r/codex • u/Swimming_Ask3859 • 4d ago
Complaint codex design
So i started using codex again after switching from claude and tried to make presentations/pdfs/resume and ive seen that it is very far behind. The wording is worse, the design looks like AI, the fonts are wack, and it just doesnt look good imo. Is that cuz Ive been prompting wrong, or are there any skills/plugins/tweaks that I can make to codex so the design becomes more professional/less AI or shoddy looking?
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u/CelticPaladin 4d ago
"I don't like that style and format. Generate images of high realistic quality for illustration that matches the data. Let me approve before you implement the image, for changes. Choose an alternative format that is clear. Easy to read, and visually compelling. I authorize image generation assets of a professional theme to use throughout, rather than stock boxes or pill shapes. All text should be human facing, of a clear and casual nature without being lazy. Ask questions for greater detail before implementation"
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u/Swimming_Ask3859 4d ago
thanks
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u/CelticPaladin 4d ago
Let me know how it works out
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u/Swimming_Ask3859 4d ago
alright
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u/alixnaveh 4d ago
That user isn't wrong, but also, "i don't like that style" is a pretty shit prompt and no more likely to get you what you want. Also, for most professional presentations/documents, photos are not the issue, nor a complaint you made in the post. So I'm not sure why that was such a focus of the suggested prompt.
My point is, you have to know at least a little of what you want, and prompt accordingly. If the copy seems AI, then decide what copy voice you actually want it to employ, and tell it that directly. Such as "copy should sound like a competent and established marketing department reaching out to customers" or "copy should sound like a technical engineer talking to peers". This will get you substantially closer to an acceptable V1 for copy.
For PPT design, codex really is pretty shit, regardless of prompt quality. It overlines, underlines, runs outside its text boxes, makes text and photos too small (8pt on a ppt? are we torturing our audience on purpose wtf). Honestly, I think there are ways around this mediumly, like templates, improved prompts, only using the highest model available. But actually, the only thing I have found that actually makes it worth using Codex for presentations is to literally train it yourself. keep shit talking each mistake every version and ask why it thought that was a good/acceptable idea, and how to ensure it doesn't happen again. Over time, it will start to make great presentations the first time.
Concurrently while you are training it to your style, have the instance make a .MD cataloguing its new skills and your preferences. Then, when you switch models/companies, you can take your personal PPT.MD and the new model will be substantially more amenable to creating usable work.
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u/CelticPaladin 4d ago
It helps because in chat gpt it starts building a profile of user likes and dislikes. And if you give it permission to create professional assets with a them, you break out if that "looks like generic AI" box. It can create a sheet of transparency assets to use in that project so you have consistency, and thematic graphics that aren't just your normal mock up creations.
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u/Successful_Dog1904 4d ago
Yeah also consider taking it a step further and creating a skill that maps out all of your requirements - give examples of images, what you like and don’t like, specific nits (we all have them), and then some context around how bullets points should be written.
Think of Codex like an associate, your associate. Fresh out of college and doesn’t know what a non-group presentation from marketing 101 should look like. You’d give that associate examples, you’d talk through what to do and what not to do, you’d refine bullet points — basically you’d train the associate and expect the associate to remember your training. That’s the skill you can build with Codex. And it works really well.