Cursor editor

A cursor editor (cursor maker) is software for creating and editing static or animated mouse pointers (cursors).

Cursor editors usually support both static and animated mouse cursors, but there are exceptions. An animated cursor is a sequence of static cursors representing individual frames of an animation. A cursor editor should be able to:

• Modify pixels of a static cursor or of each individual frame in an animated cursor.
• Set the hot spot of a static cursor or of a frame of an animated cursor. The hot spot is a designated pixel that defines the clicking point.
• Add or remove frames in an animated cursor and set their animation speed.

Cursor editors are occasionally combined with icon editors, because computer icons and cursors share similar properties. Both contain small raster images and the file format used to store icons and static cursors in Microsoft Windows is similar.

Despite the similarities, cursor editors differ from icon editors in a number of ways. While icons contain multiple images with different sizes and color depths, static cursors (for Windows) only contain a single image. Cursor editors must provide means to set the hot spot. Animated cursor editors additionally must be able to handle animations.

Static cursor editor is also available as an online service.

Cursor software

• Online Cursor Editor - editor and converter
• Axialis CursorWorkshop
• Microangelo Toolset - a set of tools (Studio, Explorer, Librarian, Animator, On Display) for editing Windows icons and cursors.
• RealWorld Cursor Editor
• Greenfish Icon Editor Pro - Freeware icon and cursor editor supporting PNG-compressed Vista icons
• AniFX
• IconCool Studio - Series of products for Windows Vista icon and pointer editing and creation.