DETERMINIG YOUR COORDINATES

 Client – side image maps consist of two parts; the first is the image used for the image map. The second is the set of HTML tags used to define the regions fop the image map that serve as links. To define these tags, you must determine the exact coordinates on your image that define the regions you’ll use as links.

Your can determine these coordinates either by sketching regions and manually noting the coordinates ro by using an image ma creation program. The latter method is easierbecasue the program automatically generates a map file based on the regions you draw with the mouse.

The map edit program for windows, Linux, and Mac so can help you create client side image maps. (See a appendix A, “sources for Further Information,” for a full list of related FTP sites.) In addition, many of the latest WYSIWYG editors for HTML pages and web graphics enable you to generate image as. Table 7.1 lists the current tools for generating image maps.

TABLE 7.1 IMAGEMAP CREATION SOFTWARE

Name	Platform	URL
Amatol	Linux /X window system	http: //www.sspitzer.org/-imaptool/
Map edit	Windows /UNIX /Mac	http: // ww.boutell.com /_map edit/
Poor person’s	Web-based	http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/clrhlpr/imagemap.html.

If you must create your image maps by hand, here’s how. First, make a sketch of the regions that will be active on your image. Figure 7.20 shows the three types of shapes that you can specify in an image map: circles, rectangles, and polygons.

FIGURE 7.20 three are three types of shapes available for creating image maps.

You text next need to determine the coordinates for the endpoints for those regions. Most image – editing programs have an option that displays the coordinates of the current mouse position.      Use this feature to note the appropriate coordinates. (All the mapping programs mentioned previously will create a map file for you, but for now, following the steps manually will help you better understand the processes involved.)