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We propose a novel approach for constraint-based graphical user interface (GUI) layout based on OR-constraints (ORC) in standard soft/hard linear constraint systems. ORC layout unifies grid layout and flow layout, supporting both their features as well as cases where grid and flow layouts individually fail. We describe ORC design patterns that enable designers to safely create flexible layouts that work across different screen sizes and orientations. We also present the ORC Editor, a GUI editor that enables designers to apply ORC in a safe and effective manner, mixing grid, flow and new ORC layout features as appropriate. We demonstrate that our prototype can adapt layouts to screens with different aspect ratios with only a single layout specification, easing the burden of GUI maintenance. Finally, we show that ORC specifications can be modified interactively and solved efficiently at runtime.
We contribute a method to automate parameter configurations for chart layouts by learning from human preferences. Existing charting tools usually determine the layout parameters using predefined heuristics, producing sub-optimal layouts. People can repeatedly adjust multiple parameters (e.g., chart size, gap) to achieve visually appealing layouts. However, this trial-and-error process is unsystematic and time-consuming, without a guarantee of improvement. To address this issue, we develop Layout Quality Quantifier (LQ2), a machine learning model that learns to score chart layouts from pairwise crowdsourcing data. Combined with optimization techniques, LQ2 recommends layout parameters that improve the charts layout quality. We apply LQ2 on bar charts and conduct user studies to evaluate its effectiveness by examining the quality of layouts it produces. Results show that LQ2 can generate more visually appealing layouts than both laypeople and baselines. This work demonstrates the feasibility and usages of quantifying human preferences and aesthetics for chart layouts.
We propose a new generative model for layout generation. We generate layouts in three steps. First, we generate the layout elements as nodes in a layout graph. Second, we compute constraints between layout elements as edges in the layout graph. Third, we solve for the final layout using constrained optimization. For the first two steps, we build on recent transformer architectures. The layout optimization implements the constraints efficiently. We show three practical contributions compared to the state of the art: our work requires no user input, produces higher quality layouts, and enables many novel capabilities for conditional layout generation.
Layout is a fundamental component of any graphic design. Creating large varieties of plausible document layouts can be a tedious task, requiring numerous constraints to be satisfied, including local ones relating different semantic elements and global constraints on the general appearance and spacing. In this paper, we present a novel framework, coined READ, for REcursive Autoencoders for Document layout generation, to generate plausible 2D layouts of documents in large quantities and varieties. First, we devise an exploratory recursive method to extract a structural decomposition of a single document. Leveraging a dataset of documents annotated with labeled bounding boxes, our recursive neural network learns to map the structural representation, given in the form of a simple hierarchy, to a compact code, the space of which is approximated by a Gaussian distribution. Novel hierarchies can be sampled from this space, obtaining new document layouts. Moreover, we introduce a combinatorial metric to measure structural similarity among document layouts. We deploy it to show that our method is able to generate highly variable and realistic layouts. We further demonstrate the utility of our generated layouts in the context of standard detection tasks on documents, showing that detection performance improves when the training data is augmented with generated documents whose layouts are produced by READ.
We introduce a learning framework for automated floorplan generation which combines generative modeling using deep neural networks and user-in-the-loop designs to enable human users to provide sparse design constraints. Such constraints are represented by a layout graph. The core component of our learning framework is a deep neural network, Graph2Plan, which converts a layout graph, along with a building boundary, into a floorplan that fulfills both the layout and boundary constraints. Given an input building boundary, we allow a user to specify room counts and other layout constraints, which are used to retrieve a set of floorplans, with their associated layout graphs, from a database. For each retrieved layout graph, along with the input boundary, Graph2Plan first generates a corresponding raster floorplan image, and then a refined set of boxes representing the rooms. Graph2Plan is trained on RPLAN, a large-scale dataset consisting of 80K annotated floorplans. The network is mainly based on convolutional processing over both the layout graph, via a graph neural network (GNN), and the input building boundary, as well as the raster floorplan images, via conventional image convolution.
Graphic design is essential for visual communication with layouts being fundamental to composing attractive designs. Layout generation differs from pixel-level image synthesis and is unique in terms of the requirement of mutual relations among the desired components. We propose a method for design layout generation that can satisfy user-specified constraints. The proposed neural design network (NDN) consists of three modules. The first module predicts a graph with complete relations from a graph with user-specified relations. The second module generates a layout from the predicted graph. Finally, the third module fine-tunes the predicted layout. Quantitative and qualitative experiments demonstrate that the generated layouts are visually similar to real design layouts. We also construct real designs based on predicted layouts for a better understanding of the visual quality. Finally, we demonstrate a practical application on layout recommendation.