The Skinny on Image Hotspots
By Sandra Schloen, June 2013
You can add interactive hotspots to any OCHRE image resource by selecting the image in the navigation pane and clicking its Image Tools tab. Hotspots can be drawn on either the low-resolution thumbnail or the high-resolution image; they will be scaled appropriately, as necessary.
A hotspot generates a reverse link automatically. For example, if an excavation locus is hotspotted in a resource and that locus item is associated with that hotspot, a reverse link to the resource hotspot will be available on the Associated Links pane of the View mode of that locus.
A hotspot will be linked to the currently selected item in the Linked Items reference pane. But note that each item's hotspot can consist of multiple shapes -- points, lines, or polygons. To ensure that the correct item is assigned as the link target for the correct shapes, follow the rhythm of data entry outlined below.
Select from the Linked Items pane the item to be used as the hotspot link target.
Click the default pointer -- the leftmost icon on the edit toolbar. This step is important to trigger the beginning of a new hotspot.
Select the drawing tool: point, rectangle, rounded-rectangle, ellipse/circle, polygon or text.
Draw the hotspot. Click to establish the point or text hotspot; click-then-drag to define a rectangular or elliptical hotspot; click successively to outline a polygon, double-clicking to close. When complete, the target item will display in the item-link pane ("L08-3023" below).
Save. Repeat as necessary for additional hotspots.
When you are finished drawing your hotspots it is a good idea to review the result. Always be sure to Save, then Refresh the image and click its View tab. The item will be presented with the hotspots displayed according to the current view settings.
Managing hotspot toolbars
Sometimes you may find yourself working on a laptop, for example, with little screen real-estate to spare. The wide hotspot toolbars might not fit.There are several way you can customize your work area.
Use the detach-as-windows button to remove the Tool Manager (Linked Items and Query Results) from the right-hand-panel and cause it to float as a window on top of the workspace. This will provide more room horizontally while keeping the Linked Items pane handy for reference.
Grab the leftmost control of the edit, view or navigation hotspot toolbars to detach them from the menu pane and cause them to float. They can then be positioned anywhere convenient. To pin them back onto the menu pane simply click the x-close button at the right-most end of the toolbar.
Hotspot tools worthy of special note
Guidelines button: Click to turn on the blue, dotted, evenly-spaced (at 10 pixels) guidelines.
Lookup button: You may need to redraw a hotspot or assign a different item as the target for a hotspot. In these cases, the lookup button can be used to "go to" the location of the current link target in the context of the reference pane. That is, in the example below, the current link target is "L08-3023." Clicking the lookup button will navigate to that item in the Linked Items pane. That item is now the currently selected item and is ready to be used as the link target for a new hotspot.
Uses of image hotspots
There are many uses for hotspotting images, limited only by your imagination. Since any OCHRE item can be the target of any link, a hotpot link can reference any type of OCHRE item.
Hotspots identify "signs"
Here, for example, hotspot links on a cuneiform tablet link to the signs in a Writing System that identity the wedges inscribed thereupon.
Hotspots identify "persons"
In this example, hotspots link to person-items, identifying the participants of an archaeological expedition in an end-of-season group photo.
Hotspots identify "locations"
On this field photograph, hotspots link to each exposed locus of excavation, thereby identifying the relevant aspects of this image.
Hotspots identify "objects"
This collection of pottery is identified by image hotpots that link to the specific description of each item.