ARCOL: Aspect Ratio Constrained Orthogonal Layout

2026-03-31

AI Summary

Existing orthogonal graph layout methods lack explicit control over the overall aspect ratio, making it difficult to accommodate diverse display requirements. This work proposes ARCOL, a novel approach that introduces a soft aspect ratio constraint into the HOLA algorithm by incorporating the target aspect ratio during the stress minimization phase and designing a new cost function in the tree reconnection phase to jointly optimize layout proportion and visual clarity. As the first method to enable explicit aspect ratio control in orthogonal graph layout, ARCOL generates compact, balanced, and visually clear layouts across a range of target ratios. Experimental results and user evaluations demonstrate its effectiveness and practical utility.

Abstract

Orthogonal graph layout algorithms aim to produce clear, compact, and readable network diagrams by arranging nodes and edges along horizontal and vertical lines, while minimizing bends and crossings. Most existing orthogonal layout methods focus primarily on quality criteria such as area usage, total edge length, and bend minimization. Explicitly controlling the global aspect ratio (AR) of the resulting layout is as of now unexplored. Existing orthogonal layout methods offer no control over the resulting AR and their rigid geometric constraints make adaptation of finished layouts difficult. With the increasing variety of aspect ratios encountered in daily life, from wide monitors to tall mobile devices or fixed-size interface panels, there is a clear need for aspect ratio control in orthogonal layout methods. To tackle this issue, we introduce Aspect Ratio-Constrained Orthogonal Layout (ARCOL). Building upon the Human-like Orthogonal Layout Algorithm (HOLA)~\cite{Kieffer2016}, we integrate aspect ratio at two different stages: (1) into the stress minimization phase, as a soft constraint, allowing the layout algorithm to gently guide node positions toward a specified target AR, while preserving visual clarity and topological faithfulness; and (2) into the tree reattachment phase, where we modify the cost function to favor placements that improve the AR. We evaluate our approach through quantitative evaluation and a user study, as well as expert interviews. Our evaluations show that ARCOL produces balanced and space efficient orthogonal layouts across diverse aspect ratios.

Problem

• orthogonal layout
• aspect ratio
• graph drawing
• layout control
• network visualization

Innovation

• aspect ratio control
• orthogonal graph layout
• stress minimization
• tree reattachment
• layout adaptability