For example consider the generator below It consists of three rectangles, each with its own center, dimensions and rotation angle. The initial conditions usually consist of a single square, the first iteration then consists of replacing this square by a suitably positioned, scaled and rotated version of the above generator. The result would just be the generator above. Note that with both methods it is possible to create the image at any scale. In many but not all cases zoomed in examples will be exhibit self similarity at all scales.
Applications generally iinvolve data reduction for model files.
If a generator can be found for a complex image then storing the generator and the rules of production results in a great deal of data reduction.