Index

Interactive Images

Image maps, rollovers and Navigation bars are examples of interactive images. An image map is a picture with 'hotspots' on it. A hot spot is an area of the picture which is hyperlinked to another page. for example, a map of Australia might have hotspots defined for each state, so that clicking on the NSW section of the map opens a new page with a more detailed view of NSW.

To create an image map:

  1. In the Document window, select the image.
  2. In the Property inspector, click the expander arrow in the lower right corner to see all properties.
  3. In the Map Name text box, enter a unique name for the image map.

    Note: If you are using multiple image maps in the same document, make sure each map has a unique name.

  4. To define the image map areas, do one of the following:
    • Select the circle tool and drag the pointer over the image to create a circular hotspot.
    • Select the rectangle tool and drag the pointer over the image to create a rectangular hotspot.
    • Select the polygon tool and define an irregularly shaped hotspot by clicking once for each corner point. Click the arrow tool to close the shape.

    After you create the hotspot, the hotspot Property inspector appears.

  5. Complete the hotspot Property inspector. (See below)
  6. When you finish mapping the image, click a blank area in the document to change the Property inspector.

To set the options for the hotspot Property inspector:

 

 

  1. In the hotspot Property inspector’s Link text box, click the folder icon to browse to and select the file you want to open when the user clicks the hotspot, or type the URL.

     

  2. In the Target pop-up menu, select the window in which the file should open in the Target text box.

    The names of all the frames you’ve named in the current document appear in the pop-up list. If you specify a frame that doesn’t exist, when the document opens in a browser, the linked page loads into a new window that has the name you specified. You can also select from the following reserved target names:

    3.  

    • _blank loads the linked file into a new, unnamed browser window.
    • _parent loads the linked file into the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the frame containing the link is not nested, the linked file loads into the full browser window.
    • _self loads the linked file into the same frame or window as the link. This target is the default, so you usually don’t need to specify it.
    • _top loads the linked file into the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.

    Note: The target option isn’t available until the selected hotspot contains a link.

     

  3. In the Alt text box, type the text you want to appear as alternative text in text-only browsers or for browsers that have been set to download images manually.

    Some browsers display this text as a tooltip when the user pauses the mouse pointer over the hotspot.