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IntroductionOverlays are objects on the map that are tied to latitude/longitude coordinates, so they move when you drag or zoom the map. For information on predefined overlay types, see Drawing on the map.
The Maps JavaScript API provides an OverlayView
class for creating your own custom overlays. The OverlayView
is a base class that provides several methods you must implement when creating your overlays. The class also provides a few methods that make it possible to translate between screen coordinates and locations on the map.
Here is a summary of the steps required to create a custom overlay:
prototype
to a new instance of google.maps.OverlayView()
. In effect, this will subclass the overlay class.onAdd()
method within your prototype, and attach the overlay to the map. OverlayView.onAdd()
will be called when the map is ready for the overlay to be attached.draw()
method within your prototype, and handle the visual display of your object. OverlayView.draw()
will be called when the object is first displayed.onRemove()
method to clean up any elements you added within the overlay.Below are more details on each step. You can see the full, working example code: view example code.
Subclass the overlayThe example below uses OverlayView
to create a simple image overlay.
Now we create a constructor for the USGSOverlay
class, and initialize the passed parameters as properties of the new object.
/** * The custom USGSOverlay object contains the USGS image, * the bounds of the image, and a reference to the map. */ class USGSOverlay extends google.maps.OverlayView { private bounds: google.maps.LatLngBounds; private image: string; private div?: HTMLElement; constructor(bounds: google.maps.LatLngBounds, image: string) { super(); this.bounds = bounds; this.image = image; }Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
/** * The custom USGSOverlay object contains the USGS image, * the bounds of the image, and a reference to the map. */ class USGSOverlay extends google.maps.OverlayView { bounds; image; div; constructor(bounds, image) { super(); this.bounds = bounds; this.image = image; }
We can't yet attach this overlay to the map in the overlay's constructor. First, we need to ensure that all of the map's panes are available, because they specify the order in which objects are displayed on a map. The API provides a helper method indicating this has occurred. We'll handle that method in the next section.
Initialize the overlayWhen the overlay is first instantiated and ready to display, we need to attach it to the map via the browser's DOM. The API indicates that the overlay has been added to the map by invoking the overlay's onAdd()
method. To handle this method we create a <div>
to hold our image, add an <img>
element, attach it to the <div>
, and then attach the overlay to one of the map's panes. A pane is a node within the DOM tree.
The panes, of type MapPanes
, specify the stacking order for different layers on the map. The following panes are available, and are enumerated in the order in which they are stacked from bottom to top:
mapPane
is the lowest pane and is above the tiles. It may not receive DOM events. (Pane 0).overlayLayer
contains polylines, polygons, ground overlays and tile layer overlays. It may not receive DOM events. (Pane 1).markerLayer
contains markers. It may not receive DOM events. (Pane 2).overlayMouseTarget
contains elements that receive DOM events. (Pane 3).floatPane
contains the info window. It is above all map overlays. (Pane 4).Because our image is a "ground overlay," we'll use the overlayLayer
pane. When we have that pane, we'll attach our object to it as a child.
/** * onAdd is called when the map's panes are ready and the overlay has been * added to the map. */ onAdd() { this.div = document.createElement("div"); this.div.style.borderStyle = "none"; this.div.style.borderWidth = "0px"; this.div.style.position = "absolute"; // Create the img element and attach it to the div. const img = document.createElement("img"); img.src = this.image; img.style.width = "100%"; img.style.height = "100%"; img.style.position = "absolute"; this.div.appendChild(img); // Add the element to the "overlayLayer" pane. const panes = this.getPanes()!; panes.overlayLayer.appendChild(this.div); }Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
/** * onAdd is called when the map's panes are ready and the overlay has been * added to the map. */ onAdd() { this.div = document.createElement("div"); this.div.style.borderStyle = "none"; this.div.style.borderWidth = "0px"; this.div.style.position = "absolute"; // Create the img element and attach it to the div. const img = document.createElement("img"); img.src = this.image; img.style.width = "100%"; img.style.height = "100%"; img.style.position = "absolute"; this.div.appendChild(img); // Add the element to the "overlayLayer" pane. const panes = this.getPanes(); panes.overlayLayer.appendChild(this.div); }Draw the overlay
Note that we haven't invoked any special visual display in the code above. The API invokes a separate draw()
method on the overlay whenever it needs to draw the overlay on the map, including when first added.
