An apparatus is provided for panoptic visualization of an illustrated parts catalog (IPC). The system includes a layout engine configured to generate a layout of pages of an IPC for a complex system, panoptically arranged in a manner that reflects logical relationships between the pages, which may in turn reflect relationships between the elements of the complex system. These logical relationships may be established by links between pages, which may be identified by information provided in associated metadata for the pages. This type of arrangement may enable a user to see the content in a single view, and in an arrangement that facilitates a better understanding of the relationships between the pages and elements they depict, which may be otherwise technically complex. This may in turn ease the difficulty and time required to search and/or navigate even the most massive amounts of information contained in some IPCs.