Cursor sizes, hotspots and practical design advice
Two decisions make or break a custom cursor: where the click point sits, and how many pixels you have to draw it in. Both are easy to get right once you know what they do.
Last updated
Open the free cursor creatorWhat the hotspot is
The hotspot is the single pixel Windows treats as the pointer’s position when you click. It is stored in the cursor file as an X and Y coordinate counted from the top-left pixel, which is (0, 0). For a 32×32 cursor the valid values run from 0 to 31.
Where to put it
- Arrow or pointer: the tip, usually at or near (0, 0).
- Hand: the tip of the index finger.
- Crosshair, ring or precision cursor: the centre of the shape.
- Text beam: the centre of the vertical line.
- Busy spinner: the centre, since nothing is clicked while it shows.
Choosing a size
Windows scales pointers with display scaling and with the pointer-size setting in Accessibility. A file drawn at a larger size has more pixels to scale from, so it tends to stay crisper than a small one stretched up.
| Size | Good for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 32×32 | Default choice | The classic Windows pointer size. Fewest pixels to draw and the safest starting point. |
| 48×48 | High-DPI displays, larger pointers | Stays sharper when Windows scales pointers up. |
| 64×64 | Large pointer settings, very high-DPI screens | More room for detail, but it can look oversized at default settings. |
Design advice
- Aim for strong silhouettes. A pointer is read in a glance, so bold shapes beat fine detail.
- Add a contrasting outline. A one-pixel dark or light edge keeps the cursor visible on both light and dark backgrounds. Use the creator’s preview background (Transparent, Light, Dark) to check.
- Leave a margin of at least one transparent pixel so edges are not clipped.
- Limit colours. Three or four colours look deliberate; gradients tend to look muddy at this size.
- Use partial transparency sparingly. Soft shadows are supported, but they can look dirty on some backgrounds.
- Test the hotspot by clicking small targets, such as the close button or a text link.
Hotspots in animated cursors
In an animated cursor, keep the hotspot on the same part of the design in every frame. AniFX uses one hotspot for all frames, so design your frames around it. If the artwork drifts away from the hotspot, the visible pointer will seem to miss its target.
Honest status
AniFX writes cursor files to the documented Windows structures and checks them with independent parsers, but they have not yet been installed on a real Windows machine by the AniFX team. Try the 32×32 size first if anything looks wrong.
Try it yourself
The AniFX cursor creator draws, imports and exports real .cur and .ani files in your browser. Nothing is uploaded. Want to animate a photo instead? Open the image animation studio.