# Learning Interaction between Image and Layout Priors for Joint Image-Layout Generation in Design Templates

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.11519 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.11519/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 29 of its 42 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 29 of 29)

- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Scalable Diffusion Models with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.09748/) (2022)
- [GLIGEN: Open-Set Grounded Text-to-Image Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.07093/) (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)
- [LayoutTransformer: Layout Generation and Completion with Self-attention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.14615/) (2020)
- [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)
- [Variational Transformer Networks for Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.02416/) (2021)
- [Neural Design Network: Graphic Layout Generation with Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.09421/) (2019)
- [Constrained Graphic Layout Generation via Latent Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.00871/) (2021)
- [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)
- [LayoutFormer++: Conditional Graphic Layout Generation via Constraint Serialization and Decoding Space Restriction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.08037/) (2022)
- [Graphic Design with Large Multimodal Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.14368/) (2024)
- [DesignDiffusion: High-Quality Text-to-Design Image Generation with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.01645/) (2025)
- [PosterCraft: Rethinking High-Quality Aesthetic Poster Generation in a Unified Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.10741/) (2025)
- [OpenCOLE: Towards Reproducible Automatic Graphic Design Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.08232/) (2024)
- [CreatiDesign: A Unified Multi-Conditional Diffusion Transformer for Creative Graphic Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.19114/) (2025)
- [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)
- [PLay: Parametrically Conditioned Layout Generation using Latent Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.11529/) (2023)
- [LayoutFlow: Flow Matching for Layout Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.18187/) (2024)
- [Desigen: A Pipeline for Controllable Design Template Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.09093/) (2024)
- [From Elements to Design: A Layered Approach for Automatic Graphic Design Composition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.19712/) (2024)
- [IGD: Instructional Graphic Design with Multimodal Layer Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.09910/) (2025)
- [SEGA: A Stepwise Evolution Paradigm for Content-Aware Layout Generation with Design Prior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15749/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we address the problem of graphic design template creation, which generates a background image and a layout of foreground elements over the background to form a harmonious composition from an input text. Prior work on graphic design generation mostly adopts a sequential paradigm, where design elements are generated sequentially. We argue that such a sequential scheme falls short of faithfully capturing the dependency between the background and layout (and thus the joint image-layout distribution), which limits the quality of generated design templates. To overcome this limitation, we propose a model, InterIL, which jointly generates the two modalities, background image and layout, in a single generative process. The novel design of our joint model connects the backbones of pretrained image and layout diffusion models with a learnable communication module to explicitly model bidirectional image-layout interaction. During training, the image and layout backbones are frozen to maintain and leverage the vast pretrained single-modality prior knowledge, while only the communication module is updated, so that the model can focus on learning image-layout interaction and thereby better capture the joint image-layout distribution for improved composition harmony. Our model has no design-specific inductive bias, which allows it to better preserve the original characteristics of realistic designs. We further introduce a test-time guidance strategy to enable users to impose their specific preferences on generated results. Our experiments show that, compared with prior approaches, our model can generate significantly better results in terms of image, layout and image-layout harmonization, producing outputs closer to real samples. We also demonstrate the flexibility of our model in enforcing user preferences at inference without retraining.