Patent ID: 7743322

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of producing a layout of objects on a page, comprising: generating different tree structures each having at least one node and at least one leaf, wherein each node corresponds to a respective partition of the page and each leaf defines a relative location of a respective one of the objects on the page, wherein each object has a respective fixed aspect ratio and is associated with a respective relative area proportion that has a value such that a ratio of the respective relative area proportion to a respective amount of area on the page that is occupied by the object in the layout is equal to an identical constant value for all the objects; for each of the tree structures, characterizing a respective bounding box for each respective node in the tree structure based on the respective aspect ratios and the respective relative area proportions associated with all of the objects in all subtrees below the respective node, wherein each bounding box includes all of the objects in all subtrees below the respective node; for each of the tree structures, assigning regions within the page for each node in the tree structure in accordance with the respective bounding box associated with the node; for each of the tree structures, determining a respective score that comprises a measure of available space on the page that is unoccupied by the objects arranged on the page in accordance with partitions of the page defined by the tree structure; selecting one of the tree structures based on the determined scores; and producing a layout of the objects on the page based on the selected tree structure.