Preface

When working with agents for layout design in DeepSeek Harness (DSH), the common practice is to verbally describe “how many columns, what font size,” lacking reusable geometric parameters and delivery verification. Manually setting up grids in InDesign or Figma is disconnected from conversational workflows. dsh-swiss-grid distills the methods from Josef Müller-Brockmann’s Grid Systems in Graphic Design into actionable skills and a zero-dependency Python toolchain: first calculating the type area, columns, baselines, and type scale, then generating printable PDFs via SVG, accompanied by grid overlay proof images. The following section introduces the plugin’s positioning, capabilities, and installation usage.

What is this

summersummer-liu/dsh-swiss-grid is a community-maintained DSH plugin (approx. 6 stars on GitHub, code and documentation under MIT). It registers the skill swiss-grid-design to the agent. It is not a scan or reprint of the original book, but rather a method summary, parameter tables, and a small rendering pipeline. Outputs include posters, book spreads, magazine pages, exhibition graphics, etc., with deliverables fixed as a pair of Final Draft + Grid Schematic.

Core Features

Skill and Reference Documents

  • Skill swiss-grid-design: Rules, workflows, geometry and typography quick reference, QA checklists.
  • references/: Method descriptions, layout and scaling tables (A4–A0, 8/20/32 grid systems), SVG→PDF output considerations, delivery checklists, layout recipes.

Zero-dependency Tools (Located in skills/swiss-grid-design/assets/)

Script Function
grid_calculator.py Calculates geometry and type scale, outputs JSON
poster_builder.py Parametric A-series posters (bleed, trim marks, grid proofs; generates PDF via Edge/Chromium; TrimBox metadata, etc.)
verify_print_pdf.py Checks page size, TrimBox/BleedBox, Type0 fonts, trim marks

The repository includes example previews and specifications; PDFs are generated locally.

Design Rules (Summary)

Elements align to column lines, row lines, or baseline multiples. Cells contain integer multiples of text rows; the baseline is derived from the cell by default (cell ÷ 6). Font sizes remain multiples of the baseline. Common book margin ratios are head 1 : inner 1 : outer 2 : foot 3; single posters can use symmetric margins. Figure captions and images occupy full rows/cells, not half cells.

Installation and Activation

The plugin is published as a standard DSH bundle: package.json → dsh.bundle.patch → cordis.patch.yml → index.js registers skills/*/SKILL.md to ctx.skills. Requires Node.js ≥ 20.0.0 and DSH ≥ 0.1.1-rc.1.

Recommended: Install as a DSH plugin from GitHub

dsh plugin --profile desktop add github:summersummer-liu/dsh-swiss-grid

The README also notes that once published to npm, the following can be used:

dsh plugin add dsh-swiss-grid

Restart dsh web (or the desktop app) once after installation to allow the profile to merge the new bundle. The skill will appear in the directory and can be invoked via /swiss-grid-design, or by directly describing the need for poster or grid layout.

If you only want the skill and not the plugin system, you can copy skills/swiss-grid-design to ~/.dsh/skills/ (use Copy-Item -Recurse on Windows).

Please review the repository source code and LICENSE/NOTICE before installation; the plugin runs under the permissions of the current DSH process and has no official affiliation with DeepSeek or High-Flyer. See the SkillHub plugin page for the community directory.

Typical Usage

Environment: Python 3.10+; PDF generation requires Microsoft Edge or Chromium in the standard system path (can also use msedge/chrome via PATH). pymupdf/Pillow are optional, used for previewing and PDF validation.

Run the following in the plugin repository or the expanded skill directory:

# 1. Calculate grid
python skills/swiss-grid-design/assets/grid_calculator.py --preset a2-32

# 2. Build poster (First copy poster_builder.py to the project and edit TEXTS/ART/colors)
python poster_builder.py --preset a2-32 --outdir out --grid --pdf --preview

# 3. Verify print PDF
python skills/swiss-grid-design/assets/verify_print_pdf.py \
  --pdf out/poster_a2-32.pdf --trim 420x594 --bleed 3

poster_builder writes out the final draft PDF, grid overlay PDF, SVG/HTML source files, spec.md, and a preview JPG. The verification script checks trim dimensions (trim + 2×bleed), TrimBox/BleedBox, real text and Type0 glyphs, trim marks, etc.

Use Cases and Caveats

Suitable for developer or designer collaboration scenarios requiring Swiss-style grid planning within DSH conversations, resulting in printable deliverables. The method attributes to Müller-Brockmann’s original work (Niggli 1981; Chinese edition Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House 2016). This project is an independent summary and toolchain, not endorsed by the author or publisher, and does not distribute pages or scanned images from the book. Sample text is fictional; previews rely on locally installed fonts, the repository does not distribute font files; using commercial fonts like Microsoft YaHei requires verifying authorization yourself, or you can switch to open-source TrueType CJK fonts (see font instructions within the skill).

Links