Matching pursuit (MP) is a multiresolution signal analysis method and can be used to render a selected region of an image with a specific quality. A novel, scalable, and progressive MP-based region-of-interest image-coding scheme is presented. The method is capable of providing a trade off between rate, distortion, and complexity. The method also provides an interactive way of information refinement for regions of an image with higher receiver's priority. By selecting a proper subset of the huge initial MP dictionary, using the method described in this paper, the complexity burden of MP analysis can be adapted to the computational power of the image encoder.