# Tree-based Visualization and Optimization for Image Collection

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1507.04913 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1507.04913/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 17 Jul 2015.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Improved Evaluation and Generation of Grid Layouts using Distance Preservation Quality and Linear Assignment Sorting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.04255/) (2022)
- [Creating Sorted Grid Layouts with Gradient-based Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02730/) (2025)
- [Image Collage on Arbitrary Shape via Shape-Aware Slicing and Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.02435/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The visualization of an image collection is the process of displaying a collection of images on a screen under some specific layout requirements. This paper focuses on an important problem that is not well addressed by the previous methods: visualizing image collections into arbitrary layout shapes while arranging images according to user-defined semantic or visual correlations (e.g., color or object category). To this end, we first propose a property-based tree construction scheme to organize images of a collection into a tree structure according to user-defined properties. In this way, images can be adaptively placed with the desired semantic or visual correlations in the final visualization layout. Then, we design a two-step visualization optimization scheme to further optimize image layouts. As a result, multiple layout effects including layout shape and image overlap ratio can be effectively controlled to guarantee a satisfactory visualization. Finally, we also propose a tree-transfer scheme such that visualization layouts can be adaptively changed when users select different "images of interest". We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach through the comparisons with state-of-the-art visualization techniques.