How to Make Your Own Cursors and Screen Savers

You can create customized cursors to tweak your OS.

Creating and using different cursors and screen savers will customize the look of your operating system. There are a number of freeware and shareware cursor editors you can use to create static and animated cursors, and create new screen savers or modify existing ones. Before you choose a program to work on, make sure you are comfortable with its interface and commands.

Instructions

1. Launch the program and open the file you want to convert to a cursor. Most programs will support different file sizes and image types, such as JPEG, GIF, RGB and PNG, among others.

2. Select the portion of the image you want to use for the cursor. Locate the "Select" tool from the program's tools palette by moving the mouse pointer over the icons and reading the tool names. Use the "Select" tool to draw around the edges of the portion you want to keep for the cursor. Convert the image to standard cursor resolution---32 by 32 pixels; highlight the file to automatically resize the image.

3. Add transparency effect. Depending on the program and image type, you may be able to turn solid-color backgrounds into transparent areas; without the transparency effect, the final cursor will have an opaque shape around it. Locate the transparency option from the tools palette and click on the opaque background around the cursor to turn the solid color into transparent.

4. Specify output formats and save the project. Select formats by checking appropriate boxes, name the project and save it to disk. You can choose formats by viewing previews for each type. Click on "OK" or "Create" to save.

5. Set the cursor hot spot, which is the active point within the cursor body. When you move the cursor on-screen, the operating system will refer to the cursor's hot spot to track its position. By default, the cursor hot spot is located on the top left of the image; choose the option to view the cursor hot spot from the program's editor view, and click on the point where you want to set the new hot spot. If you do not define a hot spot, the cursor will be created with its default hot-spot point. Save any changes.

Creating Screen Savers

1. Save screen saver images in a particular folder. You can use downloaded photos from a digital camera or images from the Internet to use as screen savers. You may set compatible formats as screen savers, or change format and properties before applying a file as a screen saver.

2. Modify selected images. Use a Windows-based or third-party editing tool to configure image characteristics such as color, brightness, size and position. Transform images; use the program to crop and partially select images, and save changes.

3. Right-click on a vacant area on the desktop and select "Display Properties" or "Personalize," depending on your operating system version. Click on the "Screen Saver" or "Desktop Background" option to apply the new screen saver.

4. Set view options. Depending on image format and size, you may choose to set the screen saver as centered, tiled or stretched.

Tips & Warnings

• You can download and install free cursor sets from the Internet. Browse through the collection and install any you like.

• Make sure you have administrator privileges and required system configuration before you attempt to install any program. Installing editing tools may slow down performance.

References

• Axialis Software: Create A Static Cursor From An Image
• WinCustomize: Making A Custom Cursor With CursorXP
• MakeUseOf: 5 Ways To Make Your Own Screen Savers