> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://vikram-bajaj.gitbook.io/cs-gy-6313-information-visualization/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://vikram-bajaj.gitbook.io/cs-gy-6313-information-visualization/networks-and-trees/visualizing-network-data/node-link-diagrams/clutter-reduction.md).

# Clutter Reduction

Clutter (caused by too many edges crossing over each other) is a common problem in node-link diagrams.

The following are a few clutter reduction techniques:

* **Edge Bundling**\
  ![](https://612062878-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M5-0RG_uqhxyMNjpMUW%2F-M5-0SvQ45Rarxg8L2lA%2F-M5-0Tvc0ApsOyvt7ZB2%2Fbundling.png?generation=1586990817308357\&alt=media)
* **Clustering**\
  ![](https://612062878-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M5-0RG_uqhxyMNjpMUW%2F-M5-0SvQ45Rarxg8L2lA%2F-M5-0TvftPxZapCZKJ67%2Fclustering.png?generation=1586990817036550\&alt=media)
* **Drawing Edges on Demand (or) Removing the Edges**\
  ![](https://612062878-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M5-0RG_uqhxyMNjpMUW%2F-M5-0SvQ45Rarxg8L2lA%2F-M5-0Tvh7iakpQC04mka%2Fedges_on_demand.png?generation=1586990816833930\&alt=media)\
  The edges in the above visualization appear on hovering over a node
* **Aggregation/Simplification**\
  ![](https://612062878-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M5-0RG_uqhxyMNjpMUW%2F-M5-0SvQ45Rarxg8L2lA%2F-M5-0TvjkOJ3QOzNo38D%2Fsimplification.png?generation=1586990817217767\&alt=media)The technique above shows **Motif Simplification**. The idea is to aggregate together nodes and edges that can be simplified.