The invention concerns a structure arrangement that includes surface regions having one or more structures having an optical-diffraction effect, in particular for visually identifiable, optical security elements for value-bearing documents, for example banknotes, credit cards, passes or check documents, or other items to be safeguarded; in order to make it more difficult to forge and in particular copy such a structure arrangement it is proposed in accordance with the invention that the structure arrangement is such that for the production of given items of optical information in given viewing directions in one or more of the surface regions (8, 30) of the structure arrangement there are provided sub-regions (10, 12, 14, 32, 34) with a structure (16, 18, 20; 36, 38) that is identical except for the structural parameter of optical depth and that the optical depth of the structure (16, 20; 36) is constant over the extent of a sub-region (10, 14; 32) but is different from the optical depth of the structure (18; 38) of another sub-region (12; 34).