We'll therefore implement this draw()
method, retrieve the overlay's MapCanvasProjection
using getProjection()
and calculate the exact coordinates at which to anchor the object's top right and bottom left points. Then we can resize the <div>
. In turn this will resize the image to match the bounds we specified in the overlay's constructor.
draw() { // We use the south-west and north-east // coordinates of the overlay to peg it to the correct position and size. // To do this, we need to retrieve the projection from the overlay. const overlayProjection = this.getProjection(); // Retrieve the south-west and north-east coordinates of this overlay // in LatLngs and convert them to pixel coordinates. // We'll use these coordinates to resize the div. const sw = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getSouthWest() )!; const ne = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getNorthEast() )!; // Resize the image's div to fit the indicated dimensions. if (this.div) { this.div.style.left = sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.top = ne.y + "px"; this.div.style.width = ne.x - sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.height = sw.y - ne.y + "px"; } }Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
draw() { // We use the south-west and north-east // coordinates of the overlay to peg it to the correct position and size. // To do this, we need to retrieve the projection from the overlay. const overlayProjection = this.getProjection(); // Retrieve the south-west and north-east coordinates of this overlay // in LatLngs and convert them to pixel coordinates. // We'll use these coordinates to resize the div. const sw = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getSouthWest(), ); const ne = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getNorthEast(), ); // Resize the image's div to fit the indicated dimensions. if (this.div) { this.div.style.left = sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.top = ne.y + "px"; this.div.style.width = ne.x - sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.height = sw.y - ne.y + "px"; } }Remove a custom overlay
We also add an onRemove()
method to cleanly remove the overlay from the map.
/** * The onRemove() method will be called automatically from the API if * we ever set the overlay's map property to 'null'. */ onRemove() { if (this.div) { (this.div.parentNode as HTMLElement).removeChild(this.div); delete this.div; } }Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
/** * The onRemove() method will be called automatically from the API if * we ever set the overlay's map property to 'null'. */ onRemove() { if (this.div) { this.div.parentNode.removeChild(this.div); delete this.div; } }Hide and show a custom overlay
If you wish to hide or show an overlay rather than simply create or remove it, you can implement your own hide()
and show()
methods to adjust the overlay's visibility. Alternatively, you can detach the overlay from the map's DOM, though this operation is slightly more expensive. Note that if you then reattach the overlay to the map's DOM, it will re-invoke the overlay's onAdd()
method.
The following example adds hide()
and show()
methods to the overlay's prototype which toggle the visibility of the container <div>
. Additionally, we add a toggleDOM()
method, which attaches or detaches the overlay to/from the map.
/** * Set the visibility to 'hidden' or 'visible'. */ hide() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "hidden"; } } show() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "visible"; } } toggle() { if (this.div) { if (this.div.style.visibility === "hidden") { this.show(); } else { this.hide(); } } } toggleDOM(map: google.maps.Map) { if (this.getMap()) { this.setMap(null); } else { this.setMap(map); } }Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
/** * Set the visibility to 'hidden' or 'visible'. */ hide() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "hidden"; } } show() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "visible"; } } toggle() { if (this.div) { if (this.div.style.visibility === "hidden") { this.show(); } else { this.hide(); } } } toggleDOM(map) { if (this.getMap()) { this.setMap(null); } else { this.setMap(map); } }Add button controls
To trigger the toggle
and toggleDom
methods, button controls are added to the map.
const toggleButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleButton.textContent = "Toggle"; toggleButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); const toggleDOMButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleDOMButton.textContent = "Toggle DOM Attachment"; toggleDOMButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); toggleButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggle(); }); toggleDOMButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggleDOM(map); }); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleDOMButton); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleButton);Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
const toggleButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleButton.textContent = "Toggle"; toggleButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); const toggleDOMButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleDOMButton.textContent = "Toggle DOM Attachment"; toggleDOMButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); toggleButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggle(); }); toggleDOMButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggleDOM(map); }); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleDOMButton); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleButton);Complete sample code
The complete sample code is below:
TypeScript// This example adds hide() and show() methods to a custom overlay's prototype. // These methods toggle the visibility of the container <div>. // overlay to or from the map. function initMap(): void { const map = new google.maps.Map( document.getElementById("map") as HTMLElement, { zoom: 11, center: { lat: 62.323907, lng: -150.109291 }, mapTypeId: "satellite", } ); const bounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds( new google.maps.LatLng(62.281819, -150.287132), new google.maps.LatLng(62.400471, -150.005608) ); // The photograph is courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. let image = "https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/"; image += "examples/full/images/talkeetna.png"; /** * The custom USGSOverlay object contains the USGS image, * the bounds of the image, and a reference to the map. */ class USGSOverlay extends google.maps.OverlayView { private bounds: google.maps.LatLngBounds; private image: string; private div?: HTMLElement; constructor(bounds: google.maps.LatLngBounds, image: string) { super(); this.bounds = bounds; this.image = image; } /** * onAdd is called when the map's panes are ready and the overlay has been * added to the map. */ onAdd() { this.div = document.createElement("div"); this.div.style.borderStyle = "none"; this.div.style.borderWidth = "0px"; this.div.style.position = "absolute"; // Create the img element and attach it to the div. const img = document.createElement("img"); img.src = this.image; img.style.width = "100%"; img.style.height = "100%"; img.style.position = "absolute"; this.div.appendChild(img); // Add the element to the "overlayLayer" pane. const panes = this.getPanes()!; panes.overlayLayer.appendChild(this.div); } draw() { // We use the south-west and north-east // coordinates of the overlay to peg it to the correct position and size. // To do this, we need to retrieve the projection from the overlay. const overlayProjection = this.getProjection(); // Retrieve the south-west and north-east coordinates of this overlay // in LatLngs and convert them to pixel coordinates. // We'll use these coordinates to resize the div. const sw = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getSouthWest() )!; const ne = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getNorthEast() )!; // Resize the image's div to fit the indicated dimensions. if (this.div) { this.div.style.left = sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.top = ne.y + "px"; this.div.style.width = ne.x - sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.height = sw.y - ne.y + "px"; } } /** * The onRemove() method will be called automatically from the API if * we ever set the overlay's map property to 'null'. */ onRemove() { if (this.div) { (this.div.parentNode as HTMLElement).removeChild(this.div); delete this.div; } } /** * Set the visibility to 'hidden' or 'visible'. */ hide() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "hidden"; } } show() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "visible"; } } toggle() { if (this.div) { if (this.div.style.visibility === "hidden") { this.show(); } else { this.hide(); } } } toggleDOM(map: google.maps.Map) { if (this.getMap()) { this.setMap(null); } else { this.setMap(map); } } } const overlay: USGSOverlay = new USGSOverlay(bounds, image); overlay.setMap(map); const toggleButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleButton.textContent = "Toggle"; toggleButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); const toggleDOMButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleDOMButton.textContent = "Toggle DOM Attachment"; toggleDOMButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); toggleButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggle(); }); toggleDOMButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggleDOM(map); }); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleDOMButton); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleButton); } declare global { interface Window { initMap: () => void; } } window.initMap = initMap;Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps. JavaScript
