Step 1

MapThis runs under Win32. To create a new imagemap, just start the program and select File New. When you see this screen, press the button marked 'Let's go find one' and open your GIF file.

Step 2

This is our test image, opened in MapThis. You can zoom in by clicking on the appropriate button, or put a grid over the top of the image to make it easier to line up your hot spots.

Step 3

To add a hot spot, just select the type from the button bar, click and drag to create it. When you let go of the mouse button, you'll see this screen appear, and you can fill in the details of what's supposed to happen when people click. If you want to adjust the co-ordinates, you can drag the edges of the shape later.

Step 4

Select the Map Info button and you'll see this dialogue box, which allows you to specify the default action if none of the hot spots are clicked, and to say whether you want an imagemap in NCSA or CERN format.

Step 5

The area list allows you to see which areas you've defined and to move them up and down the list. In our example, areas A must come first, otherwise it will be 'lost' in area C and readers won't be able to select it.

Step 6

This is the resulting map file, opened with Notepad. All you have to do now is copy it to your web server.