Template:Annotated image/doc

This template allows the addition of explanatory notes to images in the form of actual text (which can also contain links), which is usually more legible than text built into the image – especially if the image is reduced to thumbnail size.

Other uses include cropping an image to exclude unimportant parts and perhaps enlarge important parts, and internationalisation, as the annotations can be changed without changing the image.

Usage

Use of image-left, image-top, image-width, width and height

Cropped Mona Lisa

All parameters have names – there are no nameless "numbered" parameters.

Two of the parameters, image and imagemap, are mutually exclusive – use one of them but not both.

In most cases you will need only the required parameters – the rest are there in case you want additional formatting options.

Name	Allowed values	Default value	Function & notes
caption	wikitext	(required)	Caption of the image, goes in the usual place for image captions.
alt	text	empty	Alt text of image, for readers who cannot see it.
image	valid image file name; Scalable Vector Graphic images are allowed	(see note)	You must specify image or imagemap but not both.
imagemap	valid (X)HTML imagemap	(see note)	You must specify image or imagemap but not both.
width	positive integer	(optional)	Total width (in pixels) of the box containing the image and annotations. Must be at least as large as the image's displayed width (which you can set by using image-width).
height	positive integer	(optional)	Total height (in pixels) of the box containing the image and annotations. Must be at least as large as the image's displayed height. If you change the displayed width of the image by specifying image-width, you will have to work out the image's displayed height and then add any "margins" you need for annotations.
image-left	integer	(optional; defaults to 0)	X-coordinate of the image's top left corner (in pixels), relative to the top left corner of the box containing the image and annotations. Negative values crop the image.
image-top	integer	(optional; defaults to 0)	Y-coordinate of the image's top left corner (in pixels), relative to the top left corner of the box containing the image and annotations. Negative values crop the image.
image-width	positive integer	(required)	Width of the image (in pixels).
annotations	required	may be left empty (annotations=) if you simply want to crop an image	Annotations for the image.
float	right left none	right	Makes the template's output float to the right or left of the text..
outer-css	any valid CSS	(optional, no default value)	Additional CSS for the outermost box. Cannot over-ride any other parameters that you specify for the outer box. It is best to use this only as a last resort.
image-bg-color	any valid CSS color	white	Background of the box in which the image is displayed. You might want to set a dark background if the image is dark and you want to use a light color for the annotations.
image-css	any valid CSS	(optional, no default value)	Additional CSS for the image (or rather, the invisible box that contains it). Cannot over-ride any other parameters that you specify for the image's box. It is best to use this only as a last resort.
annot-text-align	left right center	left	Sets a default text-alignment for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-background-color	any valid CSS color	transparent	Sets a default background-color for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-font-family	any valid CSS font-family	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default font-family for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-font-size	positive integer	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default font-size (in pixels) for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-font-weight	any valid CSS font-weight	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default font-weight for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-font-style	any valid CSS font-style (e.g. italic)	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default font-style for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-line-height	any valid CSS line-height	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default line-height (line spacing) for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish. Only useful for multi-line annotations.
annot-font-family	any valid CSS font-family	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default font-family for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.
annot-color	any valid CSS color	(optional, no default value)	Sets a default color for all the contained annotations. You can over-ride this for individual annotations if you wish.

Pitfall

There is one pitfall, although it is mainly about using one browser in the correct way (Microsoft Internet Explorer, of course). Internet Explorer has two ways of scaling-up text to ease readability:

• Text resizing, which appears in Internet Explorer's View menu, affects text but not images. This method can disrupt annotated images, as the text is scaled up but the image content and frame are not. Firefox and Opera do not use this mechanism.
• Zoom also scales the image as well as text annotations, and thus does not disrupt the relative sizes and locations of annotations in annotated images. Netscape and its Mozilla derivatives, Firefox and Opera have had zoom for years, and it is more useful, as it also scales text implemented as part of an image, e.g., as in the Wikipedia logo. The zoom control sequences (CTRL + to increase, CTRL - to decrease) are the same in Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer. In Firefox and Opera, there also menu items for zoom, which show the control sequences. In Internet Explorer 7 only text resizing appears in the menu; in order to learn zoom, users must look up some external source.