Multi Sizes and Hotspots - Editor Docs

New blank cursors start at 64 x 64 by default. You can add standard or custom square sizes from 32px through 256px. A cursor project can keep separate artwork at several sizes so Windows can choose the sharpest resolution for the current display scale.

Multi-Size Cursors & Shelf

Importing one standalone CUR or ANI as a New cursor creates a size card for each supported resolution; the largest opens first. Images with either dimension below 32 pixels are discarded, not padded or enlarged. Remaining sizes keep their own artwork instead of being regenerated from the largest. Alternative images for the same size are resolved automatically without a choice dialog. If a frame has no supported image, the file cannot be imported.

As a layer uses only the size you choose in Source size. It opens the placement tool on your current canvas; it does not add size cards or replace existing size versions. See Image to Cursor for the two standalone import destinations.

Archive and multi-file imports retain their padding and image-choice prompts. When one cursor from those sessions is imported into Current cursor, matching sizes are replaced, missing sizes are added, and unrelated sizes are kept. The replacement includes all layers and animation frames at each matching size; the current cursor's name and role are preserved. Current cursor is not offered when opening one standalone CUR or ANI file.

Imported animation frames keep their own hotspots through saving and reloading. Using Set by Click or Reset Hotspot afterward applies one coordinate to every frame of the active size.

The vertical Size Shelf docked directly next to the canvas provides immediate navigation and management controls for all active resolutions in your cursor:

You don't have to make multiple sizes

Multi-size is optional. When you submit a cursor to the site, our pipeline automatically generates the standard smaller sizes by downscaling your artwork — so the simplest workflow is to draw your cursor at the largest size you want and let the site fill in the rest. Use the Size Shelf below only when you want to hand-tune a specific size (e.g. crisp pixel-art at 32×32) instead of an automatic downscale.

Multi-size shelf and Add Multi-Size panel interface

Add Multi-Size Button

Located at the top of the shelf. Click the + button to open the "Add Multi-Size" popover panel and define a new canvas resolution for your active cursor.

Active Size Cards

Switch between existing size cards in a single click. Each size keeps its own canvas, layer stack, animation frames, and hotspot coordinates. A blue highlight identifies the active size used by the canvas, Live Preview, PNG backup, and the default choice in Base64 CSS export.

Delete Active Size

Located at the bottom of the shelf. Click the trash can to permanently remove the highlighted size card, including all of its layers and animation frames. Export a PNG backup first if you may need that artwork later.

Sizes Used on Websites

Windows downloads and website CSS have different size rules. A downloaded .cur can contain every size you drew, including 256px. Browser cursor images are limited to 128px in the editor's Live Preview and Base64 CSS workflow for reliable web use.

Live Preview: Uses the active size. Artwork larger than 128px is temporarily scaled to 128px, and its hotspot is scaled proportionally. Your saved artwork is not changed.
Get Base64 CSS Code: Lets you choose one web size per generated stylesheet. If that exact size exists on the shelf, its hand-drawn pixels are used directly. Otherwise the editor scales the source artwork to the chosen size.
Hand-tuned sizes: Add and redraw a smaller size when you want deliberate pixel placement instead of a resized version—especially for crisp 32px or 48px pixel art.

Add Multi-Size Settings Panel

The Add Multi-Size popover configures how the editor instantiates and populates your new canvas size card:

Preset Size Selection

The site presets are 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 96×96, 128×128, and 256×256 px. These are the quick choices in Add Multi-Size. The first four are the sizes most people use; 128 and 256 carry fine detail for very high-resolution displays. Auto Crop uses the Windows accessibility sizes listed below, so a canvas at another of those sizes, such as 80×80, shows as Windows size instead of Custom.

Custom Size Input

Choose Custom, then enter any integer value between 32 and 256 to define a specialized drawing canvas outside the standard presets. The editor uses that custom value when creating the new size, whether you start blank or resize the current artwork.

Start With Options

Choose the starting content for the new size:

Resize current: Automatically copies your active size's pixel layers and resizes them to fit the new dimensions.
Blank: Creates a completely empty, transparent layer so you can paint the new resolution from scratch.

Method Dropdown

Only active when "Resize current" is selected. Configures the scaling algorithm:

Smooth (Lanczos): Best for photographic blends, smooth gradients, and soft silhouettes to prevent jaggy scaling.
Crisp (Nearest-Neighbor): Highly recommended for pure pixel art, preserving razor-sharp edges, solid fills, and authentic retro pixel squares without any blur.

Auto Crop and Windows Accessibility Sizes

Slider Level	Size
1	32×32
2	48×48
3	64×64
4	80×80
5	96×96
6	112×112
7	128×128
8	144×144
9	160×160
10	176×176
11	192×192
12	208×208
13	224×224
14	240×240
15	256×256

Auto Crop chooses the smallest Windows pointer size that holds the artwork across every animation frame and layer, including hidden layers. Windows' accessibility pointer-size slider has 15 levels, starting at 32×32 and increasing by 16 pixels per level up to 256×256. These are base pixel dimensions before display scaling.

For example, artwork spanning 79 pixels on a 128×128 canvas crops to 80×80 (level 4). Cropping removes transparent margins without resizing the artwork, and moves the hotspots with it. The cursor's other sizes are not changed, unless one already exists at the target size and you approve replacing it.

Tighter crop is an optional crop to the artwork's own square size, with a minimum of 32×32. If the target size already exists, review it and select Replace the existing size before applying the crop. Undo restores the original canvas and any replaced version. See Drawing Tools for the crop controls.

Why Tighter Crop Has a Scaling Warning

Windows may resize a cursor to suit the pointer-size setting and display scale. A custom canvas such as 79×79 may therefore be enlarged or reduced when used as a Windows pointer. Resampling can soften edges or make pixel-art details look uneven. Scaling a square canvas to another square preserves the artwork's proportions.

Keeping the default 80×80 crop in that example supplies an exact match when Windows needs an 80px image. It does not guarantee pixel-perfect rendering at every setting: Windows may use another image in a multi-size cursor or scale one, and applications can handle cursors differently.

Microsoft documents loading cursors at the system size or a requested size and application control over cursor DPI scaling. The warning describes a possible rendering effect; cropping itself preserves your pixels.

Hotspot Registration

The Hotspot defines the precise click registration point of your cursor (e.g. the exact pixel that triggers a click in the operating system):

Set by Click

Activate the hotspot tool, then click the exact target pixel on the drawing canvas. The canvas switches to a dedicated crosshair picker while hotspot picking is armed. The chosen coordinate is applied to every animation frame of the active size so the pointer does not jump between frames. Crosshairs typically use the center, while arrows use the tip.

Reset to Preset

Resets the hotspot to 0, 0 on every animation frame of the active size. Use Set by Click afterward if the cursor's click point belongs somewhere else.

RGB Cursor Set