but not swap back if the mouse leaves the area.

here is a basic idea of what needs to happen.

 

3 images and 3 "hotspots"

image 1 visible by default "active" and returns active if changed by hotspot 2 or 3.

image 2 becomes "active"  as of mouse over hotspot 2

image 3 becomes "active" as of mouse over hotspot 3

I had it in css with the :hover  reference. However, when you leave the area, it return to the default state.

here is the jsfiddle for the css version.

http://jsfiddle.net/jeffhalligan/akn6J/

thanks in Advance!

Jeff