Finding a high-quality, inexpensive image map editor isn't as easy as it used to be. These days it's hard to find a standalone map editor that is still supported by its developers. Most map editors have been integrated into web development suites like HotDog and Allaire HomeSite. Even Map This! — a freeware image map editor that has long been recognized as the best in its class — appears to have been abandoned by its developers.
Thankfully, there's at least one developer who has made a commitment to supporting the web development community with an up-to-date standalone image map editor. GlobalScape, the same company that produces CuteFTP, offers a fairly basic image map editor called CuteMAP that will more than likely be able to produce the results you're looking for.
CuteMAP Features
The $19.95 CuteMAP allows you to easily create clickable images for web sites. Features include a dual pane window with the image in one pane and the map HTML code in another, an option to save image maps as HTML or copy the map code directly into an existing web page, multiple tool shapes (rectangle, circle, and polygon shapes with draggable handles), customizable one-click browser testing, the ability to add MouseOver scripting and ALT text to the map, zoom in/zoom out (25% to 800%), and support for all standard web graphic formats, including JPG, GIF, and PNG.
If you ever need to design a clickable image map and are looking for one with more features than the freeware Map This! offers, CuteMAP should suffice. Our only reservation with the client is that the $19.95 price tag seems a bit high considering the limited functionality provided by CuteMAP; we can't see too many users willing to pay more than $9.95.
Pros: Easy to use, option for having image map code copied directly to a Web page
Cons: Freeware Map This! offers many of the same features and functionality
