Patent ID: 7640516

Claim:
A method of arranging graphic objects on one or more pages, comprising: initiating a current tree structure comprising a first node defining a relative location on a selected one of the pages for a first graphic object selected from a set of graphic objects; generating candidate tree structures each comprising the current tree structure and a respective node defining a respective relative location on the selected page for another graphic object selected from the set; determining corresponding initial size dimensions for the graphic objects in each of the candidate tree structures; computing respective scores for the candidate tree structures based at least in part on the corresponding initial size dimensions; selecting one of the candidate tree structures as the current tree structure based on the computed scores; repeating the generating, the determining, the computing, and the selecting until relative locations on the page are defined for all of the graphic objects in the set by respective nodes in the current tree structure; after the repeating, calculating final size dimensions for the graphic objects in accordance with the current tree structure; and specifying respective positions of the graphic objects on the selected page in accordance with the current tree structure based at least in part on the calculated final size dimensions; wherein the initiating, the generating, the determining, the computing, the selecting, the repeating, the calculating, and the specifying are performed by a computer.