// This example adds hide() and show() methods to a custom overlay's prototype. // These methods toggle the visibility of the container <div>. // overlay to or from the map. function initMap() { const map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"), { zoom: 11, center: { lat: 62.323907, lng: -150.109291 }, mapTypeId: "satellite", }); const bounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds( new google.maps.LatLng(62.281819, -150.287132), new google.maps.LatLng(62.400471, -150.005608), ); // The photograph is courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. let image = "https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/"; image += "examples/full/images/talkeetna.png"; /** * The custom USGSOverlay object contains the USGS image, * the bounds of the image, and a reference to the map. */ class USGSOverlay extends google.maps.OverlayView { bounds; image; div; constructor(bounds, image) { super(); this.bounds = bounds; this.image = image; } /** * onAdd is called when the map's panes are ready and the overlay has been * added to the map. */ onAdd() { this.div = document.createElement("div"); this.div.style.borderStyle = "none"; this.div.style.borderWidth = "0px"; this.div.style.position = "absolute"; // Create the img element and attach it to the div. const img = document.createElement("img"); img.src = this.image; img.style.width = "100%"; img.style.height = "100%"; img.style.position = "absolute"; this.div.appendChild(img); // Add the element to the "overlayLayer" pane. const panes = this.getPanes(); panes.overlayLayer.appendChild(this.div); } draw() { // We use the south-west and north-east // coordinates of the overlay to peg it to the correct position and size. // To do this, we need to retrieve the projection from the overlay. const overlayProjection = this.getProjection(); // Retrieve the south-west and north-east coordinates of this overlay // in LatLngs and convert them to pixel coordinates. // We'll use these coordinates to resize the div. const sw = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getSouthWest(), ); const ne = overlayProjection.fromLatLngToDivPixel( this.bounds.getNorthEast(), ); // Resize the image's div to fit the indicated dimensions. if (this.div) { this.div.style.left = sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.top = ne.y + "px"; this.div.style.width = ne.x - sw.x + "px"; this.div.style.height = sw.y - ne.y + "px"; } } /** * The onRemove() method will be called automatically from the API if * we ever set the overlay's map property to 'null'. */ onRemove() { if (this.div) { this.div.parentNode.removeChild(this.div); delete this.div; } } /** * Set the visibility to 'hidden' or 'visible'. */ hide() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "hidden"; } } show() { if (this.div) { this.div.style.visibility = "visible"; } } toggle() { if (this.div) { if (this.div.style.visibility === "hidden") { this.show(); } else { this.hide(); } } } toggleDOM(map) { if (this.getMap()) { this.setMap(null); } else { this.setMap(map); } } } const overlay = new USGSOverlay(bounds, image); overlay.setMap(map); const toggleButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleButton.textContent = "Toggle"; toggleButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); const toggleDOMButton = document.createElement("button"); toggleDOMButton.textContent = "Toggle DOM Attachment"; toggleDOMButton.classList.add("custom-map-control-button"); toggleButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggle(); }); toggleDOMButton.addEventListener("click", () => { overlay.toggleDOM(map); }); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleDOMButton); map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_RIGHT].push(toggleButton); } window.initMap = initMap;Note: The JavaScript is compiled from the TypeScript snippet. CSS
/* * Always set the map height explicitly to define the size of the div element * that contains the map. */ #map { height: 100%; } /* * Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. */ html, body { height: 100%; margin: 0; padding: 0; } .custom-map-control-button { background-color: #fff; border: 0; border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0 1px 4px -1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); margin: 10px; padding: 0 0.5em; font: 400 18px Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; overflow: hidden; height: 40px; cursor: pointer; } .custom-map-control-button:hover { background: rgb(235, 235, 235); }HTML
<html> <head> <title>Showing/Hiding Overlays</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./style.css" /> <script type="module" src="./index.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="map"></div> <!-- The `defer` attribute causes the script to execute after the full HTML document has been parsed. For non-blocking uses, avoiding race conditions, and consistent behavior across browsers, consider loading using Promises. See https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/load-maps-js-api for more information. --> <script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=AIzaSyB41DRUbKWJHPxaFjMAwdrzWzbVKartNGg&callback=initMap&v=weekly" defer ></script> </body> </html>Try Sample
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-07-16 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-07-16 UTC."],[[["This guide focuses on building custom map overlays using the Google Maps JavaScript API's `OverlayView` class, enabling dynamic, map-tied elements."],["Developers learn to create overlays by subclassing `OverlayView`, defining a constructor, and implementing methods like `onAdd()`, `draw()`, and `onRemove()` for lifecycle management."],["The guide details how to control overlay visibility through `hide()`, `show()`, and `toggle()` methods, impacting their appearance on the map."],["It demonstrates adding interactive controls, like buttons, to the map interface, allowing users to directly manipulate the custom overlay's behavior, such as toggling visibility or DOM attachment."],["Complete sample code in both TypeScript and JavaScript is provided to illustrate the entire process, offering a practical example for building image-based custom overlays."]]],["The provided code demonstrates creating a custom image overlay (`USGSOverlay`) on a Google Map. The overlay is created using the `OverlayView` base class, with key methods: `onAdd` to create and append the image, `draw` to position and size it based on pixel coordinates, and `onRemove` to clean up. `toggle` manages visibility, and `toggleDOM` toggles map attachment. Two buttons control these actions. The core of the behavior is to dynamically display and control an image's position on the map, managing its DOM presence, visibility, and bounds.\n"]]
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