Reveal.js Presentations

Create HTML presentations using reveal.js. No build step required - just open the HTML in a browser.

What You Create

A reveal.js presentation consists of:

1. HTML file - Contains slides and loads reveal.js from CDN
2. CSS file - Custom styles for layouts, colors, typography, and components

Design Principles

CRITICAL: Before creating any presentation, analyze the content and choose appropriate design elements:

1. Consider the subject matter: What is this presentation about? What tone, industry, or mood does it suggest?
2. Check for branding: If the user mentions a company/organization, consider their brand colors and identity
3. Match palette to content: Select colors that reflect the subject
4. State your approach: Explain your design choices before writing code

Requirements:

• ✅ State your content-informed design approach BEFORE writing code
• ✅ Use web-safe fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Verdana, etc.) or Google Fonts via @import in CSS
• ✅ Create clear visual hierarchy through size, weight, and color
• ✅ Ensure readability: strong contrast, appropriately sized text, clean alignment
• ✅ Be consistent: repeat patterns, spacing, and visual language across slides
• ✅ Always use pt (points) for font sizes - slides are fixed-size, so pt is predictable and familiar (like PowerPoint/Keynote). Never use em, rem, or px for font sizes.

Color Palette Selection

Choosing colors creatively:

• Think beyond defaults: What colors genuinely match this specific topic? Avoid autopilot choices.
• Consider multiple angles: Topic, industry, mood, energy level, target audience, brand identity (if mentioned)
• Be adventurous: Try unexpected combinations - a healthcare presentation doesn't have to be green, finance doesn't have to be navy
• Build your palette: Pick 3-5 colors that work together (dominant colors + supporting tones + accent)
• Ensure contrast: Text must be clearly readable on backgrounds

Example color palettes (use these to spark creativity - choose one, adapt it, or create your own):

1. Classic Blue: Deep navy (#1C2833), slate gray (#2E4053), silver (#AAB7B8), off-white (#F4F6F6)
2. Teal & Coral: Teal (#5EA8A7), deep teal (#277884), coral (#FE4447), white (#FFFFFF)
3. Bold Red: Red (#C0392B), bright red (#E74C3C), orange (#F39C12), yellow (#F1C40F), green (#2ECC71)
4. Warm Blush: Mauve (#A49393), blush (#EED6D3), rose (#E8B4B8), cream (#FAF7F2)
5. Burgundy Luxury: Burgundy (#5D1D2E), crimson (#951233), rust (#C15937), gold (#997929)
6. Deep Purple & Emerald: Purple (#B165FB), dark blue (#181B24), emerald (#40695B), white (#FFFFFF)
7. Cream & Forest Green: Cream (#FFE1C7), forest green (#40695B), white (#FCFCFC)
8. Pink & Purple: Pink (#F8275B), coral (#FF574A), rose (#FF737D), purple (#3D2F68)
9. Lime & Plum: Lime (#C5DE82), plum (#7C3A5F), coral (#FD8C6E), blue-gray (#98ACB5)
10. Black & Gold: Gold (#BF9A4A), black (#000000), cream (#F4F6F6)
11. Sage & Terracotta: Sage (#87A96B), terracotta (#E07A5F), cream (#F4F1DE), charcoal (#2C2C2C)
12. Charcoal & Red: Charcoal (#292929), red (#E33737), light gray (#CCCBCB)
13. Vibrant Orange: Orange (#F96D00), light gray (#F2F2F2), charcoal (#222831)
14. Forest Green: Black (#191A19), green (#4E9F3D), dark green (#1E5128), white (#FFFFFF)
15. Retro Rainbow: Purple (#722880), pink (#D72D51), orange (#EB5C18), amber (#F08800), gold (#DEB600)
16. Vintage Earthy: Mustard (#E3B448), sage (#CBD18F), forest green (#3A6B35), cream (#F4F1DE)
17. Coastal Rose: Old rose (#AD7670), beaver (#B49886), eggshell (#F3ECDC), ash gray (#BFD5BE)
18. Orange & Turquoise: Light orange (#FC993E), grayish turquoise (#667C6F), white (#FCFCFC)

Slide Content Principles

Diverse presentation is key. Even when slides have similar content types, vary the visual presentation:

• Use different layouts across slides: columns on one, stacked containers on another, styled cards on a third
• Mix container styles: plain text, custom styled containers, blockquotes
• Use visual hierarchy: <strong> for key terms, different colors to distinguish categories
• Break up lists with other elements (quotes, styled containers, columns)
• Don't repeat the same layout pattern on consecutive slides

Keep it scannable:

• Short bullet points, not paragraphs
• One main idea per slide when possible
• Use icons (Font Awesome) to add visual interest

When a slide has less content, make it bigger - don't leave empty space with tiny text.

