14 DAY TRIAL // Icons, cursors and libraries are the three items that can be handled by the program that I am going to review now. I guess that every computer user should be able to tell what an icon or a cursor is and describe its way of use, so I'll skip that part.
Art Cursors is today's application; recently labeled with the "5" version number and that came to me as a 30 days trial version having a setup package only 1.45MB in size. There should be absolutely no problem to install it, so I'll go to the interface and features now, as usual.
I wasn't blown up by the interface of this program, but it didn't disappoint me either. What we have here is a simple and easy to use standard Windows interface, without any 3D shining elements, gradients or skins. The menu bar items change according to what you're doing, but this is something that you must see. Now, my task is to tell you about icons, cursors and libraries.
In order to create a new item, all you have to do is open the File menu and choose the right option, I am sure you'll recognize it, so the only problem remaining is to decide what to do first.
The icons and cursors go well together, since the first window that you see when creating new ones is the same one. This window lets you choose from the available templates or use a custom size for your document. The color depth can go from monochrome to true color mode with transparency, but the Conversion Mode and Resample Filter seem to be unavailable in this trial version.
I have to add that you won't find a "New Icon" item in the file menu, but you can save your cursor as an icon file without problems. The "New Animation" menu item lets you create animated cursors and icons just the same; the file format you want to use for saving is your choice.
The Library allows you to group a lot of single icons and/or cursors, saving them as only one file. A good way to manage thousands of icons, isn't it? Of course that you can also edit icons and cursors right into the library, add or create new ones and more.
The greatest thing about this program is the fact that you can use layers. I don't have to say more, just think about having shadows and transparency into a 256X256 icon! Vista, here I come!
Built in color palettes, image effects, resampling, drawing tools, advanced fill controls, it's everything there. You don't get any advanced program settings and comprehensive documentation, but the pleasure of getting your hands on such a program won't fade because of these. Don't wait any longer, grab it as soon as possible!
The Good
Finally, I got an icon and cursor creation program that handles layers! This should be enough, since this is a huge white ball for it. Its ease of use and amount of features are the last strong points that I will mention here.
The Bad
Most good things don't come for free, and Art Cursors is one of those. Its price is not extremely high, but I can't call it a cheap program either. Other than that, the documentation and help parts could suffer improvements.
The Truth
Art Cursors is a 40 $ program that is worth its price, and before paying those money, you have an entire month at your disposal to decide if I am right or not. No matter your final decision, I assure you that you'll have some fun with it, so start downloading it NOW!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
