How to Make Cursors for Free
- 1). Use a piece of scratch paper to draw up a few design ideas for your cursors. Try to avoid the common arrow look.
- 2). Open GIMP (usually accessed by the shortcut on your desktop) and use the file menu to create a new image. Depending on the size you want your cursor to be, create the image with dimensions between 15 x 15 and 30 x 30 pixels. Make sure that the image is set to have a transparent background.
- 3). Begin by using the pen tool on the toolbar to create the outlines for the cursor.
- 4). Create a new layer by clicking the button on the layers window that looks like a plus sign. Drag the layer below the outline layer.
- 5). Use the bucket tool on the toolbar to fill the outlines with your desired colors.
- 6). Right-click on the colors' layers and click "Blending Options" to apply bevels, drop shadows, glows and other effects to the layers.
- 7). When you are thoroughly satisfied with the look of the cursor, click "Save As" in the file menu and save the image as a ".png" file.
- 8). Navigate to the file using Windows Explorer (found in the start menu) and change the extension of the file from ".png" to ".cur." You may now associate the file with your operating system, or any application.
Source...