1. A hierarchical system for associating object-based information with images for information retrieval, editing, and manipulation, comprising: an object-based selection mechanism for selecting an object of interest in an image; hierarchical data structure generation means for generating a hierarchical data structure for said image and for associating object-based information with said image; a transmission/storage mechanism for storing the image and the hierarchical data structure; a retrieval and manipulation mechanism for allowing a user selectively to retrieve and manipulate the image and the object-based information associated therewith; and a generation mechanism for generating an overlay associated with said image, wherein said overlay includes at least one hot spot which is visually distinguishable from the remainder of the image when highlighted by the user.