Solved Custom Cursors

[Hopachi]

Delta45 Neon-Purple

A few light-years later, here we are.



This is the Delta45 'violet' release. I played with the color values until something good came up. It had to be a bit visible compared to the previous releases. Technically the edge color doesn't have to be too dark or it will look worse than expected.
It's still called purple, but anyway... @Gennin, hope you'll like it.


As usual,
All specs are there, going up to 96x96.

The previews show the regular 32x32 size:



Basically the same size on screen uses the 96x96 layer if Windows goes beyond 200dpi (the exact dpi value is not known for now). There will be more detail in density.

Install.inf file is included in the attachments zip below.

Cheers!
Hopachi

 

[Gennin]

Hey @Hopachi,

"A few light-years later, here we are."
It definitely has a sci-fi touch on it.

Thanks! I love it and sorry for making you do the recoloring. I know how frustrating it can be.
Recoloring is so time-consuming;compared to cursor creation.
I just noticed your post( got a mail). I'm so absorbed with paperwork. I just didn't have the time to play around.

GOOD JOB!
I installed the pack, works nice on Win 8.1 PRO.
That said, a new Windows update is coming. I hope they'll fix skins and shells- Windows 8.1 is so boxy and options are very limited.

/ Soon, I'll start my own project. I need something more curvy, circle-y.
I may be an automobile-ignorant, but I think I need to build a more curvy cursor pack.
Your cursor pack's a Mercedes and I love it. But, at the same time I want a Hyundai/Toyota/Mitsubishi./


**** Gennin assures eifhtforums.com that this statement is not a crypto-commerical(hidden ad). *laughs*

 

[Hopachi]

Thank you Gennin!

Glad you like the pointer. I mean the Mercedes...

/ Soon, I'll start my own project. I need something more curvy, circle-y.
I may be an automobile-ignorant, but I think I need to build a more curvy cursor pack.
Your cursor pack's a Mercedes and I love it. But, at the same time I want a Hyundai/Toyota/Mitsubishi./

What would those look like? And circle-y ones... Should look interesting as well. :thumb:

Well now that you add cars as a comparison, I did posted some old-timers here as well (based on the old classic pointer: blue-binary, green-binary...mostly in 2 colors).

Cheers!
Hopachi

 

[kaybee327]

Hey @Hopachi,

"A few light-years later, here we are."
It definitely has a sci-fi touch on it.

Thanks! I love it and sorry for making you do the recoloring. I know how frustrating it can be.
Recoloring is so time-consuming;compared to cursor creation.
I just noticed your post( got a mail). I'm so absorbed with paperwork. I just didn't have the time to play around.

GOOD JOB!
I installed the pack, works nice on Win 8.1 PRO.
That said, a new Windows update is coming. I hope they'll fix skins and shells- Windows 8.1 is so boxy and options are very limited.

/ Soon, I'll start my own project. I need something more curvy, circle-y.
I may be an automobile-ignorant, but I think I need to build a more curvy cursor pack.
Your cursor pack's a Mercedes and I love it. But, at the same time I want a Hyundai/Toyota/Mitsubishi./


Just have to ask if this is curvy enough for you ?

 

[Hopachi]

Delta45 Inverted

Before moving on to newer designs, I gave Delta45 a new shot: monochrome color (aka. 2 color black/white + transparency and inverted color) pointers.

This is quite challenging because there is no anti-aliasing possible with monochrome so at some angles the pixels are still visible. However, the contrast is very good and most angles are sharp rendered. Windows will still use Cleartype if possible so this ok.

All older / classic cursors are well-designed to be rendered as sharp as possible by using just 0, 45 and 90 degrees angled lines: but this also reduces the possible shapes tremendously. I've made an exception this time, tweaking all the needed pointers.

We still have 32x32, 48x48, 64x64 and 96x96 sizes.
With color inversion, the pointer will display the opposite color of the one below the cursor. Below is the self-explanatory preview.

Preview:


This was tested on XP and Windows 8.1 and it works at all resolutions (even the old monochrome ones!) and at high DPI.

Because we use just 2 color-layers (with transparency and inversion), the size is well-reduced this time but all needed pointers are still included.

Regards,
Hopachi

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Horace, you’re an absolute genius! Nice work!

As us Hippies say > Far out! I’m going to install this one for sure.

Excuse my ignorance, but how or where do I install it? I've downloaded the file.

