diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 8301df2c..291fe28a 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -24,3 +24,4 @@ List of contributors, in chronological order:
 * Geoffrey Thomas (https://github.com/geofft)
 * Oliver Sauder (https://github.com/sliverc)
 * Harald Sitter (https://github.com/apachelogger)
+* Johannes Layher (https://github.com/jola5)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/graph.go b/api/graph.go
index 0d11d706..5c3b8dc6 100644
--- a/api/graph.go
+++ b/api/graph.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 )
 
-// GET /api/graph.:ext
+// GET /api/graph.:ext?layout=[vertical|horizontal(default)]
 func apiGraph(c *gin.Context) {
 	var (
 		err    error
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ func apiGraph(c *gin.Context) {
 	)
 
 	ext := c.Params.ByName("ext")
+	layout := c.Request.URL.Query().Get("layout")
 
 	factory := context.CollectionFactory()
 
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ func apiGraph(c *gin.Context) {
 	factory.PublishedRepoCollection().RLock()
 	defer factory.PublishedRepoCollection().RUnlock()
 
-	graph, err := deb.BuildGraph(factory)
+	graph, err := deb.BuildGraph(factory, layout)
 	if err != nil {
 		c.JSON(500, err)
 		return
diff --git a/cmd/graph.go b/cmd/graph.go
index eb35559f..45d836b0 100644
--- a/cmd/graph.go
+++ b/cmd/graph.go
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ func aptlyGraph(cmd *commander.Command, args []string) error {
 		return commander.ErrCommandError
 	}
 
+	layout := context.Flags().Lookup("layout").Value.String()
+
 	fmt.Printf("Generating graph...\n")
-	graph, err := deb.BuildGraph(context.CollectionFactory())
+	graph, err := deb.BuildGraph(context.CollectionFactory(), layout)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -108,6 +111,7 @@ Example:
 
 	cmd.Flag.String("format", "png", "render graph to specified format (png, svg, pdf, etc.)")
 	cmd.Flag.String("output", "", "specify output filename, default is to open result in viewer")
+	cmd.Flag.String("layout", "horizontal", "create a more 'vertical' or a more 'horizontal' graph layout")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/deb/graph.go b/deb/graph.go
index 37abd692..088f9953 100644
--- a/deb/graph.go
+++ b/deb/graph.go
@@ -7,13 +7,28 @@ import (
 )
 
 // BuildGraph generates graph contents from aptly object database
-func BuildGraph(collectionFactory *CollectionFactory) (gographviz.Interface, error) {
+func BuildGraph(collectionFactory *CollectionFactory, layout string) (gographviz.Interface, error) {
 	var err error
 
 	graph := gographviz.NewEscape()
 	graph.SetDir(true)
 	graph.SetName("aptly")
 
+	var labelStart string
+	var labelEnd string
+
+	switch layout {
+		case "vertical":
+			graph.AddAttr("aptly", "rankdir", "LR")
+			labelStart = ""
+			labelEnd = ""
+		case "horizontal":
+			fallthrough
+		default:
+			labelStart = "{"
+			labelEnd = "}"
+	}
+
 	existingNodes := map[string]bool{}
 
 	err = collectionFactory.RemoteRepoCollection().ForEach(func(repo *RemoteRepo) error {
@@ -26,9 +41,9 @@ func BuildGraph(collectionFactory *CollectionFactory) (gographviz.Interface, err
 			"shape":     "Mrecord",
 			"style":     "filled",
 			"fillcolor": "darkgoldenrod1",
-			"label": fmt.Sprintf("{Mirror %s|url: %s|dist: %s|comp: %s|arch: %s|pkgs: %d}",
-				repo.Name, repo.ArchiveRoot, repo.Distribution, strings.Join(repo.Components, ", "),
-				strings.Join(repo.Architectures, ", "), repo.NumPackages()),
+			"label": fmt.Sprintf("%sMirror %s|url: %s|dist: %s|comp: %s|arch: %s|pkgs: %d%s", labelStart, repo.Name, repo.ArchiveRoot,
+				repo.Distribution, strings.Join(repo.Components, ", "),
+				strings.Join(repo.Architectures, ", "), repo.NumPackages(), labelEnd),
 		})
 		existingNodes[repo.UUID] = true
 		return nil
@@ -48,8 +63,8 @@ func BuildGraph(collectionFactory *CollectionFactory) (gographviz.Interface, err
 			"shape":     "Mrecord",
 			"style":     "filled",
 			"fillcolor": "mediumseagreen",
-			"label": fmt.Sprintf("{Repo %s|comment: %s|pkgs: %d}",
-				repo.Name, repo.Comment, repo.NumPackages()),
+			"label": fmt.Sprintf("%sRepo %s|comment: %s|pkgs: %d%s", labelStart,
+				repo.Name, repo.Comment, repo.NumPackages(), labelEnd),
 		})
 		existingNodes[repo.UUID] = true
 		return nil
@@ -79,7 +94,8 @@ func BuildGraph(collectionFactory *CollectionFactory) (gographviz.Interface, err
 			"shape":     "Mrecord",
 			"style":     "filled",
 			"fillcolor": "cadetblue1",
-			"label":     fmt.Sprintf("{Snapshot %s|%s|pkgs: %d}", snapshot.Name, description, snapshot.NumPackages()),
+			"label":     fmt.Sprintf("%sSnapshot %s|%s|pkgs: %d%s", labelStart,
+				snapshot.Name, description, snapshot.NumPackages(), labelEnd),
 		})
 