Workflow

Step 1: Plan the Structure

Based on the user's content, determine:

• How many slides are needed
• Which slides should be section dividers (centered, larger text)
• Where to use vertical slide stacks for drill-down content

Step 2: Generate the Scaffold

Use the create-presentation.js script (located in the scripts/ directory next to this SKILL.md file) to generate the HTML scaffold.

node <path-to-skill>/scripts/create-presentation.js --structure 1,1,d,3,1,d,1 --title "My Presentation" --output presentation.html

Finding the script path: The script is at scripts/create-presentation.js relative to where this SKILL.md file is located. Common locations:

• Project skill: .claude/skills/revealjs/scripts/create-presentation.js
• User skill: ~/.claude/skills/revealjs/scripts/create-presentation.js

Options:

• --slides N - Create N horizontal slides (simple mode)
• --structure <list> - Mixed layout with comma-separated values:
  • 1 = single horizontal slide
  • N (where N > 1) = vertical stack of N slides
  • d = section divider slide (centered, no content wrapper)
• --output <file> - Output filename (default: presentation.html)
• --title <text> - Presentation title
• --styles <file> - Custom CSS filename (default: styles.css)

Examples:

# 10 horizontal slides
node <path-to-skill>/scripts/create-presentation.js --slides 10 --output presentation.html

# Mixed structure: intro, 2 content slides, divider, 3-slide vertical stack, divider, closing
node <path-to-skill>/scripts/create-presentation.js --structure 1,1,1,d,3,d,1 --title "Q4 Review" --output presentation.html

Step 3: Customize the CSS

The scaffold script automatically copies base-styles.css to your presentation directory as styles.css. Now customize the CSS variables (especially colors) for your presentation theme.

Using Google Fonts: Add an @import at the top of your CSS file:

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Playfair+Display:wght@400;600;700&family=Lato:wght@300;400;600&display=swap');

:root {
  --heading-font: "Playfair Display", Georgia, serif;
  --body-font: "Lato", Helvetica, sans-serif;
  /* ... */
}

The base file includes:

1. CSS Variables for easy customization:

:root {
  /* ===========================================
     BACKGROUND COLOR - Set this first!
     =========================================== */
  --background-color: #ffffff;  /* Change for dark themes (e.g., #1a1a2e) */

  /* Typography - ALWAYS use pt for font sizes */
  --heading-font: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, sans-serif;
  --body-font: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, sans-serif;
  --base-font-size: 32px;  /* Only px value - sets reveal.js base */
  --text-size: 16pt;       /* Base body text - intentionally small */
  --h1-size: 48pt;
  --h2-size: 36pt;
  --h3-size: 24pt;

  /* Colors - customize these for each presentation */
  --primary-color: #2196F3;
  --secondary-color: #ff9800;
  --text-color: #222;       /* Use light color (e.g., #FAF7F2) for dark backgrounds */
  --muted-color: #666;      /* Adjust for dark backgrounds too */
}

2. Override reveal.js styles using .reveal prefix:

.reveal {
  font-family: var(--body-font);
}

.reveal h1, .reveal h2, .reveal h3 {
  font-family: var(--heading-font);
  text-transform: none;
  color: var(--text-color);
}

.reveal p, .reveal li {
  font-size: var(--text-size);
  color: var(--text-color);
}

3. Slide layout styles - control padding and positioning:

.reveal .slides section {
  padding: 40px 60px;
  text-align: left;
}

4. Text size utilities (use these to scale up text when slides have less content):

/* Base text is 16pt - use these classes to increase size when needed */
.text-lg { font-size: 18pt; }    /* Slightly larger */
.text-xl { font-size: 20pt; }    /* Medium emphasis */
.text-2xl { font-size: 24pt; }   /* Strong emphasis */
.text-3xl { font-size: 28pt; }   /* Very large */
.text-4xl { font-size: 32pt; }   /* Maximum body text */
.text-muted { color: var(--muted-color); }
.text-center { text-align: center; }

