CODERACE myPoint Light: beginner mouse halo tutorial

Beginner Intermediate Expert

General Mouse locator Mouse halo Crosshair

1. Enable the halo module

Open myPoint menu and ensure the "Use mouse halo module" checkbox is selected.

2. Open the halo center

Open myPoint menu and click on the "Halo center" item:

The halo center is not just a preferences panel - here, you can preview, tune, organize, import, and create halos.

3. Show a halo

Open the halo center:

Select a halo from the list in area 1. Just select the row, the state of the checkbox doesn't matter.
Preview the halo in the preview pane in area 2.
Toggle the halo visibility via the hotkey or the button in area 3.
Note: the "Use mouse halo module" checkbox has to be selected.

So selected halo is called the current halo. Its visibility can be toggled from myPoint menu, too - click on the "Toggle current halo visibility" row.

4. Tune up current halo

Open the halo center:

Until you get familiar with the tune up process, we suggest you rely on the following two-pass approach.

Set the Transparency around 40%. There is a simple rule to follow:
- For an art halo, set a bit transparent: around 40% - 50%.
- For an attention or measurement tool, set a bit opaque: around 30% - 40%.
Set the appropriate size.
Toggle on or off the rotation. If you plan to rotate the halo, please start with a value of 6° cw/s. This value is not obtrusive still noticeable, and it mimics the speed of the clock's seconds arrow.
Sometimes it's good to flip the image: especially for rotated or art halos.
Select or deselect the "Flip" checkbox in this first pass.
Decide about the halo Position: it may surround the mouse pointer or stay aside from the mouse. If you plan to offset the halo aside from the mouse, please select the "H" and "V" checkboxes and play with related sliders.
Now it's time for the second pass. Start with the Size slider and go down to the V slider until you get the final view.
Please do not change the selection of the "Resize" checkbox.

Tune the highlighted controls until you get the preferred view.

The "Resize" checkbox.

In almost all cases, the halo has to be a resizable image. For example:

Classic halo rings.
Diagonals.
Common drawings.
Result: The whole source image will be stretched and shown.

However, some halos should never be stretched or shrunk. For example:

Rulers.
1px thick reading lines.
Result: Only the central part of the source image will be shown.

Please note that very few of our halos (preinstalled or in gallery) can be either resizable or not.
And vice versa: all the custom made halos can be set as resizable or not.