Maximizing and Restoring HTML Images with the Image Map Method

The phenomenon

Just as a quick review, in case you didn't read the earlier article, let me remind you of what we'll be trying to accomplish. Many web pages feature images that can be enlarged (maximized) and restored within the same page. There is normally a small clickable area on the image. When you click this area, the image is maximized. While the image is maximized, there is still a small clickable area on the image; if you click that area, the image is restored to its smaller size. This phenomenon is common in e-commerce or shopping websites.

You can get this effect by purchasing a program that will produce the image with the small clickable area. When this area is clicked, the image will maximize or restore itself; you do not need to know how the program was written, you just use it to produce an image with the maximization and restoration characteristics. Another way is to do it yourself, using JavaScript and CSS. That is what I want to show you in this article. I call the method, the Image Map Method.

You need to know the basics of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS in order to understand this method. I will use the image of a watch to explain the method. Two sizes of a watch are given below (Fig.1 & Fig.2). The small one is the watch at its normal size. The bigger one is the watch at the maximized size.

The small triangle with a black border at the bottom right of the normal-sized image is the clickable area used to maximize the image. The same small triangle (proportionally enlarged) at the bottom right of the maximized image is the clickable area used to restore the image.