[tim8w]

Anyone know how to convert from an Icon file to a Cursor file?

Thanks,
Tim

[jmerokx]

Open the icon source file in GConvert; then select the icon resource you want in the Main Viewer.
Click on "Tools|Convert Icon to Cursor" and the expert will be displayed.
GConvert by default selects the icon image that was highlighted in the Image Viewer. If you want to switch to another icon image, just press "Select Image" and select the new icon image.
The selected icon image is drawn in the Preview window. GConvert also displays a red cross representing the hotspot. You can click anywhere on the preview image to change the hotspot to this new location. The coordinates (X,Y) of the hotspot are automatically actualized.
Furthermore you can test your new cursor by pressing "Test cursor". In this case, the current mouse pointer will be changed into the new cursor during 30 seconds (or until you press Test Cursor again).
Finally press OK and you will be asked for the filename of the output cursor file. Cursor files are given the .cur extension.
Note that icons and cursors have similar file structures, and they both feature transparency. This is why it is so easy to convert icons into cursors and cursors into icons. You can even open your new cursor into GConvert after the conversion!

Some important notes
Windows only supports displaying 32x32 cursors. If you create cursors of different sizes, Windows will automatically resize them.
Windows XP supports 32-bit cursors (with alpha channel).
You can create animated cursors (.ani) with AniTuner. AniTuner is a free program that creates, edits and converts Windows animated cursors (that is animated mouse pointers). It also supports importing icons and cursors created with GConvert. Actually GConvert and AniTuner are designed to work together.
You can download them at www.gdgsoft.com