair with #64 when stable visual identifiers (axis labels, subplot letters, unit symbols) belong inside the image instead.

66. Image fading into the solid background — soften the image's edge into the deck's background color via a <linearGradient> overlay whose end-stop matches the background hex exactly. The image's rectangular boundary disappears, producing seamless integration.

67. Image with knock-out / cut-out shape — overlay a shape filled with the background color or another image, creating the impression of a hole punched through the underlying image.

68. Text-as-mask over image — letterforms revealing image through them. Under the canonical SVG compatibility boundary in shared-standards.md, realize this pattern as a pre-rendered image rather than a runtime effect. Prompt for "large lettering revealing the underlying scene through letterforms" and treat the result as a fixed artistic choice.

69. Image rotated at a slight angle for editorial feel — transform="rotate(angle cx cy)" on the <image> or its container <g>; 2–6 degrees typical. Adds dynamism without breaking layout.

70. Image with thin colored matte frame — <rect fill="none" stroke="#color" stroke-width="2–6"/> over or around the image edge. Single rule, single color.

71. Image with multiple stacked frames for "photo print" aesthetic — nested <rect> outlines or <rect> containers of slightly different sizes giving a "framed photograph" look.

72. Image-to-image transition / merge — two <image> elements with overlapping regions, one or both with gradient masks (from group C) creating a soft blend between them.

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Composition Guidance

A page is built by layering. Pick one or more Primary Structures (Part 1) as the page's bones, then add any number of Modifier Layers (Part 2) for finish. Both stack — the question on each page is "is the next layer still earning its place", not "have I exceeded a quota".

Cross-primary combinations are encouraged. A side-by-side comparison (#48) where each side is annotated with bezier-leader cards (#38) is one page, not a violation. A 3×3 grid (#9) whose center cell is upgraded to an image-as-canvas with KPI overlay (#40) reads as one composition. The old reflex "one primary per page" tends to under-use the catalog — combine when the page asks for it.

Modifier stacking pattern that works in practice — observed on real content pages combining one Primary with four Modifiers:

• one Primary from Part 1 (e.g. #48 side-by-side comparison)
• #21 rounded-rectangle clipPath on the image (rx=6 or circle)
• #27 top-edge linearGradient in the deck's accent color, opacity 0.55 → 0
• #66 bottom-edge linearGradient fading to background color, opacity 0 → 0.95
• small color-block badge + reversed-out label replacing any opaque color bar that would otherwise sit over the image

Combine freely. The "AI-default" failure mode is the opposite: defaulting to bare #2 / #3 (left/right split) with no Modifier at all.

Reference — image-led promotional deck moves (not a constraint):

Page intent	Pattern candidates
Cover / ending with strong atmosphere	#73 + #27 / #30 only if contrast needs it
Visual table of contents	#74 + #30 / #31
Chapter divider	#75
Venue / destination overview	#76 or #78
Many product/place photos	#77 or #50 when equality is the message
Service / feature comparison	#79
Benefits with one dominant proof image	#80
Light promotional page without photos	#81

Skip-detection signal — if every page's Layout pattern column resolves to bare #2 / #3 / #5 / #6 with no Modifier ids, the catalog was not consulted. Re-read and reconsider.

Cross-page through-line (recurring motif). The patterns above are per-page, but a deck reads as designed when one illustration motif family recurs across pages — a cover anchor, section dividers repeating the motif for chapter identity (#75), and small #63 spots from the same family threaded through the body. Keep them one family (shared rendering / palette / subject world), vary scale and placement, and never let the recurrence harden into a per-section quota. Planning lives in strategist.md (deck illustration motif); generation mechanics split by role — hero / divider anchors: image-generator.md §4.1 primitives; body spot sheets: §4.3.

Hard Constraints

• Long body copy, data points, numeric labels, and Chinese text always go in the SVG layer — never baked into the image.
• All project-wide SVG compatibility exceptions and conditional mappings are owned by shared-standards.md. This catalog neither restates nor relaxes that contract; each pattern records only its scenario-specific rendering choice.

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For sizing math (calculating container dimensions from image aspect ratio when using side-by-side intent), see image-layout-spec.md. This file is the design vocabulary; that file is the dimension calculator.