Creating SVG for use as mx annotation overlays

Before you can annotate images in mx, you need to draw the annotation in image illustration software. For our purposes we are using Inkscape (freeware available here: http://www.inkscape.org/) or Adobe Illustrator, but any such vector-based program with capabilities to save as an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) file should work.

For either application, the original image must be saved (either directly by the user from, for example, a microscope-captured image or off of an image database such as MorphBank: http://www.morphbank.net/); it is a good idea to record the actual dimensions of the image (which can be found by right-clicking the file and viewing the 'Properties > Details') especially when using Illustrator (as Illustrator tends to re-size the image when imported). The basic idea will be that if you zero the image as a base layer in illustration software and draw an overlay highlighting the structure, then the SVG code will be translated as that exact overlay in mx.