Typography guidance:

• Base text (--text-size: 16pt) is intentionally small to fit more content
• When a slide has less content, use .text-lg, .text-xl, etc. to fill space appropriately
• This approach prevents overflow on content-heavy slides while allowing flexibility on lighter slides

Custom CSS classes for repeated patterns:

Use inline styles for layout (grids, flex containers) since those vary per slide. But when a visual pattern appears on multiple slides, create a dedicated CSS class in styles.css instead of repeating inline styles. This keeps the HTML clean and ensures consistency. Common examples: stat boxes (number + label), feature cards (icon + title + description), timeline/process steps, profile/bio cards. If an element repeats 3+ times, it should be a class.

Step 4: Fill in the HTML Content

IMPORTANT: Use the Edit tool to fill in slides incrementally — one or a few slides at a time. Do NOT rewrite the entire HTML file with the Write tool. The scaffold generates unique placeholder text per slide (e.g., Slide 2 Title Here), so each section can be targeted with Edit. This is more token-efficient and less error-prone than generating the full file at once.

Follow these patterns:

Standard slide structure:

<section id="unique-slide-id">
  <h2>Slide Title</h2>
  <div class="content">
    <!-- Content here -->
  </div>
</section>

Multi-column layouts - always use inline CSS grid (do NOT create utility classes like .grid-2):

<!-- Equal columns -->
<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); gap: 30px;">
  <div>Column 1</div>
  <div>Column 2</div>
</div>

<!-- Three columns -->
<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr); gap: 25px;">
  <div>Column 1</div>
  <div>Column 2</div>
  <div>Column 3</div>
</div>

<!-- Unequal columns -->
<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 2fr; gap: 30px;">
  <div>Narrow sidebar</div>
  <div>Wide main content</div>
</div>

Why inline styles for grids? Each slide's layout needs vary - column ratios, gaps, etc. Inline styles give you full control per-slide without creating dozens of utility classes.

Important HTML patterns:

• Every <section> should have a unique id attribute for stable identification
• Use class="section-divider" for centered section title slides
• Wrap main content in <div class="content"> for consistent spacing. This is a flexbox container that fills the remaining vertical space below the title, ensuring content flows properly.
• Use <div class="footnote"> for attribution or source text at bottom
• All visible text must be inside a text element (<p>, <li>, or <h1>–<h6>). These elements inherit the base font-size, color, and line-height from the CSS. Never put text directly in <span> or <div> — they won't pick up the base styles and will render at the wrong size. Use <div> only as a layout container (for grids, flexbox, etc.), with <p> elements inside it for the actual text.

Step 5: Check for Content Overflow

Run the overflow checker to ensure no slides have content that extends beyond boundaries:

node scripts/check-overflow.js presentation.html

The script checks each slide for:

• Vertical overflow: Content taller than slide height
• Horizontal overflow: Content wider than slide width

If overflow is detected, reduce content or adjust font sizes on affected slides.

Step 6: Visual Review with Screenshots

CRITICAL: You MUST review screenshots of EVERY SINGLE SLIDE. Do not skip slides or review only a sample. Visual issues are common and can only be caught by examining each slide individually.

Capture screenshots of all slides:

cd <presentation-directory>
npx decktape reveal "presentation.html?export" output.pdf \
  --screenshots \
  --screenshots-directory "screenshots/$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"

Note: The ?export query parameter disables chart animations for cleaner PDF rendering. Charts will still animate when viewing the HTML directly in a browser.

This creates a timestamped folder (e.g., screenshots/20241210_143052/) so you can track versions and compare before/after fixes.

Then use the Read tool to examine each screenshot image file.

What to Look For

The overflow script catches most layout issues, but these problems require visual inspection:

1. Color inheritance in containers: Text inside styled containers may inherit the wrong color from parent elements. If you have light text on a dark page background, text inside a light-colored container will be unreadable unless you explicitly set dark text color for that container.

2. Custom bullet/list styling: If you override default list styles, bullets may not contrast well on all container backgrounds.

3. Icons not rendering: If Font Awesome fails to load, you'll see empty squares or nothing where icons should be.

4. Overflow edge cases: The script catches most overflow, but complex nested layouts occasionally slip through.

5. Unexpected text wrap: Text that you expected to fit on one line actually overflows to two lines. This is especially common in column layouts, where the header of one column may wrap while the rest don't, making things uneven.

