Creating Custom Pushpins for MapPoint, Streets & Trips, and AutoRoute

Related Links • Use Pushpins

Applies to:
Microsoft MapPoint® 2006 Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 Microsoft AutoRoute™ 2005

Chances are that if you are a MapPoint 2006 user, you take pride in producing maps and communicating business information in a visually appealing way. You probably already use many of the 336 Pushpins that are included with MapPoint to mark addresses or places on your maps. The default MapPoint 2006 Pushpin collection includes a wide variety of colors and styles to suit most uses. However, at times you may want to use a larger Pushpin or a Pushpin with a unique graphic. Perhaps you want to create a map with special Pushpins to indicate all of the retailers that carry your products, or a map with a large graphic indicating the location of a holiday party or special event.

Creating a Custom Pushpin

Creating a custom Pushpin requires a little creativity and your favorite graphics editing program, such as Microsoft Paint, which is included with Microsoft Windows® operating systems. After you create a symbol in a graphics editing program, you can import it into MapPoint for use as a custom Pushpin.

To create graphics that work well as custom Pushpins in MapPoint 2006, your graphic files must meet MapPoint requirements for size, file format, and color palette. In some cases, you may also want to use transparency to get the effect you want.

Choose the Best Size
A Pushpin graphic can range in size from a tiny 1 pixel × 1 pixel to a sizable 128 pixels × 128 pixels. (For comparison purposes, default Pushpins in MapPoint are 16 pixels × 16 pixels, and standard Windows icons are 32 pixels × 32 pixels.) However, Pushpin graphics do not have to be square; they can also be rectangular, for example 30 pixels × 10 pixels. Although Pushpin graphics are measured as rectangles, such as 20 pixels × 20 pixels, the images can appear to have irregular edges if you use transparency to make the background map visible. For more information, see "Plan Transparent Areas" later in this article.

Keep the following considerations in mind when deciding on the size for your custom symbol:

1.	Map scale. Custom Pushpins always remain the same size on the map. If you zoom in to view a map at its greatest level of detail, the Pushpin will be the same size as it is when you zoom out to view the map at its lowest level of detail.
2.	Number of Pushpins on the map. If you plan to use your custom Pushpin on a map that contains many Pushpins, keep your graphic fairly small — perhaps 20 pixels × 20 pixels — so that the map doesn't appear crowded.
3.	Multiple versions of the same Pushpin. You may want to create the same custom Pushpin in different sizes. For example, if you are producing a map that has only one Pushpin, you can use a larger version of the custom Pushpin, and if you are producing a map that has many Pushpins, you can use a smaller version of the same Pushpin.

Choose the Right File Format
You can create Pushpin graphics in any of the following file formats:

1.	Uncompressed Windows bitmap (.bmp) with a 2-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, or 24-bit color depth. Windows bitmap files are perhaps the easiest file format to use, because you can easily create them in Microsoft Paint.
2.	Windows icon (.ico) resource with a 2-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, or 24-bit color depth.
3.	Windows cursor (.cur) with a 2-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, or 24-bit color depth. One advantage of using .cur files is that you can define a hot spot in a .cur file that aligns with the location on the map. For example, if you want to create a Pushpin symbol that looks like the point of a pin is stuck in the location on the map, you can define the hotspot to be at the point of the pin, probably in the corner of the image. The greatest advantage of using a .cur file with a hot spot defined is that the hot spot automatically aligns with the point of interest on the map. For example, if your graphic file includes an arrow you can define the arrow point as a hot spot, which automatically aligns the arrow point with the location you want to highlight on the map. If you don't use a .cur file, to accomplish the same thing you would have to create an oversized bitmap with the point of the arrow in the exact center of the image. Note: Custom cursor files can be created with programs such as Axialis AX Cursor.

Stay Within the Color Palette
In order for your custom Pushpins to look great wherever they are used in MapPoint 2006, they must use only the colors from the palette described in the following table. The RGB color column indicates the red-green-blue color values that can be used in Microsoft Paint to specify the color. The Hexadecimal value column indicates the hexadecimal color values that can be used in other graphics programs to specify the color.

