Image browsing through memory-stored items, such as a library of images or
desktop windows, is efficiently performed by arranging images in partially overlapping
fashion and generating a second-level image for each overlapped image that is contacted
by a user-manipulated cursor. The second-level image is a "transitory" image, since
it is removed as soon as the cursor is displaced from the corresponding first-level
image. Thus, by placing the first-level images in a diagonally extending stack,
straight line movement of the cursor will initiate a sequential presentation of
transitory images for the images in the stack. In one embodiment, the display also
includes an incrementing icon and a decrementing icon that are employed to provide
substitute stacks. Moreover, a third-level image is formed in a separate window
when the user selects one of the images from the stack. This third-level image
has more permanency, since it remains in the display window after the stack has
been substituted. The images may be digital photographs, but other applications
are contemplated.
