# SEGA: A Stepwise Evolution Paradigm for Content-Aware Layout Generation with Design Prior

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15749 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15749/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 33 of its 46 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 17 Oct 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 33)

- [GPT-4 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08774/) (2023)
- [Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.11903/) (2022)
- [GPT-4o System Card](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.21276/) (2024)
- [Improved Baselines with Visual Instruction Tuning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.03744/) (2023)
- [Sequence to Sequence Learning with Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.3215/) (2014)
- [BloombergGPT: A Large Language Model for Finance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.17564/) (2023)
- [Yi: Open Foundation Models by 01.AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.04652/) (2024)
- [GSM-Symbolic: Understanding the Limitations of Mathematical Reasoning in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.05229/) (2024)
- [ViP-LLaVA: Making Large Multimodal Models Understand Arbitrary Visual Prompts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.00784/) (2023)
- [LayoutDM: Discrete Diffusion Model for Controllable Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08137/) (2023)
- [LayoutGAN: Generating Graphic Layouts with Wireframe Discriminators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.06767/) (2019)
- [Scaling Laws of RoPE-based Extrapolation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.05209/) (2023)
- [LayoutVAE: Stochastic Scene Layout Generation From a Label Set](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.10719/) (2019)
- [CanvasVAE: Learning to Generate Vector Graphic Documents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.01249/) (2021)
- [Neural Design Network: Graphic Layout Generation with Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.09421/) (2019)
- [BLT: Bidirectional Layout Transformer for Controllable Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05112/) (2021)
- [Attribute-conditioned Layout GAN for Automatic Graphic Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.05284/) (2020)
- [PosterLayout: A New Benchmark and Approach for Content-aware Visual-Textual Presentation Layout](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.15937/) (2023)
- [Composition-aware Graphic Layout GAN for Visual-textual Presentation Designs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.00303/) (2022)
- [LayoutPrompter: Awaken the Design Ability of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.06495/) (2023)
- [LayoutFormer++: Conditional Graphic Layout Generation via Constraint Serialization and Decoding Space Restriction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.08037/) (2022)
- [LayoutDiffusion: Improving Graphic Layout Generation by Discrete Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11589/) (2023)
- [Graphic Design with Large Multimodal Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.14368/) (2024)
- [Relation-Aware Diffusion Model for Controllable Poster Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.09086/) (2023)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Layout Transformer for Content-Aware Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13602/) (2023)
- [PosterLlama: Bridging Design Ability of Langauge Model to Contents-Aware Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.00995/) (2024)
- [Geometry Aligned Variational Transformer for Image-conditioned Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.00852/) (2022)
- [Towards Flexible Multi-modal Document Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.18248/) (2023)
- [Reason out Your Layout: Evoking the Layout Master from Large Language Models for Text-to-Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.17126/) (2023)
- [Retrieve-Then-Adapt: Example-based Automatic Generation for Proportion-related Infographics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.01177/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Breaking Dual Bottlenecks: Evolving Unified Multimodal Models into Self-Adaptive Interleaved Visual Reasoners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.14709/) (2026)
- [TexEditor: Structure-Preserving Text-Driven Texture Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.18488/) (2026)
- [Open World Knowledge Aided Single-Cell Foundation Model with Robust Cross-Modal Cell-Language Pre-training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.05648/) (2026)
- [PRISM: Learning Design Knowledge from Data for Stylistic Design Improvement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.11747/) (2026)
- [Beyond Atomic Layouts: Compositional Design Understanding with Vision-Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.26716/) (2026)
- [Learning Interaction between Image and Layout Priors for Joint Image-Layout Generation in Design Templates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.11519/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we study the content-aware layout generation problem, which aims to automatically generate layouts that are harmonious with a given background image. Existing methods usually deal with this task with a single-step reasoning framework. The lack of a feedback-based self-correction mechanism leads to their failure rates significantly increasing when faced with complex element layout planning. To address this challenge, we introduce SEGA, a novel Stepwise Evolution Paradigm for Content-Aware Layout Generation. Inspired by the systematic mode of human thinking, SEGA employs a hierarchical reasoning framework with a coarse-to-fine strategy: first, a coarse-level module roughly estimates the layout planning results; then, another refining module performs fine-level reasoning regarding the coarse planning results. Furthermore, we incorporate layout design principles as prior knowledge into the model to enhance its layout planning ability. Besides, we present GenPoster-100K that is a new large-scale poster dataset with rich meta-information annotation. The experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by achieving the state-of-the-art results on multiple benchmark datasets. Our project page is at: https://brucew91.github.io/SEGA.github.io/