Color	RGB Color	HEX Color
	0, 0, 0	000000
	51, 51, 51	333333
	128, 128, 128	808080
	150, 150, 150	969696
	192, 192, 192	C0C0C0
	128, 0, 128	800080
	153, 51, 102	993366
	204, 153, 255	CC99FF
	102, 102, 153	666699
	51, 51, 0	333300
	128, 128, 0	808000
	0, 0, 128	000080
	0, 51, 102	003366
	51, 51, 153	333399
	0, 0, 255	0000FF
	51, 102, 255	3366FF
	0, 204, 255	00CCFF
	51, 204, 204	33CCCC
	0, 255, 255	00FFFF
	153, 204, 255	99CCFF
	204, 255, 255	CCFFFF
	0, 51, 0	003300
	0, 128, 128	008080
	51, 153, 102	339966
	0, 128, 0	008000
	87, 146, 5	579205
	121, 168, 56	79A838
	155, 190, 106	9BBE6A
	153, 204, 0	99CC00
	0, 255, 0	00FF00
	189, 212, 156	BDD49C
	204, 255, 204	CCFFCC
	128, 0, 0	800000
	153, 51, 0	993300
	255, 0, 0	FF0000
	255, 0, 255	FF00FF
	255, 153, 204	FF99CC
	255, 102, 0	FF6600
	255, 153, 0	FF9900
	255, 204, 0	FFCC00
	255, 204, 153	FFCC99
	255, 255, 0	FFFF00
	255, 255, 153	FFFF99
	251, 251, 171	FBFBAB
	255, 255, 255	FFFFFF

You can use colors that are not in this palette. However, if you do, MapPoint will substitute a color that is within the palette, which may cause unintended results.

Plan Transparent Areas
Sometimes you may want to create a custom Pushpin from a graphic that is not square or rectangular. For example, this Shop Pushpin has irregular outside edges. You can get the look you want by using transparency in the image.

By default, the color used in the upper-left pixel of the image determines the color that will be made transparent when the Pushpin is used on a map. Because the color of the upper-left pixel is made transparent wherever that color appears in the graphic, consider using a specific color for the areas you want to make transparent. For example, when you use white edges for the Shop image and white in the Shop sign and windows, the sign and the windows are also transparent. The result is less than optimal because the map shows through wherever there is white in the image.

To fix this problem, you can modify the image to use a unique color like bright green everywhere you want the image to be transparent, such as around the edges. As a result, only the edges of the image are transparent, creating the right look.

Take Advantage of the MapPoint Tools
MapPoint 2006 includes three tools that you can use when creating a graphic file to use as a custom Pushpin:

1.	Sample Pushpin graphic. The airport symbol is a bitmap file that is stored on your hard disk after you install MapPoint at C:\Program Files\Microsoft MapPoint\Samples\CAirport.bmp (if you installed MapPoint in a different location, the airport symbol will be located there instead). You can use this file to practice creating your own graphic file, or to practice importing and then using custom Pushpins. Note: This graphic file is installed with MapPoint 2006 (not Streets & Trips 2005 or AutoRoute 2005).
2.	Palette graphic. The palette graphic is a bitmap file that is stored on your hard disk after you install MapPoint at C:\Program Files\Microsoft MapPoint\Samples\Color sample.bmp (if you installed MapPoint in a different location, the palette graphic will be located there instead). This graphic shows all of the colors in the MapPoint palette, with some examples of sizes you can use.
3.	Palette file. Some graphics editing programs use palette files to define the colors that can be used in a graphic file. MapPoint 2006 includes a palette file that is located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft MapPoint\Samples\Color table.pal (if you installed MapPoint in a different location, the palette file will be located there instead). You can use this palette file in programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Jasc Software PaintShop Pro to define the colors that you can use automatically.

Using Custom Pushpins

After you create an image that meets the MapPoint size, file format, and color requirements and has the transparency you want, you can use it as a custom Pushpin in MapPoint 2006.

Import a Graphic

You can easily import a graphic file to use as a custom Pushpin by following the steps in this section.

To import a graphic file

1.	On the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow next to Create Pushpin. Note: Look for the Drawing toolbar on the bottom of the MapPoint 2006 window. If the Drawing toolbar is not visible, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Drawing.
2.	Click Import Custom Symbol. Note: You may have to scroll up to see this button.
3.	In the Look in box, type or select the name of the folder that contains your custom symbol.
4.	Click the custom symbol file name in the list, and then click Open. Your custom symbol is imported into MapPoint and added to the list of available symbols. You can use it just as you would any standard Pushpin symbol.
5.	Click the custom Pushpin symbol to insert it into your map.

Change Transparency Options
Sometimes you might not want any of the underlying map to appear beneath your custom Pushpin image, or you might want to add transparency to a custom Pushpin symbol.

To set transparency options

1.	On the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow next to Create Pushpin.
2.	Right-click the custom symbol for which you want to change the transparency.
3.	Click Transparency to change the transparency.

Delete a Custom Pushpin
If you want to delete a custom Pushpin, it is easy to do.

To delete a custom Pushpin

1.	On the Drawing toolbar, click the arrow next to Create Pushpin.
2.	Right-click the custom symbol you want to delete.
3.	Click Delete. Note: If you delete a custom symbol that is in use on your map, the symbol is replaced with the standard black Pushpin symbol.