 		if snapshot.SourceKind == "repo" || snapshot.SourceKind == "local" || snapshot.SourceKind == "snapshot" {
@@ -102,8 +118,9 @@ func BuildGraph(collectionFactory *CollectionFactory) (gographviz.Interface, err
 			"shape":     "Mrecord",
 			"style":     "filled",
 			"fillcolor": "darkolivegreen1",
-			"label": fmt.Sprintf("{Published %s/%s|comp: %s|arch: %s}", repo.Prefix, repo.Distribution,
-				strings.Join(repo.Components(), " "), strings.Join(repo.Architectures, ", ")),
+			"label": fmt.Sprintf("%sPublished %s/%s|comp: %s|arch: %s%s", labelStart,
+				repo.Prefix, repo.Distribution, strings.Join(repo.Components(), " "),
+				strings.Join(repo.Architectures, ", "), labelEnd),
 		})
 
 		for _, uuid := range repo.Sources {
diff --git a/system/lib.py b/system/lib.py
index d0240f6a..928109f2 100644
--- a/system/lib.py
+++ b/system/lib.py
@@ -270,6 +270,14 @@ class BaseTest(object):
         if a != b:
             self.verify_match(a, b, match_prepare=pprint.pformat)
 
+    def check_ge(self, a, b):
+        if not a >= b:
+            raise Exception("%s is not greater or equal to %s" % (a, b))
+
+    def check_gt(self, a, b):
+        if not a > b:
+            raise Exception("%s is not greater to %s" % (a, b))
+
     def check_in(self, item, l):
         if not item in l:
             raise Exception("item %r not in %r", item, l)
diff --git a/system/t12_api/graph.py b/system/t12_api/graph.py
index bc024fc2..bf84ec4c 100644
--- a/system/t12_api/graph.py
+++ b/system/t12_api/graph.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from api_lib import APITest
+import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
 
 
 class GraphAPITest(APITest):
@@ -19,3 +20,28 @@ class GraphAPITest(APITest):
         resp = self.get("/api/graph.dot")
         self.check_equal(resp.headers["Content-Type"], "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
         self.check_equal(resp.content[:13], 'digraph aptly')
+
+        # basic test of layout:
+        #   horizontal should be wider than vertical
+        #   vertical should be higher than horizontal
+        # for this to work we need at couple of repos
+        tempRepos = [self.random_name() for r in range(3)]
+        for repo in tempRepos:
+            self.check_equal(self.post("/api/repos", json={"Name": repo, "Comment": "graph test repo"}).status_code, 201)
+
+        horizontal = self.get("/api/graph.svg?layout=horizontal").content
+        vertical = self.get("/api/graph.svg?layout=vertical").content
+        horizontalWidth = int(ET.fromstring(horizontal).get('width').replace("pt",""))
+        horizontalHeight = int(ET.fromstring(horizontal).get('height').replace("pt",""))
+        verticalWidth = int(ET.fromstring(vertical).get('width').replace("pt",""))
+        verticalHeight = int(ET.fromstring(vertical).get('height').replace("pt",""))
+
+        self.check_gt(horizontalWidth, verticalWidth)
+        self.check_gt(verticalHeight, horizontalHeight)
+
+        # make sure our default layout is horizontal
+        self.check_equal(horizontal, self.get("/api/graph.svg").content)
+
+        # remove the repos again
+        for repo in tempRepos:
+            self.check_equal(self.delete("/api/repos/" + repo, params={"force": "1"}).status_code, 200)