It is possible to customize icons and cursors with MS Windows. For example: software developers often create custom icons for their applications; even webmasters and bloggers use icons (called the "favicon") for their websites.

Recently, I came across an exemplary freeware alternative, called Paint.NET.

In many ways, Paint.NET is a mix between Photoshop, Paint Shop, and MS Paint. While there aren't very many freeware plug-ins available for Paint.NET, they are both easy to install and easy to run.

By itself, Paint.NET cannot edit .ICO and .CUR files; however, one plug-in in particular (aptly named the Icon/Cursor Plug-In), allows you to edit .ICO and .CUR files. All that is needed is to download the plug-in and extract it to the Paint.NET installation directory. You can then create icons and cursors in a feature-rich environment.

Both Paint.NET and the Icon/Cursor Plug-In are both free of charge.

Links:

Paint.NET Homepage

Plug-In Homepage

This article was written by Joe Anderson. To read more articles like this one, visit Joe's Blog, today! (C) Creative Commons ShareAlike.