randyhaylor/rtf-creator

RTF Creator

Generate valid Rich Text Format documents with correct structure, formatting, and encoding.

RTF Document Structure

Every RTF document follows this skeleton:

{\rtf1\ansi\deff0
{\fonttbl{\f0 Times New Roman;}{\f1 Arial;}{\f2 Courier New;}}
{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;\red255\green0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue255;}
{\info{\title Document Title}{\author Author Name}}

\margl1440\margr1440\margt1440\margb1440

{\pard\plain\f0\fs24
Body text here.\par}

}

Required Elements

• {\rtf1\ansi\deff0 — RTF version 1, ANSI encoding, default font 0
• {\fonttbl ...} — font table declaring all fonts used
• Closing } — every document must end with a brace matching the opening

Optional Header Elements

• {\colortbl ...} — color table with RGB values, first entry is null (default)
• {\info ...} — metadata: \title, \author, \subject, \keywords, \creatim, \revtim
• {\stylesheet ...} — named styles

Units: Twips

All measurements in RTF use twips (twentieth of a point):

• 1 inch = 1440 twips
• 1 cm = 567 twips
• Font sizes use half-points: \fs24 = 12pt, \fs40 = 20pt

Character Formatting

\plain    — reset all character formatting
\b        — bold on            \b0       — bold off
\i        — italic on          \i0       — italic off
\ul       — underline on       \ul0      — underline off (or \ulnone)
\strike   — strikethrough
\sub      — subscript           \super   — superscript
\fN       — select font N from font table
\fsN      — font size in half-points
\cfN      — foreground color N from color table
\cbN      — background color N from color table
\caps     — all caps            \scaps   — small caps

Scoping with Groups

Formatting applied inside braces is scoped to that group:

This is normal {\b bold text} back to normal.

Paragraph Formatting

\pard     — reset paragraph formatting (use at start of each paragraph)
\par      — end paragraph / paragraph break
\line     — line break within paragraph
\page     — page break
\tab      — tab character

\ql       — align left (default)
\qc       — align center
\qr       — align right
\qj       — justify

\liN      — left indent (twips)
\riN      — right indent (twips)
\fiN      — first-line indent (twips, negative for hanging)
\sbN      — space before paragraph (twips)
\saN      — space after paragraph (twips)
\slN      — line spacing (twips)

Page Setup

\paperw12240\paperh15840   — letter size (8.5 x 11 inches)
\paperw11906\paperh16838   — A4 size
\landscape                 — landscape orientation
\marglN   — left margin      \margrN  — right margin
\margtN   — top margin       \margbN  — bottom margin

Font Table

Declare all fonts used in the document. Font families:

{\fonttbl
{\f0\froman Times New Roman;}
{\f1\fswiss Arial;}
{\f2\fmodern Courier New;}
{\f3\fscript Script;}
{\f4\fdecor Old English;}
}

Families: \froman (serif), \fswiss (sans-serif), \fmodern (monospace), \fscript, \fdecor, \ftech, \fbidi

Color Table

First entry is always null (semicolon only). Colors referenced by index starting at 1:

{\colortbl;
\red0\green0\blue0;
\red255\green0\blue0;
\red0\green128\blue0;
\red0\green0\blue255;
}

Use \cf1 for black text, \cf2 for red, etc.

Tables

Tables are built row by row. Each row defines column positions, then fills cells:

{\trowd\trgaph108\trleft0
\cellx3000\cellx6000\cellx9000
\pard\intbl Header 1\cell
\pard\intbl Header 2\cell
\pard\intbl Header 3\cell
\row}

Key commands:

• \trowd — start row definition
• \cellxN — right edge of each column in twips
• \intbl — content is inside a table cell
• \cell — end cell
• \row — end row
• \trgaphN — half the space between cells
• \trleftN — left offset of row
• \clbrdrt\brdrs, \clbrdrb\brdrs, \clbrdrl\brdrs, \clbrdrr\brdrs — cell borders (top, bottom, left, right)

Headers and Footers

{\header\pard\qc\plain\f0\fs20 Document Title\par}
{\footer\pard\qc\plain\f0\fs18 Page \chpgn\par}

• \chpgn — current page number
• \header / \footer — applies to all pages
• \headerf / \footerf — first page only
• \headerl / \headerr — left/right pages (with \facingp)

Hyperlinks

{\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "https://example.com"}}{\fldrslt{\cf2\ul Link Text}}}

