Abstract: We describe a representation for multiresolution images - images that have different resolutions in different places - and methods for creating such images using painting and compositing operations. These methods are very easy to implement, and they are efficient in both memory and speed. Only the detail present at a particular resolution is stored, and the most common painting operations, "over" and "erase," require time proportional only to the number of pixels displayed. We also show how fractional-level zooming can be implemented in order to allow a user to display and edit portions of a multiresolution image at any arbitrary size.