Re-capture specific slides after fixes:

npx decktape reveal "presentation.html?export" output.pdf \
  --screenshots \
  --screenshots-directory "screenshots/$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)" \
  --slides 2,5,7-9

Then re-examine the updated screenshots to verify fixes. The new timestamped folder makes it easy to compare with the previous version.

Step 7: Suggest Browser Editing

After completing the presentation, let the user know they can edit text directly in the browser using the included editor script:

node <path-to-skill>/scripts/edit-html.js <presentation-directory>/presentation.html

This opens the presentation in a local server where they can click any text to edit it inline, then save changes back to the file. It's useful for wordsmithing, fixing typos, or tweaking copy without needing to edit raw HTML.

Always mention this at the end of a presentation as a suggestion, e.g.:

To fine-tune the wording, you can edit text directly in the browser:

node <resolved-path>/scripts/edit-html.js <presentation-directory>/presentation.html

Click any text to edit, press Escape to deselect, then click Save. Press Ctrl+C to stop the server when done.

CSS Components Reference

Blockquotes

.reveal blockquote {
  border-left: 4px solid var(--primary-color);
  padding-left: 20px;
  margin: 20px 0;
  font-style: italic;
  background: none;
  box-shadow: none;
  width: 100%;
}

.reveal blockquote cite {
  display: block;
  margin-top: 10px;
  font-style: normal;
  color: var(--muted-color);
}

Icons (Font Awesome)

Font Awesome is included in the scaffold. Usage:

<i class="fa-solid fa-lightbulb"></i>
<i class="fa-solid fa-check"></i>
<i class="fa-solid fa-gears"></i>

Advanced Features

For fragments (progressive reveal), speaker notes, custom backgrounds, auto-animate, and transitions, see references/advanced-features.md.

Reveal.js Configuration

Reveal.initialize({
  controls: true,          // Show navigation arrows
  progress: true,          // Show progress bar
  slideNumber: true,       // Show slide numbers
  hash: true,              // Update URL hash for each slide
  transition: 'slide',     // none/fade/slide/convex/concave/zoom
  center: false,           // Vertical centering of slide content
  autoSlide: 0,            // Auto-advance (ms), 0 to disable
  loop: false,             // Loop presentation
});

Note on center: Default is false (content aligns to top), which works best for content-heavy slides. Set to true for minimal/creative presentations where you want content vertically centered.

Built-in Reveal.js Classes

Use these directly without custom CSS:

• r-fit-text - Auto-size text to fill slide
• r-stretch - Stretch element to fill remaining vertical space
• r-stack - Layer elements on top of each other

<h1 class="r-fit-text">BIG TEXT</h1>
<img class="r-stretch" src="image.jpg">

Adding Charts

IMPORTANT: Before adding ANY chart, you MUST read references/charts.md. Charts require specific flexbox/grid patterns to size correctly and avoid overflow. Do not attempt to add charts without reading the full documentation first.

The scaffold includes the Chart.js plugin for adding bar, line, pie, doughnut, and scatter charts to slides.

Required pattern - charts need flexbox containers and maintainAspectRatio: false:

<section style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; height: 100%;">
  <h2>Chart Title</h2>
  <div style="flex: 1; position: relative; min-height: 0;">
    <canvas data-chart="bar">
    <!--
    {
      "data": {
        "labels": ["Q1", "Q2", "Q3", "Q4"],
        "datasets": [{ "label": "Revenue", "data": [12, 19, 8, 15] }]
      },
      "options": {
        "maintainAspectRatio": false
      }
    }
    -->
    </canvas>
  </div>
</section>

references/charts.md covers (required reading):

• Layout patterns: full slide, half (horizontal/vertical), quarter, unequal splits (1fr 2fr, 1fr 3fr)
• Why the flexbox pattern is required (Chart.js aspect ratio behavior)
• All chart types (bar, line, pie, doughnut, scatter, etc.)
• Styling and color options
• CSV data format (simpler alternative to JSON)

Dependencies

Required for the scripts, should be already installed:

• Node.js (for running scripts)
• Puppeteer (for overflow checking): npm install puppeteer
• Decktape (for screenshots): npx decktape (runs directly)