Footnotes

Text{\super\chftn}{\footnote\pard\plain\chftn. Footnote content here.}

Special Characters and Escapes

\\        — literal backslash
\{        — literal opening brace
\}        — literal closing brace
\~        — non-breaking space
\-        — optional hyphen
\_        — non-breaking hyphen
\bullet   — bullet character
\endash   — en dash
\emdash   — em dash
\lquote   — left single quote
\rquote   — right single quote
\ldblquote — left double quote
\rdblquote — right double quote
\'XX      — hex character code (e.g., \'e9 for e with acute)
\uN       — Unicode character (e.g., \u8212 for em dash)

Lists (Bulleted / Numbered)

RTF has no native list syntax. Simulate with indents and symbols:

{\pard\li720\fi-360\bullet\tab First item\par}
{\pard\li720\fi-360\bullet\tab Second item\par}

For numbered lists:

{\pard\li720\fi-360 1.\tab First item\par}
{\pard\li720\fi-360 2.\tab Second item\par}

Document Settings

\widowctrl        — widow/orphan control
\deflangN         — default language (1033 = US English)
\colsN            — number of newspaper-style columns
\linebetcol       — line between columns

Critical Rules

1. Every opening brace must have a matching closing brace — unbalanced braces crash RTF processors
2. A space after a control word terminates it — the space is consumed, not displayed
3. Use \tab not literal tab characters
4. Font sizes are half-points — \fs24 = 12pt, not 24pt
5. Start each paragraph with \pard to reset inherited formatting
6. Test output in multiple readers — Word, LibreOffice, and TextEdit render differently
7. Newlines in source are ignored — they aid readability but don't affect output

Validation with rtfparse

After generating an RTF file, always validate it automatically:

1. Check if rtfparse is installed: python3 -c "import rtfparse" 2>/dev/null
2. If not installed, offer to install it:
   • If in a project using a virtual environment or uv: pip install -d rtfparse (development dependency)
   • Otherwise: pip install rtfparse
3. Run validation: python3 .claude/skills/rtf-creator/validate_rtf.py <output_file.rtf>
4. The validator script lives at: .claude/skills/rtf-creator/validate_rtf.py

The validator parses the RTF structure and reports whether it is valid or identifies the specific parse error. This catches unbalanced braces, malformed control words, and structural issues that a text editor won't flag. If validation fails, fix the issue and re-validate before reporting completion.

Complete Example: Formatted Report

{\rtf1\ansi\deff0
{\fonttbl{\f0\froman Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss Arial;}}
{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;\red0\green51\blue102;}
{\info{\title Quarterly Report}{\author Policy Team}}

\paperw12240\paperh15840
\margl1440\margr1440\margt1440\margb1440

{\header\pard\qr\plain\f1\fs18\cf2 Quarterly Report\par}
{\footer\pard\qc\plain\f0\fs16 Page \chpgn\par}

{\pard\qc\plain\f1\fs48\b\cf2
Quarterly Report\par}

{\pard\qc\plain\f0\fs24
Policy Division \endash\ Q4 2025\par}

{\pard\sb360\sa120\plain\f1\fs32\b\cf2
Executive Summary\par}

{\pard\plain\f0\fs24\qj\fi360
This report summarizes policy review activities for the fourth quarter.
All compliance targets were met and three new policies were enacted.\par}

{\pard\sb360\sa120\plain\f1\fs32\b\cf2
Key Metrics\par}

{\trowd\trgaph108\trleft0
\clbrdrt\brdrs\clbrdrb\brdrs\clbrdrl\brdrs\clbrdrr\brdrs\cellx3000
\clbrdrt\brdrs\clbrdrb\brdrs\clbrdrl\brdrs\clbrdrr\brdrs\cellx6000
\clbrdrt\brdrs\clbrdrb\brdrs\clbrdrl\brdrs\clbrdrr\brdrs\cellx9000
\pard\intbl\b\f1\fs22 Metric\cell
\pard\intbl\b\f1\fs22 Target\cell
\pard\intbl\b\f1\fs22 Actual\cell
\row}

{\trowd\trgaph108\trleft0
\clbrdrt\brdrs\clbrdrb\brdrs\clbrdrl\brdrs\clbrdrr\brdrs\cellx3000
\clbrdrt\brdrs\clbrdrb\brdrs\clbrdrl\brdrs\clbrdrr\brdrs\cellx6000
\clbrdrt\brdrs\clbrdrb\brdrs\clbrdrl\brdrs\clbrdrr\brdrs\cellx9000
\pard\intbl\plain\f0\fs22 Policies Reviewed\cell
\pard\intbl\plain\f0\fs22 50\cell
\pard\intbl\plain\f0\fs22 53\cell
\row}

}