 

[Hopachi]

Cursor install extra info

Most of the cursor themes I provided have some pointer alternatives, for instance 2 versions for 'up' 'busy' or working states.
Only one can be used at a time and we'll call the 'chosen one' default.

All the RGB color Delta45 schemes use as default the "star" busy state and "delta up pointer" for the up pointer state.
The Inverted monochrome of Delta45 scheme (posted above) uses the more classic "edged hourglass" and the "up arrow", for aesthetic reasons (less pixelized edges due to lack of color).

In practice, if you install using the provided install.inf:



The install will copy all default files + the green ones in this case (*) to %windir%\Cursors but will not copy alternatives, here in orange (**). To be able to use all the files or switch alternatives, the missing files should be copied as well to the Cursor folder.



This applies to all other schemes where alternative pointers for one state are provided. Manually switching pointer state cursor can be done from Personalize (or Control Panel -> Mouse) and Change Mouse Pointers:



Browse in the Cursor folder and pick the new/alternative pointer.



After selecting the new one (click Open) you just need to Apply the changes to the theme.


That's all.

 

[Hopachi]

Horace, you’re an absolute genius! Nice work!

As us Hippies say > Far out! I’m going to install this one for sure.

Excuse my ignorance, but how or where do I install it? I've downloaded the file.

Thank you Tony.
Glad to hear people still use inverted pointers here.

To install, extract the zip to a folder and right-click the install.inf --> Install.
I also posted extra info with screenshots in one of the posts above.

Cheers!

 

[Hopachi]

To install, extract the zip to a folder and right-click the install.inf --> Install.

The new theme will be installed but not selected. To select it go to mouse cursor properties, select the theme name:



You will get a weird message like this, first time you apply a new theme:



Click Yes to save the 'changes' and then the theme can be applied.

All steps are covered now.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Thanks. I'll give it a go.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Done deal. I see it's translucent too! That's a bonus!

You made my day, Horace! :thumb:

 

[Hopachi]

Done deal.

I see you got it working in no time!
Thanks again.

I see it's translucent too! That's a bonus!

Yes, that's the color inversion.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Ok. I see how that works.

 

[Sturgess]

Just wanted to say Thanks again, its been over 4 months using this oversized Red Cursor, and its great, love how easy it is to spot over 6 screens running on two systems.
Thanks so Much !

Thank you John.

Enjoy using those Red cursors.

 

[Hopachi]

Just wanted to say Thanks again, its been over 4 months using this oversized Red Cursor

You're welcome, again.

Glad you like that cursor so much.

 

[Collin2012]

Does anybody know where Microsoft hid the Hand and Hand Grab cursors?

 

[HippsieGypsie]

That’s a good question, Collin2012. Although my pointer hand is the Delta45 Inverted, my grabbing hand is not. Is it possible to include that, Horace?

 

[Hopachi]

Does anybody know where Microsoft hid the Hand and Hand Grab cursors?

That’s a good question, Collin2012. Although my pointer hand is the Delta45 Inverted, my grabbing hand is not. Is it possible to include that, Horace?

Are you guys talking about the App grabbing hand? So far, in many programs, all grabbing had a program-related pointer.
I'll take a look.

But I can tell you that it's not located where the usual pointers are. It seems to be indeed hidden somewhere, like any other Metro apps. If I may guess hidden in File Explorer.

 

[Hopachi]

The grab cursor(s)...

I couldn't locate the start screen grab cursor but all points out in that direction: it is hidden in executable resources. I found some other cursors... many dll's (like ieframe.dll) and for instance pdf readers (like PDF XChange) use their own, built-in grab cursor.

From what I've seen, the start screen grab cursor isn't in Explorer.exe but somewhere else (and I hope it's not a png). In this case, replacing the grab pointer isn't easy and straightforward, requires modification of system files and I wouldn't consider doing it unless you know what you're testing. Even locating it isn't easy, replacing it would mean using modified files that would be replaced by updates or restored to default by 'sfc scannow' repairs anyway.

If the grab cursor we're talking about is the drag/grab Metro cursor from 8 and 8.1, then it seems that it got removed from the update 1 leak (build 17031). An app that gets dragged now has a title bar with a default arrow pointer.

Hope this helps explaining a bit.

Cheers!

 

[Edwin]

Does anybody know where Microsoft hid the Hand and Hand Grab cursors?

I think they're gone, probably because of the 'close' and 'minimize' buttons in the header now.
On my machine anyway:
Hand - Edwin000's library